News from Thailand – January 31, 2013
On the run for nearly seven years from a 30-year prison sentence for murder and corruption, his freedom came to an end yesterday. Somchai Khunploem, better known as Kamnan Poh and also nicknamed the 'Godfather of Chon Buri', was stopped at the ticket office on the Lat Krabang toll road.
Police had been hunting him for two months after being tipped off about his movements in Chon Buri. Yesterday he visited Samitivej Hospital in Bangkok and on his way back he fell into a trap. In the car were two other persons besides him: the head of tambon Samet and a female doctor. The tambon head was also arrested, because the car contained ammunition that belonged to him.
Somchai, former mayor of Saen Suk (Chon Buri), was sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Supreme Court in March last year for the March 2003 murder of a political rival. He shot the man dead during a wedding reception. He received a sentence of 5 years and 4 months in early 2006 for corruption in 1992 in the sale of land in a forest reserve for use as a waste dump.
The current Minister of Culture is a son of Somchai. He went to Bang Kwan prison in Bangkok yesterday, but did not get out of his car. Sonthaya has stated that he will not abuse his position and will not interfere with the work of the authorities. Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, who has the police in his portfolio, says the case does not pose a threat to the minister's position.
– Rohingya must pay smugglers 60.000 to 65.000 baht to be smuggled into Thailand. Maung Kyaw Nu, president of the Burmese Rohingya Association, stated this yesterday during a hearing of the parliamentary committee on legislation, justice and human rights. Kyaw said he will encourage the government to allow the refugees to temporarily live and work in Thailand and receive health care.
The flow of refugees has started after 50.000 Rohingya have been killed in the past six months. According to Kyaw, the Myanmar authorities are lying about the number of deaths. He called on the UN to send a peacekeeping force to Myanmar to protect Rohingya should they be sent back [by Thailand].
Thailand currently hosts 1.486 Rohingya refugees. They may stay here for six months pending repatriation or asylum in a third country. Thailand does not consider them refugees, but illegal immigrants.
– The Ministry of Education has ordered schools to give less homework. The ministry wants to reduce the pressure on students now that it is reviewing the curriculum. The schools have also been asked to organize more outdoor activities.
– Several schools in Narathiwat abruptly closed their doors yesterday after two bomb attacks that killed a soldier and injured three others.
The first bomb attack in tambon Manang Tayo took place when three soldiers, whose job it is to escort teachers, passed by in a pickup truck. One of them later died in hospital.
In Cho Airong district, a bomb hidden in a fruit cart in front of a school exploded. A volunteer ranger was injured.
Eight teachers, working in Primary Educational Service Area 2 in Yala province, have been transferred because of concerns about their safety. They have gone to safe schools. Numerous transfer requests have poured in after a teacher at Ban Tanyong School in Narathiwat was murdered in cold blood during the lunch break while supervising the dining hall during lunch.
– Thailand ranks 13th on a list of countries from which money, earned through crime, corruption and tax evasion, flows abroad. For Thailand, it would be US$64,2 billion (2 trillion baht). The list was compiled by Global Financial Integrity, a Washington-based group. She does not say how she arrived at that amount.
The Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) finds the amount too high and unreliable. According to Amlo, 5 billion baht has been smuggled out of the country in the past 345 years, most of it to Hong Kong. That happens through phoy kuan networks.
Officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet with Amlo about the Americans' report in two weeks.
The Financial Action Task Force will meet in Paris on 18 February. It decides whether Thailand will remain on the 'dark gray list' because it does not do enough about money laundering and combating terrorism. The Amlo is hopeful that Thailand will be scrapped now that two laws against these practices have been approved by parliament and only need the signature of the king.
– The construction of 396 police stations has been canceled due to irregularities that occurred during the tender. Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung has ordered the construction freeze, but no work has been done on the desks for some time.
Chalerm's decision follows an investigation by the Department of Special Investigation. The then Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban (Democrats) is said to have intervened in the tender.
The contractor for the 396 police stations is the same as for eight flats for police officers. Construction is also halted. The DSI is investigating whether there was an increase in prices during the tender. According to spokesman Prompong Nopparit of ruling party Pheu Thai, the eight flats are part of a total of 163 flats that have not been completed. That would have caused a damage of 4 billion baht.
It is not entirely clear to me how to proceed with the construction of those 396 desks. There is talk of a new tender, but also of hiring subcontractors to complete the work.
– The former head of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Damrong Pidech, threatens to take his successor to court if he does nothing against illegal construction in national parks and forest reserves. The former head has had several holiday parks demolished, but the current head does not seem to be planning to do so.
Damrong points out in a letter that the Supreme Court has ordered the owners of some holiday parks in Thap Lan National Park (Prachin Buri) to demolish their property. National Parks must enforce that decision, says Damrong, who is considering a dereliction of duty charge against his successor.
That successor, Manopat Huamuangkaew, seems to have been prompted by the government to leave some people alone. Manopat himself euphemistically calls this a 'less aggressive approach'.
Another decision by Manopat also raises questions. He has transferred the head of the Huay Sala game reserve. According to Damrong, this opens the way for the illegal logging of the protected rosewood. Damrong keeps an eye on it and when this is the case, a second report for dereliction of duty follows against his successor.
Damrong said a few things yesterday during the opening of the office of the political party he founded. That party is called Tuang Kuen Puen Pa (Thai Forest Land Reclamation). Most board members are retired forestry officials and police officers.
– King Bhumibol will not attend the opening of Sayamindradjiraj Medical Institute tomorrow and he will not unveil the statue of King Chulalongkorn. The monarch is recovering from a fever attack. The planned monkey show is cancelled.
– The campaign is called 'Consumer Justice Now' and is organized by the Foundation for Consumers. The campaign kicked off yesterday with a bike ride through Bangkok. The aim is to set up an independent consumer organization in accordance with Article 61 of the Constitution.
Parliament is currently in its third term of consideration of a bill regulating the formation of such an organisation. There will be cycling again on Saturday and Wednesday.
– To address the concerns of the Unesco World Heritage Committee that the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest complex, a World Heritage Site, will be affected by the construction of the Huay Samong dam, the Royal Irrigation Department and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has drawn up a mitigation plan. The dam is attacking the forest. The plan includes setting up five checkpoints and a wildlife impact study.
Political news
– Independent candidate Kosit Suvijjit, former director of a media company, for the post of governor of Bangkok wants to make the city a '24-hour city'. Companies, government services and companies must be open 24 hours a day and this is possible when working in a three-shift system. Public transport, schools and health centers belonging to the municipality must also function around the clock. According to Kosit, this improves safety, reduces traffic chaos and creates jobs.
The ambitious candidate has pinned his hopes on the 65 percent of 'silent voters', who have not yet decided whether to vote and for whom. According to him, many voters are angry and frustrated by political conflicts. And that attitude would favor independent candidates like himself.
– Amnesty for red shirt prisoners is not regulated by an 'executive decree' (cabinet decision), says Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung, because such a decision would be declared invalid by the Constitutional Court because it is contrary to the constitution. According to Article 184, only urgent cases qualify.
According to reports in Bangkok Post yesterday the demand for amnesty via a cabinet decision is a demand from the UDD (red shirts). The 'January 29 for the Release of Political Prisoners' would like to regulate the amnesty through a bill from the Nitirat group. Nitirat is a group of lawyers affiliated with Thammasat University.
But according to Bangkok Post today Chalerm is responding to a demand from that January group which contradicts yesterday's reporting. In any case, the government has promised to send the Nitirat proposal to the Council of State for advice, after which it can be discussed by the cabinet and parliament.
The January group held a demonstration at the Royal Plaza on Tuesday. Kwanchai Praipana, the leader of another red shirt group, believes the group should not have done so as it could hurt the chances of the Pheu Thai candidate for governor.
– As in the previous poll, Nida gives the Pheu Thai candidate a lead over his main rival, ex-Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra of the Democrats. In the second poll, Pongsapat Pongcharoen scores 23,8 percent of the vote and Sukhumbhand 19,2 percent.
The top-scoring independent candidate is Sereepisut Temeyaves, former chief of the national police. He accounts for 5,1 percent. Kosit (see above) scores 0,2 percent. But 48 percent of the respondents have not yet decided on their choice and 2,2 percent already know that they will not vote. 1.503 people in all 50 districts of Bangkok were interviewed.
Economic news
– The private sector must constantly hedge against currency risks. In an emergency, the central bank stands ready to use the tools available to curb the baht, but the side effects must also be carefully considered.
Pongpen Ruengvirayudh, deputy governor for monetary stability at the Bank of Thailand, said this after speaking with the Federation of Thai Industries yesterday. The FTI presented the bank yesterday with its proposals to halt the baht's appreciation, which has been going on since the beginning of the year.
Pongpen said the central bank has more than one criterion for measuring its currency's competitiveness. One is the composition of the 23 currencies of Thailand's major trading partners and competitors. The other is the composition of Asian currencies.
“We have already checked the baht. Our aim is to keep the impact of the price appreciation on the private sector at an acceptable level. At the moment there are no stringent exchange rules that put upward pressure on the baht. […] Exporters should not compare the baht with their competitors' currencies, as the economic conditions in those countries may differ from those in Thailand.'
– Kasikornbank (Kbank) comes to the rescue of small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the increase of the minimum daily wage from January 1 to 300 baht. The bank offers three packages with a six-month indemnity period, additional credit of up to 20 percent of working capital and credit for investments in equipment and machinery.
The packages are available to all SME customers up to a maximum of 10 million baht each, but the bank assesses applications on a case-by-case basis. According to the bank, the increase in the minimum daily wage mainly affects labour-intensive SMEs in the agricultural sector, wooden furniture, textiles and plastics. Geographically, most of them are located in the Northeast and South. Their labor costs have increased by 74,4 to 80,7 percent and operating costs by 12 to 13 percent. The consequences are harder than the harder baht and the costs as a result of flooding.
The wage increase also affects the bank's NPLs (non-performing loans). The bank is trying to limit it to 2,95 percent of total loans this year compared to 3,2 percent last year despite the strong growth in loans. This year, the bank expects a growth in SME loans of 12,8 percent to 528 million baht in outstanding loans.
– About 80 percent of Japanese companies are affected by the increase of the minimum daily wage from 1 January to 300 baht and 30 percent feel the consequences. [Yes, it really is in the message] Labour-intensive industries are considering moving to neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam, but some remain in Thailand because of the good infrastructure. This is according to a poll by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok.
The Chamber distributed 1,419 questionnaires to its members, of which 381 responded. Half of the respondents said they would replace labor with machinery and 26 percent opt for a hiring freeze and price increases. About a quarter want to reduce the workforce.
Most of the affected companies are located outside Bangkok, because the minimum daily wage in Bangkok and neighboring provinces was already raised in April last year.
– In Bangkok, 47.340 new condos were completed last year, 54 percent more than in 2011. In the fourth quarter, 13.234 condos were completed, for which there was considerable interest because 69 percent sold, according to Colliers International Thailand.
Some projects even sold out in one day or reached a high occupancy rate within a few days. The main factors influencing clients' decision were the developer's reputation, location, pricing, project concept, design and EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) approval. Most new condos (15 percent) were completed on the northern edge of the city, followed by 10 percent in the center.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post