News from Thailand – August 5, 2012
Queen Sirikit, whose birthday is August 12, is deeply concerned about the escalation of violence in the Deep South, which has now led to a flood of refugees.
Dozens of temples and residences in the three southernmost provinces have been abandoned and several temples are home to only a small number of monks, said Naphon Buntup, assistant aide-de-camp to the queen.
Naphon gave a lecture at the Internal Security Operations Command in Bangkok yesterday. He said the queen had bought land and given it to villagers affected by the violence. One month she spent 150 million to buy handicrafts from Muslims.
Authorities have now obtained a secret video clip of an insurgent rally. They talk about their strategy of attacking Buddhists and forcing them to leave the area with the ultimate goal of forming an autonomous state.
The army, police, civil servants and 17 ministers will meet in Bangkok on Wednesday to discuss an action plan. Among other things, the formation of a new command center in Bangkok is discussed. Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprasa thinks the situation will improve after this meeting.
Whether the proposed curfew is implemented is at the discretion of the Fourth Army Region, according to Yutthasak. The secretary-general of the Prime Minister's office yesterday defended Yingluck's decision not to go south. journey. According to her, the local authorities and the army are man enough to handle the violence.
Violence continued yesterday. In Pattani, three people, including a police officer, were shot dead. All three were fired upon while riding a motorcycle.
In Hat Yai, police have arrested six teenagers on suspicion of bombings. No weapons were found in their rooms, but drugs were. Tourism in Hat Yai has recovered, according to authorities. On March 31, three people were killed and 350 injured in a bomb attack at the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel.
– The queen reaches into the pouch more often, says Naphon. In 2010, she gave 22 million baht to residents of Bon Kai (Bangkok), where heavy fighting broke out in May between red shirts and security forces. Naphon announced the gift yesterday during a lecture at the Internal Security Operations Command in Bangkok.
At the time, Naphon went to the neighborhood in disguise to talk to the residents. Many residents were red shirts. They complained that the army made their lives miserable. Property was damaged by gunfire. The district is home to many people who earn their living selling food on the street, but because they did not have a permit, they were not eligible for government compensation.
– Some family members have contracted rabies in the Chom Thong district (Bangkok) after being bitten by their rabbit Poko. The health services meet tomorrow to find out how Poko contracted the virus. According to Malinee Sukvejvorak, deputy governor of Bangkok, this is the first case of infection from a rabbit. Dogs and cats are usually the source.
120 officials are checking the area around the family's home for signs of the disease. Dogs and cats within a radius of 5 kilometers are vaccinated.
The rabbit was bought at the Chatuchak weekend market. The family had bought 2 rabbits; the other rabbit, a female, had died of diarrhea shortly after purchase. After the family purchased a new female, Poko began biting the family members' feet around June 10. Poko died on July 28 and the female a day later.
– The International Criminal Court in The Hague is still busy. After the red shirts filed a complaint against the Abhisit government over the fighting between the army and red shirts in 2010, the Democrats have now hit back with a complaint about Thaksin's 'war on drugs', which has claimed the lives of many innocent civilians.
Incidentally, both petitions do not have much chance, because these types of cases fall outside the jurisdiction of the Court. [Not to be confused with the International Court of Justice, also in The Hague, which is dealing with the Preah Vihear case.]
– The Democrats are going to raise five issues in the requested censure debate, a debate that will culminate in a vote of no confidence: the rice mortgage system, the violence in the South, the collapse of prices of some agricultural products such as rubber, last year's floods and the border dispute with Cambodia. The rice mortgage system has so far cost the government 100 billion baht. The price guarantee for rice, which the previous government used, resulted in a deficit of 60 billion baht. It is not yet known when the censure debate will be held.
– Part of the Chaeng Watthana Road collapsed on Friday. It is the fourth time in three months that a section of road in Bangkok has failed. The Highways Department has begun a radar survey for subsidence in places where floods hit last year.
The subsidence on Chaeng Watthana Road is believed to be due to a leak in a water pipe. The road reopened on Saturday evening after a 24-hour repair.
– Residents of tambon Sra Longrua (Kanchanaburi) yesterday protested during a forum against the establishment of a copper and bronze smelter in their village. They fear for their health and environmental pollution.
– Prime Minister Yingluck is going to New York next month to address the UN General Assembly. She also visits UNICEF activities and meets bankers, investors and business people.
– Again the protected wood payung (rosewood) has been confiscated. In Kalasin, 217 blocks worth 100 million baht were intercepted. They had been smuggled out of Nakhon Phanom province.
– About half of the 900.000 people who work in the informal sector have stopped paying contributions to the Social Security Fund. If they are in default for a month, they cannot claim any sickness, disability or death benefit. One of the reasons why the workers do not pay, according to Somkid Duang-ngern, president of an interest group, is that there are not enough pay points. The workers must pay their dues at a branch of the Government Savings Bank or Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. When they pay at the Counter Service kiosks, they will be charged an administration fee. The contribution is 70 or 100 baht per month; the government adds 30 and 50 baht respectively.
– The border market in Mae Sai (Chiang Rai) was flooded yesterday after the Sai River overflowed its banks. Frontier markets on both sides of the river flooded.
The water in the Mekong River in Nong Khai province has reached a critical level. Water pumps are on standby in Muang.
In the nearby province of Nakhon Phanom, farmers fear that the Mekong will flood. When that happens, their fields will be flooded.
– A mother and daughter from Nakhon Nayok are used as an example by the editors of Bangkok Post, because they have returned 2 million baht that was mistakenly deposited into their bank account. They didn't get much sympathy from neighbors and others, because most of them thought they were crazy. The bank employee who had made the mistake would also have denounced them for damaging the bank's reliability.
This week, a former governor of the province arranged for the two to receive a 20.000 baht reward in recognition of their honesty. The newspaper assumes that the governor was also so generous, because the reputation of the province was at stake. Mother and daughter can use the money because they are burdened with debts.
[Strange that I should read this in the editorial, because the newspaper paid no attention to it before.]
– Thai AirAsia, Thailand's largest budget airline, will fly four times to Mandalay (Myanmar) from October 4. TAA thinks it can earn money with this now that radical reforms are taking place in the country. Yangon is already served twice a week by TAA. The new capital Nay Pyi Taw and historic Bagan are on the wish list. They are likely to come in the fourth quarter.
Other airlines seem to have little incentive to fly to Myanmar more often. Only Thai Airways International and Bangkok Airways fly to Yangon.
– For the second consecutive month, the monthly Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) fell, expectations for the second half of the year also fell. [The article does not say who or how the CCI is measured.] Consumers are concerned about the impact of the eurozone debt crisis on the domestic economy, says Wachira Kuntaweethep, a lecturer at the university's Center for Economic and Business Forecasting of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
A survey by the center of 2.248 respondents shows reduced confidence in job opportunities. Confidence in future income improvements has also fallen. Furthermore, respondents expect the global economic slump to continue, and they see no improvement in the high cost of living and domestic problems for the time being.
– Japanese cuisine can rejoice in an increasing popularity of Thai. Reason enough for Piyalert Baiyoke, director of PDS Holdings Co and son of the well-known hotelier Panlert Bayoke, to sign a 3-year management contract for the Japanese Gyu-Kaku barbecue restaurants.
The first restaurant opened at the beginning of this year on Soi Thaniya, the second opened recently on Soi Thong Lor. The case on Soi Thaniya broke even after only four months; the customers, both Japanese and Thai, spend an average of 800 to 1.000 baht per person.
Another restaurant is planned in Bangkok this year and five restaurants next year. This is followed by restaurants on a franchise basis. PDS will build a central kitchen in Pratunam, from which the branches will be supplied.
A marketing analyst says that Japanese restaurants have been in business for 5 years Thailand flourish. The future looks bright as Japanese food is considered healthy. Gyu-Kaku is the most popular barbecue restaurant chain in Japan. It has 700 branches in 25 countries.
www.dickvanderlugt – Source: Bangkok Post