News from Thailand – January 25, 2014

The protests of angry rice farmers who have been waiting for their money for months are approaching Bangkok. Yesterday they blocked the Rama II highway, which connects Bangkok to the South. If the government does not come up with money within a week, more roads will be blocked, they threaten.

Three hundred Pak Tho farmers gathered on the stretch of road towards Bangkok after waiting in vain for two hours for a government representative. Village chief Somsak Tamni-ngam, who was in charge, reminded the government that it came to power thanks to the votes of the peasants. Therefore, the government should pay attention to the farmers, who are in trouble, instead of focusing on the elections.

The blockade caused a traffic jam of 5 kilometers, which prompted deputy governor Narong Khrongchon of Ratchaburi province and district chief Pairat Janpolhom to talk to the protesting farmers. The farmers said they would also block the other side of the highway if the government did not pay them before January 31.

One of the farmers, the father of a 4-year-old girl, who still has to receive 300.000 baht, said he would throw himself in front of the cars with his daughter if he still had not received anything by January 31. After negotiations with the governor and district chief, the farmers ended their protest.

In the province of Ubon Ratchathani, four hundred farmers demonstrated in front of the Provincial House. They handed over a petition, with 1.200 signatures, asking for prompt payment. Whoever received the petition does not mention the message. The message does mention the four districts from which the farmers came.

Wichian Phuanglamjiak, president of the Thai Agriculturist Association, is proposing a debt moratorium as lenders and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives demand repayment of borrowed funds plus interest.

Photos: Protest by a group of rice farmers in Phetchabun this week.

– The amount of waste produced by the residents of Bangkok increased by 10.000 tons last year, or rather: the waste that is collected. Another figure: the amount of waste collected between October 1, 2012 and September 30, 2013 weighed 120.000 tons. A year earlier that was 117.000 tons. It is expected that 13.000 tonnes more will be collected every day this year. The environmental department of Bangkok will make plans to reduce the amount of waste. That is a laudable aim, but what those plans could entail is not mentioned in the message.

– The violence in the South [where the same state of emergency applies as since Wednesday in Bangkok] continues unabated. Yesterday, four people were killed in three attacks in Pattani and Yala: a Buddhist monk, a ranger, a police officer and a civilian.

The monk died while making his morning rounds in Panare (Pattani) under the guidance of rangers to collect alms. A roadside bomb exploded on the way. In Khok Po (Pattani) it was one drive by shooting and in Than To (Yala, photo) for a bomb attack.

In Yala, the police have arrested a suspect in a raid at two locations. Fifty mobile phones, two digital clocks, fireworks, wires and electronic circuits were also seized.

– Bad luck for Prime Minister Yingluck's nephew, but his aunt did not attend his wedding. The prime minister stayed away because anti-government protesters had threatened to take her into custody at the banquet hall. The wedding was held at the Plaza Athenee hotel on Witthayuweg.

- A long tailed boat overturned 1 kilometer from the coast of Koh Phi Phi yesterday. The 24 passengers and skipper were left with only a wet suit. They were rescued by a patrol vessel from Nopparat Tara-Mu Koh Phi Phi National Park. The boat with tourists was on its way to the islands of Thalae Waek and Koh Poda.

– Contact has been lost with one of the three buoys in the Andaman Sea, which should warn of a tsunami. He probably fled to Sri Lanka, says the head of the National Disaster Warning Center. Experts will search for the buoy and will install a new buoy next week.

– Parents who are well off and want to get their offspring into a prestigious school know how to do that. You donate money (in the walk torch money) to the school and your offspring will be placed regardless of whether he has the necessary brain cells to follow the education there. That practice is prohibited, says the office of the Basic Education Commission once again superfluously. It alerts the school boards. Would it help?

– To prevent a 'brain-drain' of experienced pilots and co-pilots, Thai Airways International will give them a bonus every month for the next three years. Lower staff receives an extra 5 to 6 percent, other staff 2 to 4 percent. That costs THAI 600 million baht [per?]. The measure is being taken despite the company suffering heavy losses. THAI employs 1.342 pilots. Reportedly, it is mainly the senior co-pilots who switch to other airlines because they can earn more there.

Letter sent

– We now know that minibus drivers are not the safest road users. It becomes even more bitter when it turns out that you have been in an unregistered van and that all your belongings have been stolen in an accident.

In a letter sent in Bangkok Post writes John Lenaghan that his nephew from Australia, here on holiday, is seriously injured in hospital after the minivan he had been traveling in crashed in Lam Luk Ka (Pathum Thani). All of his belongings, including his wallet and iPhone, were stolen at the scene of the accident.

The van may not have been registered and was driving too fast. 'When will the police stop this massacre?', the writer wonders in despair. The answer is guessable. My answer is: never, as long as the Thai police force is the most corrupt part of the government system.

A second letter is also about illegal vans. The author has found that two five-star hotels in downtown Bangkok use those vans to transport guests. This means that in the event of an accident, the insurance will not pay out a penny. The letter writer has taken pictures of the vans and is sending them to the headquarters in the US and Canada.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post