News from Thailand – January 4, 2013

Since January 2009, nine Britons have been in Thailand killed, most of them on Koh Phangan, according to a statement from the British Foreign Office. Western tourists on Koh Phangan, especially during the full moon parties, are victims of vicious, unprovoked gang attacks, according to the statement. Those attacks usually happen at night near bars in Haad Rin.

The Foreign Office statement is in response to the death of a British tourist on Koh Phangan. He was hit by a stray bullet after two groups of visitors to a Countdown party clashed. The statement contains a response from the family, who are on their way to the island.

– The 'seven dangerous days' are over. In 3.176 traffic accidents, 365 people died and 3.329 people were injured. Traffic claimed 29 more lives this year than last year, but the number of injured fell by 1,3 percent.

– The increase in the minimum daily wage to 300 baht on January 1 in the remaining 70 provinces does not disrupt business, but actually benefits it. The increase will also not lead to business closures. Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong (Finance) made these optimistic sounds yesterday after a meeting with officials from nine ministries and government departments.

Kittiratt pointed to the situation in Bangkok and six other provinces where the minimum wage went up as early as April. The increase did not have major consequences for business operations and employment there. Employment Minister Padermchai Sasomsap says only seven larger companies have closed, leaving 1.700 workers unemployed.

On Tuesday, the cabinet will consider support measures, because the government is somewhat concerned. The Ministry of Finance has drawn up a list of 15 measures, 11 of which have already been applied in the pilot area. They will be in effect for another year and include a 1 percent reduction in employer contributions to the Social Security Fund, tax breaks and low-interest loans.

The increase in the minimum wage has provoked mixed reactions. Large companies have no problem with it because they benefit from the reduction in corporate tax (last year from 30 to 23 percent, this year to 20 percent). The labour-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises in particular are feeling the pain. At the end of last year, an underwear factory in Saraburi abruptly closed its doors, but according to the head of the province's Labor Office, not because of the increase, but because the number of orders from foreign customers had fallen sharply. In Buri Ram province, two garment factories closed, leaving 120 workers on the streets.

– The Lower and Supreme Administrative Courts disagree on the legal form of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), which benefits the Ombudsman. In early December, the lower court rejected a petition from the Ombudsman about the 3G auction, arguing that the NBTC has no official status, so the Ombudsman was not authorized to complain.

But the higher court accepted the petition. According to the Ombudsman, the NBTC is indeed a government department and is therefore authorized to submit a complaint. The complaint concerns the 3G auction in October, in which the three major providers allegedly received their license for too low a price due to a lack of competition. This would hurt the state.

– The Airport Rail Link charges the old rates of 15 to 45 baht on the City Line. The promotion in which a unit rate of 20 baht applied at certain hours will not be extended, because it has had no effect. The number of passengers remained the same at 5.000 to 5.500 per day. Society had hoped for 7.000. The action has cost operator SRT Electric Train Co 2 million baht per month. It ran from October 1 to December 31.

– During local elections, candidates are not allowed to talk about the monarchy, the Electoral Council has decided. The candidates are only allowed to talk about the electoral laws. It is also forbidden to use popular actors and singers. This year and next year, 5.600 so-called 'tambon administration organisations' will be upgraded to 'municipalities', as a result of which new elections will have to be held in the relevant constituencies.

– The army has added two companies of border police to the army stationed at Hindu temple Preah Vihear. The measure aims to alleviate the border conflict with Cambodia.

But the question of whether the soldiers will be withdrawn, as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague has ordered, army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha does not want to answer. 'It is not time to discuss this matter yet.' Prayuth said this yesterday, a day after a meeting of military leaders with Prime Minister Yingluck.

The ICJ established a demilitarized zone at the temple last year and ordered both countries to withdraw their troops, but this has barely happened. Prayuth says: "We have to prove to the ICJ that both countries are capable of resolving their conflicts through bilateral talks and that we can live together in peace."

The ICJ ruled in an interim judgment in the case of the controversial 4,6 square kilometers at the temple. Cambodia has asked the Court to determine whose territory that is. A ruling is expected this year.

– The 74 Rohingya who were stranded on the island of Koh Bon in Phuket were transferred to the Thai-Myanmarese border in Ranong. On Sunday they were stranded because the trawler had run out of fuel and said it was on its way to Malaysia or Indonesia. The province of Phuket had provided the refugees with fuel and food so that they could travel could continue, but she later decided to deport them overland to Myanmar.

The New York-based organization Human Rights Watch has protested the eviction. Thailand must now stop its inhumane policy of repeatedly deporting Rohingya, who are severely persecuted in Myanmar, she says. Thailand should honor their right to seek asylum.

According to HRW, some Rohingya are met at the border by smugglers, who demand large sums of money to take them to Malaysia. Those who cannot afford that amount are forced to do work that resembles human trafficking.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) had previously requested permission to visit the Rohingya and asked not to deport them because it would put their lives in danger.

– A storm in a teacup. Earlier, 76 officers protested against an announced lottery system to fill 150 vacancies for specialized agents. But in the end only 3 agents are screwed by lottery. The others volunteered for a post in the South.

Initially, the Royal Thai Police feared that it would not be able to recruit enough candidates, which is why the draw was announced. The agents will start at their new location next Thursday.

– In order to somewhat alleviate the dire shortage of prison guards, Minister Pracha Promnok (Justice) wants the extra security institutions to get 100 more guards. But actually more than 2.000 guards are needed to keep up with the increase in detainees. Thailand currently has 240.000 prisoners.

Pracha reacts to the hostage-taking and death of a jailer at Khao Bin prison in Ratchaburi on Sunday. A guard was taken hostage there by three prisoners and killed after trying to stop their escape attempt. Two of the three hostages were shot dead by the police.

– The idea of ​​not giving students cash but a smart card to buy school uniforms and learning materials has already been swept off the table by the Minister of Education. The idea was launched by the Office of the Basic Education Commission, but the minister believes that such a measure requires 'more preparation'. [Which is a polite way of saying what a bad idea.]

The minister believes that other measures are more urgent. Unfortunately, the message leaves us in the dark about what fantastic plans he has in store for Thai education.

– January 12 is Children's Day. To mark the occasion, Thailand Post has issued a commemorative stamp featuring the flags and national costumes of the 10 Asean countries. The stamp is 124 mm long, making it the largest ever issued. In 1997, a stamp of 116 mm was issued with the royal barge Suphannahongsa collection.

Economic news

– The mortgage system for rice will not cost much more than the price guarantee program of the previous government, says Olarn Chaipravat, economist and architect of the much-criticized mortgage system. He counts on an amount of 70 to 80 billion baht. Olarn says others' forecasts of 100 billion baht and more are based on the assumption that all types of rice capture the same price.

In an extensive article teeming with numbers, he (obviously) defends the system that aims to give farmers the income they deserve. As far as he is concerned, the system can be abolished when it is no longer necessary because farmers get the prices they earn from the market.

Olarn disputes the claim that exports fell in 2012 because of the high price of Thai rice [because the government buys paddy from farmers at prices 40 percent above market prices]. The collapse in exports, he says, is due to lower demand from Bangladesh, the Philippines and Indonesia, where things have returned to normal.

[Furthermore, I will leave the content of the article undiscussed, because there is no strings attached to it; not even, I suspect, for people reasonably versed in the matter. And whether the reporter / giver has understood it all, I dare to doubt. I can't catch him/her in any counterfire either.]

– Higher prices of vegetables, fruit, poultry and pork pushed up inflation in December. The consumer price index rose 3,63 percent compared to the same month last year and 2,74 percent compared to November.

Inflation for the full year 2012 amounted to 3,02 percent and core inflation (excluding fresh food and fuel) to 1,78 percent.

Vatchari Vimooktayon, permanent secretary of the Commerce Ministry, does not expect the increase in the minimum daily wage to 300 baht on January 1 to have a major impact on prices.

To calculate inflation, the ministry will use 2011 as the base year instead of 2007. The number of products will be expanded from 417 to 450. From now on, the price of natural gas for vehicles, interprovincial transport by minibus, childcare will also be taken into account. and the salaries of security guards.

– If the number of Chinese tourists continues to increase at the current rate, this will cause problems. In the first eleven months of 2012, the number rose 56 percent year-on-year to 2,52 million, and 3 million Chinese are expected to go on holiday to Thailand next year.

The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) is concerned that there are not enough guides, coaches and hotel rooms to cope with the rapid growth. A hotels must have at least 200 rooms to accommodate Chinese tour groups.

Besides Bangkok, popular holiday destinations for the Chinese are mainly Koh Samui, Koh Chang and Phuket. The ATTA calls on tour operators to also promote other destinations such as Hua Hin, Cha-Am and Krabi.

The Chinese currently make up 12,78 percent of the tourist market, followed by Malaysia (11,3 pc), Japan (6,27 pc), Russia (5,38 pc) and South Korea (5,32 pc). Globally, China is still in third place, but is expected to quickly overtake Germany and the US, both in number of tourists and in amount spent. In 2012, 80 million Chinese traveled abroad; they spent an estimated US$80 billion.

– The Industrial Works Department, seven factories and 15 tambons in eastern Sa Kaeo and Prachin Buri have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, in which they pledge to end the pollution of the Phra Prong River. It has also been agreed that the residents may visit the factories once a month.

Two or three times a year, hundreds of fish die in the river. The residents point to the factories, the IWD blames the farmers who use chemicals, but the residents say: we've been doing that for decades and we've never seen such a large fish kill.

Prapas Ruksri, head of the Bo Thong Tambon Administration Organization, finds it striking that water pollution mainly occurs during periods when civil servants are on vacation. Then we can't contact anyone, he says.

The residents, united in the Phra Prong River Basin Network, once had a small success against a company that produced starch. The company has been ordered to pay 1 million baht in damages, but has appealed. Other cases often fail because the court does not accept the residents' evidence, as it does not come from professionals.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post