Although the use of formalin is banned, it is still widely used by vegetable and fish sellers to keep their goods fresh. In a study of 275 food samples collected from five markets in Nakhon Sawan province, the Department of Health found formalin in 37 and 59 percent of the samples. The department will expand its research to the entire country.
The formalin was found on shrimp, squid, chopped ginger, chopped finger root, straw mushrooms, gray oyster mushrooms, black mushrooms, long beans en oak leaf ferns (sorry I can't give the translation). Consumers can easily determine the use by smelling the products. It is advised to rinse vegetables with water for 5 to 10 minutes or to put them in the water for an hour.
Formalin is a solution containing 40 percent formaldehyde. The stuff is dangerous for both the consumer and the seller because it is carcinogenic. Formalin is a clear liquid that evaporates easily. Those who are exposed to it for a short time will suffer from eye and respiratory irritations; exposure over a long period of time can lead to serious health problems and even death.
– The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD, red shirts) will focus its arrows on four targets: the protest movement, independent institutions, the judiciary and groups that aim for a military coup. This was announced by UDD chairman Tida Tawornseth on Sunday at a meeting of 4.000 red shirt leaders in Nakhon Ratchasima (photo).
Tida referred to the 'fraudulent independent agencies of the aristocratic elite' (meaning the Electoral Council, the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Ombudsman) and accused the judiciary of injustice.
The newspaper does not yet report concrete plans. Red shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan did suggest boycotting companies that support the protest movement. Never averse to rhetoric, he said: 'From today on we must fight to victory. We have two choices: win or be killed. We need to teach Suthep a lesson for challenging the UDD.”
– Three activists have been awarded 'person of the year' by the Komol Keemthong Foundation. They received the award for their work in the fields of the environment, human rights and caring for children with multiple disabilities, respectively.
– De Transport Co, the company that operates interurban bus transport, will replace its fleet over the next three years. Hundreds of new 15-metre buses are being purchased on a lease basis. The buses will be delivered before the end of the year. The purchase of another 269 buses is planned for next year. The buses are equipped with camera surveillance and GPS. In total, the company operates 7.000 buses and 6.000 minibuses.
– Insurgents shot dead a couple in Bannang Sata (Yala) on Saturday night and set fire to their house, a pickup truck, car and motorcycle (photo home page). According to witnesses, 16 men in three pickup trucks were involved in the attack. They fired on the house with M47 and AKXNUMX rifles. Another house was also shot at, but there were no casualties.
In Narathiwat, a bomb destroyed a Government Savings Bank ATM. The machine was covered in gunpowder, but still functioned.
Common abbreviations
UDD: United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (red shirts)
Capo: Center for the Administration of Peace and Order (body responsible for applying the ISA)
CMPO: Center for Maintaining Peace and Order (responsible body for the State of Emergency that has been in effect since January 22)
ISA: Internal Security Act (emergency law that gives the police certain powers; applies throughout Bangkok; less strict than the Emergency Decree)
DSI: Department of Special Investigation (the Thai FBI)
PDRC: People's Democratic Reform Committee (headed by Suthep Thaugsuban, ex-opposition Democrat MP)
NSPRT: Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand (radical protest group)
Pefot: People's Force to Overthrow Thaksinism (ditto)
PAERN: People's Army and Energy Reform Network (action group against energy monopoly)
Bangkok shutdown
“These brutal attacks were the work of the servants of the Thaksin regime,” said Satit Wongnongtoey. Shortly after the Big C attack on Ratchaprasong road, the PDRC leader read a statement from the PDRC accusing the government of supporting armed groups.
Prime Minister Yingluck strongly condemned the attacks last night. She called the attacks "terrorist acts for political gain with no regard for human life." Yingluck said the government has ordered authorities to conduct a thorough investigation to find and bring the culprits to justice.
The PDRC links the attacks to the ruling of the civil court last Wednesday. Although the court did not prohibit the emergency ordinance, it did limit the powers of the CMPO. For example, the court banned the dispersal of demonstrators and other measures that violate the right to demonstrate.
The weekend was marked by three incidents. See the posts Four-year-old boy and woman killed in attack in central Bangkok, in: Attack on anti-government protesters Khao Saming: XNUMX-year-old girl killed. The third incident involves a grenade found in a parking lot between the civil court and the courthouse on Ratchadaphisek Road. The police put a tire around it to prevent accidents from happening. There was also another incident in Ubon Ratchathani. There, a fire was set in front of the clinic of National Human Rights Commissioner Niran Pitakewatchara.
Rear Admiral Winai Klom-in, head of the Naval Special Warfare Command, believes the attacks are the work of armed foreigners. He previously warned that foreign groups had entered Thailand. Winai's command is responsible for the area where the attack in Trat took place on Saturday evening. He says it is difficult for his men to guard the extensive border area.
– Academics warn of serious damage to the economy if the protest movement starts boycotting companies owned by the Shinawatra family. The PDRC's new campaign could undermine long-term confidence in the country's economy and investment, says political scientist Yuthaporn Issarachai. "When the political situation is accompanied by a lack of confidence in the economy, the international community will lose confidence in Thailand." On which occasion the gloomy sounds were heard, the newspaper does not mention.
– After not appearing in public for days, Prime Minister Yingluck suddenly reappeared yesterday at the funeral of the officer who was killed on Tuesday during the fighting at the Phan Fah bridge. Yingluck had not been seen since Wednesday. On that day, her temporary workspace in a Defense building was surrounded by demonstrators.
The funeral took place in Rayong, Trat's neighboring province, where protesters were attacked on Saturday night. The media were not informed about Yingluck's visit beforehand. It wasn't until 45 minutes later that it became known through a post on her Facebook page.
According to Yingluck's secretary, she is staying in a 'safe house' in Bangkok. Yingluck has decided not to go too far in order to prevent more fighting between police and demonstrators. It is uncertain whether Tuesday's cabinet meeting will take place. Visits are planned in the country, but the secretary does not want to say which provinces Yingluck will visit. She may visit the provinces in the Northeast that are suffering from a severe drought.
Rice mortgage system
– The president of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives will probably have to leave the field, because he has not been able to properly implement the mortgage system. The board of directors would like to sack Luck Wajananawat because he does not listen to the council and also not to the minister of finance. The BAAC staff went to headquarters yesterday to give their boss a heartfelt encouragement.
It's all about the government's attempts to find money to pay farmers, who have been waiting months for it. The government has been pressuring the bank to raise funds, but Luck is reluctant to cooperate, fearing legal complications now that the House of Representatives has been dissolved and the government is outgoing. Luck urges the government to act with caution for that reason.
– The approximately thousand farmers camping in front of the Ministry of Commerce in Nonthaburi will increase their protest tomorrow. How exactly, the newspaper does not say. Protest leader Luang Pu Buddha Issara gave them 1 million baht as a gift.
– Furthermore, there was a seminar of the Thai Health Promotion yesterday at which the mortgage system was discussed. We know by now what was said there. A community platforms leader from Surin said that a farmer's family has an average debt of 50.000 baht a year, twice as much as two years ago.
Elections
– Former government party Pheu Thai threatens to file a report if the Electoral Council does not complete the elections in time. And that is indeed not the case for re-election in the 28 constituencies in the South, where district candidates could not be voted on because protesters foiled their registration in December.
The solution is being debated by the government and the Electoral Council. The Electoral Council is considering asking the Constitutional Court to take the plunge. And that all revolves around the simple question: do these re-elections require a new Royal Decree? The Electoral Council says yes, the government says no.
The Electoral Council plans to invite the coalition parties to discuss the problems with officials from Songkhla, one of the eight provinces without candidates. Pheu Thai sees that invitation as an attempt to play the problem back to the coalition parties, says Pheu Thai spokesperson Prompong Nopparit. The meeting could prompt protesters in the province to organize a rally, which could then be used by the Electoral Council as an excuse not to be able to hold the elections. [Can you still follow it?]
– In midterm elections in Muang and Chatuchack (Bangkok), two municipal council seats, formerly occupied by Pheu Thai, went to Pheu Thai and opposition party Democrats. The seats had become vacant because the PTers participated in the national elections.
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/
According to the Belgian newspaper HLN, she would stay 150 km outside of Bangkok.
http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/960/Buitenland/article/detail/1799485/2014/02/24/Thaise-premier-ontvlucht-Bangkok.dhtml
@ RonnyLatPhrao The paper is probably referring to Yingluck's visit to Rayong. I can't imagine HLN being more informed than Bangkok Post.
Dick,
No idea whether or not she is better informed than the BP.
Source is ANP 🙂
@RonnyLatPhrao ANP must have taken the message from AFP, a Thailand-based news agency that is usually well-informed. So who knows, the message is correct.
Dick, I also can't imagine that HLN is better informed than the Bangkok Post. But that does not mean that I believe that the Bangkok Post provides reliable information!
@ Paul Well, I can relate to that. BP pretends to be 'The newspaper you can trust', but I regularly encounter errors, contradictions, calculation errors, unanswered questions, etc. The newspaper is also very one-sidedly focused on the government. There is no correspondent network in the country, so that the rest of the country receives scant news. Own research is scarce with the exception of Spectrum. But I don't know a better English-language medium, so we'll just have to make do with it.
breaking news 1 Prime Minister Yingluck was harassed by PDRC protesters while visiting the OTOP complex in Phu Khae (Saraburi) today. From a distance, they fired questions at the prime minister through loudspeakers, such as why she is 'on vacation' while people are being killed in the capital. Yingluck was also treated to a flute concert. The mayor of Phu Khae was unable to move the protesters. Later the police came with a hundred men. After an hour and a half, the prime minister left again. Other appointments for today have been cancelled. OTOP means One Tambon One Product. It is a program set up by Thaksin after the Japanese example to allow villages to specialize in one product.
gassed? Small typo Dick? 😉
@ Marcel Vergast is the past participle of vergasten (= to welcome, treat). I understand the confusion because gass has the same past participle.
breaking news 2 Luang Pu Buddha Issara is demanding that Voice TV, an internet and satellite TV company owned by Thaksin's three children, give farmers the opportunity to reply to a presenter's claim that they are not real farmers. Issara and farmers gathered at the Voice TV office on Vibhavadi-Rangsit road this morning. They stayed neatly outside the gate, promising to stay there until they had their say.
Today, protesters are marching on several businesses owned by the Shinawatra family. According to action leader Suthep Thaugsuban, the family owns 45 companies with a total capital of 52 billion baht. The largest company is real estate developer SC Asset Plc. The Rama IX hospital is also owned by the Shinawatras, but it is left undisturbed, as are educational institutions. Suthep threatens to bankrupt the other.
breaking news 3 A second police officer fell victim to fighting on Tuesday at the Phan Fah Bridge in Bangkok. He died of his injuries in hospital today. This brings the death toll to six: four civilians and two police officers. 69 people were injured in the fighting. Since the end of November, the protests have claimed 20 lives and 718 injured, according to data from the municipal Erawan Center.
breaking news 4 Army Commander Prayuth Chan-ocha, in a 10-minute TV speech today, urged all parties to resolve the political crisis through talks. Talks are needed to prevent further violence, which would cause serious damage to the country.
The general reiterated that the army has no intention of intervening. The military option is not a solution to the crisis. As a result, violence would increase and the constitution would be broken down. If we use the wrong means, or deploy the military, how can we be sure that the situation will end peacefully?'
breaking news 5 Bypassing the police, the relatives of two civilians who were killed in clashes between police and protesters at the Phan Fah bridge on Tuesday have filed a murder charge with the Criminal Court. The police were passed over because they don't trust them to handle the case properly.
Indicted are Prime Minister Yingluck, CMPO Director Chalerm Yubamrung, Chief Commissioner Adul Saengsingkaew and two others. The indictment alleges that some officers carried firearms and carried explosives. The accused should have realized that officers would shoot live ammunition. The court is considering whether the complaint can be dealt with, now that the police have not brought the case.
breaking news 6 Another grenade attack, this time aimed at the headquarters of the opposition party Democrats in Phaya Thai (Bangkok), but instead the grenade hit the house next door. Two cars were damaged. No injuries have occurred. The attack, which took place at 13:XNUMX am, is the second at headquarters. On January XNUMX, the building came under fire. The coffee shop located at the front was damaged in the process. Even then there were no injuries.
breaking news 7 Nineteen people have been killed and 717 injured since November, 32 of whom are still in hospital. The police have not even managed to arrest a single suspect for the attacks. Strangely enough, the police quickly managed to arrest the suspects of an attack on red shirt leader Kwanchai Praipana in Udon Thani.
Veera Prateepchaikul makes this wry observation in a column on the Bangkok Post website. But not only that, he also reveals how a red shirt leader from Chon Buri told a meeting of the UDD in Nakhon Ratchasima on Sunday that he had 'good news'. 'The PDRC members of Suthep in Khao Saming (Trat) have received a well-deserved welcome from local residents. Five people were killed and more than thirty injured.'
His words were met with cheers and raised fists by many in the audience. But before he could continue, UDD chairman Tida Tawornseth cut him off. "The red shirt movement does not welcome violence." Former PT MP Worachai Hema then escorted the man off stage.
Veera has only one word for it: Disgusting.