News from Thailand – April 28, 2013
Today marks 9 years since the Thai army shot dead 32 militants in the Krue Se mosque in Pattani. Tomorrow the second peace talks between Thailand and rebel group BRN will take place in Kuala Lumpur. On Friday, the army killed three militants in their hideout in Bannang Sata (Yala).
Three reasons why the authorities expect extra violence this weekend. Two pickup trucks and two cars are said to have been equipped with bombs by militants and are ready to be detonated in Pattani. Soldiers, police, local officials and defense volunteers have set up roadblocks and are scouring high-risk areas.
The three suspects shot dead on Friday were not involved in the bombing of Yala's deputy governor, DNA testing has shown. One of them was involved in the attack on the naval base in Bacho (Narathiwat) on February 13. Number 2 was wanted for killing villagers in Bannang Sata (Yala) during a religious ceremony and number 3 is suspected in the death of two paratroopers.
On Saturday, southern violence resulted in one death and two injuries. In Sai Buri (Pattani) a ranger was shot dead and two rangers were injured in the same district. They were patrolling with a team on foot when a bomb exploded. After the explosion, a short firefight with militants ensued.
– The US State Department has released a damning report on Thailand's failing human rights policy. It contains a laundry list of things that are no good.
Most attention is paid to the situation in the South. Forces are guilty of excessive force, torture and abuse of suspects, and the guilty go unpunished. This happens in the provinces where the Emergency Ordinance of 2005, the Internal Security Act and martial law are in effect.
Furthermore, a small selection from the laundry list: overcrowded and unhygienic prisons; arbitrary arrests and detentions; restriction of freedom of assembly; insufficient protection of refugees; violence and discrimination against women; sexual exploitation of children; human trafficking and so on.
– PCC Development and Construction Co, the contractor responsible for the construction of 396 still unfinished police stations, has been able to withdraw a total of 579 million baht from the Government Savings Bank with forged documents. The documents include statements from commissions that construction was complete, and they bear the signatures of police officers who were not even members of those commissions. This has emerged from research by the Department of Special Investigation.
– In the province of Loei, 500 people have died in the past four months dengue fever incurred. Two persons have died. Health authorities are concerned about the spread. In the Northeast, Loei is the province with the most infections and fifth nationally.
– Two people were killed and 41 injured in a collision in Khura Buri (Phangnga) between a bus and a passenger car. The bus with 45 passengers was on its way from Phuket to Bangkok. A Totyota sedan coming from the opposite side slammed into the bus, causing it to crash into a tree.
– The purpose of my reconciliation proposal is to bring back Thaksin. I promised that to voters in the Northeast. Vice Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung made no bones about it yesterday during a radio broadcast from the red shirt station Khon Rak Udon in Udon Thani.
Chalerm said he had not yet submitted his proposal to the party; he wants to discuss it with the population first. Apart from Thaksin, anyone accused of political violence in recent years would benefit from the proposal. Four other reconciliation proposals are already before parliament. They have not yet been treated.
– A detainee in the prison of Phitsanulok runs the risk of not being released on November 1 after 5 years, but having to stay there for another 1 or 2 years. Photos have surfaced on Facebook showing him with chains on his feet. Those photos must have been taken with a mobile phone and mobile phones are strictly prohibited in the lick. According to the man, the photos would have been taken with a friend's cell phone. The prison staff has not yet found the corpus delicti.
– Do something about coastal erosion, residents of the coastal village of Ban Khun Samut Chin (Samut Prakan) ask the government. The village chief says that the sea has been snacking for 30 years. Wooden and concrete barriers have not had the desired effect. According to the geology department of Chulalongkorn University, 1 kilometer of land disappeared into the sea during that period, or 18.000 rai.
In the coming months, Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi will have all proposed solutions studied for the coast between Phetchaburi and Chachoengsao. The Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning has prepared a plan for the construction of a 15 km long dike between Bang Khunthian (Bangkok) and Laem Fa Pha (Samut Prakan). Ban Khun Samut Chin could benefit from that.
Political news
– Tension is rising around the demonstration of red shirts outside the building of the Constitutional Court. Prime Minister Yingluck refuses to respond to opposition leader Abhisit's call to order the red shirts to end their protest. And MPs from the ruling Pheu Thai party disagree on whether to comply with a court order to explain their decision to vote in favor of amending four constitutional articles.
It all revolves around a petition from Sentor Somchai Sawaengkarn to the Court. He has asked the Court to rule on whether the treatment of those proposals is in violation of the constitution. When the Court decided to consider the petition, the red shirts took action on Monday.
What has added fuel to the fire is the Court's report to the police on Friday against four leaders. They would be guilty of libel and incitement to unrest. The leaders responded by calling on their supporters to arrest the nine judges by means of a so-called 'citizen's arrest'. And that call irritated Abhisit again.
The ruling party Pheu Thai will meet on April 30 to discuss whether it will comply with the Court's order. The Court has instructed the 312 senators and members of parliament who voted in favor of amending four constitutional articles in the first term to give reasons for their votes.
Some argue for a boycott of the request because the Court interferes in the legislative process, which is contrary to the principle of separation of powers. But parliament speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont and about twenty PTers are willing to provide that explanation.
Meechai Ruchupan, former president of the National Legislative Assembly (the emergency parliament after the military coup) has called on those in favor to recognize the Court's authority. "The country would plunge into total chaos if institutions do not recognize the authority of other institutions," he writes on his website.
Financial economic news
– It almost gets annoying, but Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong (Finance) sang the same song on Saturday that he has been singing for ages: the baht is too strong, which threatens to slow down the economy. He said this Saturday on Yingluck's weekly TV program.
According to Kittiratt, the current forecast of 4,5 to 5,5 percent economic growth does not take into account the rise in the baht. If the currency does not stabilize, the economy could grow even more slowly, the minister thinks.
Kittiratt promised not to break the law; he said the committee responsible for establishing the policy rate, to respect. Kittiratt has recently been accused of putting pressure on the Bank of Thailand to lower that rate by 1 percentage point. According to him, the inflow of foreign capital would then decrease, which is held responsible for the appreciation of the baht. Economists doubt that because foreign investors mainly invest in the equity and stock market.
– Agricultural exports suffered a loss of 7,69 billion baht in the first quarter due to the appreciation of the baht, says the Agricultural Economics Foresight Center. Exports of rice, rubber, tapioca starch and fish in particular suffered from the strong baht. If the increase continues, exports of poultry, fruit and other tapioca products such as chips and grains will also be affected.
– The business community fears that exports will decline in the third and fourth quarters of this year due to the strong baht, unless strong measures are taken. According to Vallop Vitanakorn, vice president of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), exporters were hit hard in April. Normally, foreign companies place orders for textiles, consumer goods and other core products in that month.
The FTI is most concerned about the impact on the supply chain of industries that depend on exports. Various manufacturers now source their raw materials from foreign sources, which means that local suppliers have to worry.
The exporters want the policy rate of the central bank is cut by 1 percent and they demand a three-month ban on foreign money inflows speculating on short-term exchange gains. If necessary, that period should be extended to six months.
– The government's target for replacing fossil fuels with alternative fuels is too ambitious, says the Federation of Thai Industries. The government wants to increase the current demand of 5 million liters of alternative fuel to 2021 million liters in 40. Thailand now uses 90 million liters of fuel every day, 5,5 percent of which consists of alternative fuel.
The target is based on 9 million liters of ethanol per day, 6 million liters of biodiesel and 25 million liters of new alternative fuels. are new fuels jatropha, algae, fatty acid ethyl esters, bio-hydrogenated diesel, liquefied biomass and bioethanol for buses (ED95).
ED95, a mix of 95 percent ethanol and 5 percent additives, is considered commercially viable. A pilot project is currently being carried out with the fuel, which is available in Sweden. The ethanol is produced from sugar and cassava. The other alternative fuels will only become available in 10 years, because they still require a lot of R&D.
The Renewable Energy Asia 5 will be held in Bitec (Bangkok) from 8 to 2013 June. Three hundred companies from thirty countries will be there.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post