News from Thailand (incl. Bangkok Shutdown and Elections) – February 10, 2014

There is no shortage of black viewers in Thailand. Not so long ago, Nipon Puapongsakorn – an expert of course, lends some weight to his prediction – said that if the rice mortgage system is continued, Thailand is in danger of going bankrupt.

Pridiyathorn Devakula, former finance minister and governor of the Bank of Thailand, called Thailand a "failed state" last week. According to him, the current government has failed in many areas.

And now former (twice!) Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun is sounding the alarm and he gets plenty of space in the newspaper (half a front page and almost a whole page with the interview). What is he saying?

“Continuing the current political deadlock will lead the country into recession. By then, calls for political and democratic reforms have been brushed aside. I think we've reached an impasse. I don't see a quick fix in the near future. And if this continues much longer, I fear that the economic and financial situation in our country will get much worse.'

Anand points out that in the fourth quarter of last year an economic growth of 4,5 to 5 percent was predicted for 2014. The Bank of Thailand and the Board of Trade now expect growth of 2,5 to 2,8 percent, a rate that Anand says will fall even further if instability continues. The consequences can be guessed: unemployment and loss of income, while purchasing power has already been eroded.

“The poor cannot afford their meals. The farmers are suffering. And the well to do spend less than they should. We are slowly moving towards a recession. For me, that is the critical issue for Thailand right now.”

– The Indian businessman Satith Sehgal threatened with deportation gets a helping hand. A group of businessmen demonstrated in front of the Indian embassy yesterday and handed over a letter asking the embassy to protect Satith's rights and freedom.

The expulsion is an initiative of the CMPO, the body responsible for the state of emergency. According to the CMPO, Sehgal violated it. He is also said to have given questionable speeches on the podiums of the anti-government movement and participated in the siege of the Aviation Department.

Sehgal says he ended his activities the day the state of emergency came into effect. He has not yet received a letter ordering him to leave the country. Sehgal has lived in Thailand for over 50 years. He is chairman of the Thai-India Business Association and in that capacity has advised various ministers of commerce on trade relations between the two countries.

– Plans to strike today do not exist, says the president of the union of Thai Airways International (THAI). Everyone just goes to work. Leaflets have been distributed in the company by strangers urging them to stop work today in support of the demand that the chairman and deputy chairman of the Board of Directors should pack their bags.

Both have filed proceedings against the union president and three others for leading a rally for a pay rise in January. The purpose of this procedure would be to intimidate the staff so that they do not start rummaging through the books of society, because THAI does not perform that well. The leaflets are a response to it.

– A 49-year-old defense volunteer was killed in a bomb attack in Mayo (Pattani) yesterday. The bomb, which was placed in his rubber plantation, left a crater 70 centimeters deep. The man's body was badly mutilated.

While an earlier report reported an increase in violence related to government weakness, this report reports a decrease. This is said to be related to the arrest and death of numerous core members of the resistance movement, as well as the heavy rains and flooding in the South.

– The photo was also in the newspaper (and also on Thailandblog): the man who had hidden his gun in a popcorn bag and fired from there. That happened during the firefight at the district office of Lak Si on February 1, a day before the elections. Protest leader Issara Somchai thinks that man is a soldier.

His explanation is consistent with what action leader Suthep Thaugsuban said earlier, namely that the man was not a guardian of the protest movement, as some believe. Police have not yet identified the man. In one of the photos, he has pulled up his balaclava so that his face is clearly visible.

Issara had gone to Lak Si with a group of protesters after hearing that a group of red shirts would try to disperse the protesters besieging the office. When Issara's group arrived, they were bombarded with gunfire, ping pong bombs and firecrackers. Calm was restored after soldiers arrived to evacuate the people who had fled into the district office. Six people were injured in the firefight.

– 50 percent of respondents in a poll by the E-Saan Center (Khon Kaen University) believe that the parliament and the new government cannot be formed due to the political strife and the risk that the February 2 elections will be declared invalid . 33 percent believe that this is possible, but it may take longer than three months.

– Taking 'selfie' photos (self-portraits) is not without risks, warns Panpimol Wipulakorn, deputy director general of the Department of Mental Health. Teenagers in particular take those pictures and put them online in the hope of scoring a lot of Likes. If they are not provided, this can be at the expense of their self-esteem. To avoid selfie addiction, Panpimol advises spending more time in the "real" world and maintaining more face-to-face contacts.

– The protest location Chaeng Wattana is being extra secured after being bombarded with M79 grenades for the second time. The protest leader at this location, the monk Luang Pu Buddha Issara, is not deterred; he has no intention of leaving despite a request from action leader Suthep Thaugsuban.

Grenades were thrown at the location on Thursday and Saturday; on Saturday, two persons were injured. Police and the army have set up more checkpoints in the area.

– Shopkeepers in Nakhon Sawan oppose the construction of a tunnel under the Dechatiwong intersection in Muang. They have put up banners with protest texts. According to them, the tunnel does not solve the traffic problem and deters those customers from shopping in the area. According to them, the money for the tunnel, 800 million baht, could be better spent on the construction of a new ring road. Authorities say the tunnel will help ease traffic congestion at seven nearby intersections.

– Although the public transport company of Bangkok is heavily burdened with debt, it wants to run the free buses on a number of routes. The business is also suffering from Bangkok Shutdown; the rallies cost the company 2,7 million baht daily in lost revenue. The free bus service was originally supposed to end on March 31.

– Little news from the election front. The Electoral Council will send a letter to Prime Minister Yingluck inviting him to discuss the date of re-elections in the 28 constituencies in the South, where a district candidate was missing because participants foiled their registration in December. The Electoral Council wants the government to issue a new Royal Decree. Whether this is legally correct remains to be seen.

Vice Prime Minister Phongthep Thepkanchana and former governing party Pheu Thai consider it unlikely that the government will agree to the Electoral Council's proposal. Opposition party Democrats believes that the Electoral Council should pass the hot potato on to the Constitutional Court.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post

Editorial notice

The Bangkok Breaking News section has been canceled and will only be resumed if there is reason to do so.

Bangkok Shutdown and the elections in images and sound:

www.thailandblog.nl/nieuws/videos-bangkok-shutdown-en-de-keuzeen/