slimdog

ICT Ministry to announce measures for taking back satellite concession on Monday

Information and Communications Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom will Monday announce measures for taking back satellite concessions from Singapore's Temasek Holdings, he said Sunday.

After the announcement, he will submit the measurse to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to consider and choose.

He said the mesures would not affect the feelings of foreign investors and would not be seen a persecution against Singapore.

Sitthichai declined to accept the proposal of the Democrat Party to issue bond to raise fund to buy back the satellite concessions.

source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...newsid=30027175

A couple of snippets from the Bangkok Posts report:

ShinSat is 41% owned by Shin Corp, so it is still a Thai-owned firm. The company has signed a Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) contract, so satellites and orbital slots are considered state-owned. The company only has the right to provide services. The management and staff are also Thai.

ShinSat's concession was amended to allow Shin Corp to reduce its stake from 51% to the minimum 40%. The original contract required Shin Corp to hold at least 50% shares for the 30-year contract.

Full story: http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/17Feb2007_news00.php

SUVARNABHUMI CRISIS

'Can we get to work please?'

Engineers say they are waiting for green light to drain water from sand below airfield in damage-control operation

Engineers are wondering how bad the problems need to get at Suvarnabhumi Airport before the government gives them the go-ahead to start fixing things. In one of its strongest public statements, the Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT) insisted on the urgent need to drain water from beneath the tarmac now - or risk closure of the entire runway and taxiway system.

Karun Chandrarangsu, EIT president, said technical studies have clearly shown that water trapped in the sand layer under the airport tarmac causes ruts and cracks in the airfield. Draining the water is imperative for damage control before experts determine permanent repair methods.

"Suvarnabhumi is like a patient in a coma who continues to suffer from severe bleeding. Stopping the blood flow now is more urgent and important than debating what caused the injury," Karun said.

In their statement issued yesterday, EIT experts warned that if the water is allowed to remain in the sand, the airport may start to see ruts and cracks spread from the currently damaged areas of about 80,000 square metres to the rest of the two million square metres of runways and taxiways.

It is becoming clearer that the problems affecting Suvarnabhumi are far more administrative and political than technical, many engineers said.

Since Tortrakul Yomnak, chairman of the airport's tarmac inspection panel, announced his findings on Monday, there have been a series of meetings at the airport this week to discuss installing a network of pipes and filters to allow water to flow back out from under the sand, which would then allow the area to be repaired.

An Airports of Thailand (AOT) source told The Nation that while it's agreed this method should be employed, no one seems to know who is to give the workers the go-ahead to get started.

"Engineers and technicians on the ground have been ready since Wednesday, but we have to wait for someone higher up to give us the green light," the source said. "If this is a normal situation we would have done it by now, but Suvarnabhumi is now so politically sensitive we can't take the risk in case somebody doesn't like what we do."

The source said technical staff would have more confidence if the drainage operation were commissioned by the AOT board of directors.

However, AOT's board president General Saprang Kalayanamitr told The Nation that the board's job was to oversee the organisation's policy - not the technical side of the operation.

"Why wait for my order? If they see a drowning man, will they wait for my order to jump into the river to the man's rescue?" Saprang asked. "If they can't do their jobs, let someone else do it."

Nonetheless, EIT's Suebsak Promboon agreed with ground engineers that the matter needed to be decided by someone with higher authority, possibly as high as the Cabinet level, because of the legal implications of the issue.

Some concerns were raised about warranty issues associated with intervening before a more complete investigation has identified if some of the engineering and construction firms are liable for the problems.

However, all parties were assured that such an intervention in these situations were not uncommon and only needed to be well-documented.

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont chaired a meeting of officials and experts to tackle the problems at Suvarnabhumi yesterday, but government reports about the meeting did not mention when and how the repair work would start at the airport.

The frustrating part about all of this, noted Suebsak, is that AOT was informed about the water problem four months ago. His organisation sent AOT a report warning them that a few cracks that had already occurred were likely the result of water leaking into the sand layer beneath the pavement, and that immediate action should be taken to extract it.

"The AOT did nothing about the problem," Suebsak recalled. "The situation might not have become this bad if the water had been drained then."

source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/17...es_30027125.php

what about Telenor, the Norwegian government owns about 70% of DTAC?

Shareholder Structure

Shareholders Stake in DTAC

UCOM 43.1%

Telenor Asia 32.6%

Free Float 16.1%

Other Thai 8.2%

(as of December 31, 2006

Jack Norway

Thai Telco put on the marriage market

Telenor said on the lookout for likely local talent

Telenor is seeking local partners for Thai Telco Holdings, which is a part owner of United Communication Industry Plc, a source close to Ucom shareholders said last week.

"The potential buyers can be local financial institutions or [other] serious investors," the source said.

The Norwegian telecom giant hopes that a new local shareholders would make Ucom safe from the controversy surrounding foreign nominees.

Thai Telco is among 13 companies under investigation by a Commerce Ministry committee for possibly violating the foreign business law by acting as nominees for foreign investors.

The probe started with Kularb Kaew, Cedar Holdings, Aspen Holdings and Cypress Holdings, all of which were directly or indirectly involved in the takeover of Shin Corp in January by Singapore's Temasek Holdings.

The government decided to expand the investigation because it came under public pressure to treat all companies with questionable ownership fairly.

In the year 2000, Telenor bought 24.8 per cent of Ucom and 30 per cent of DTAC through its subsidiary Telenor Asia. DTAC has been the main rival to AIS, the leader in the cellular market.

Last October, Telenor increased its stake in its local partnerships in a complex series of transactions that saw Thai Telco Holdings, Telenor Asia's 49-per-cent-owned affiliate, buying 39.9 per cent of Ucom in a deal worth Bt9.2 billion.

Thai Telco now owns 42.4 per cent of Ucom, while Telenor Asia holds 47 per cent. Ucom owns 43.1 per cent of DTAC, while Telenor Asia owns 32.6 per cent.

The foreign business and telecom laws cap foreign shareholdings in telecoms at 49 per cent. A company defined as a nominee for foreign interests could face a fine or imprisonment.

DTAC chief executive Sigve Brekke said the Singapore-listed telecom would list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in the middle of next year as part of its dual-listing plan.

DTAC plans to float 44.4 million shares in a public offering, of which 16.4 million new shares will come from DTAC and 28 million shares from Ucom. After that Ucom will be delisted from the SET.

Ucom reported to the SET that the 28 million common shares were equivalent to 6.11 per cent of DTAC's total shares and are worth about Bt4.2 billion.

source: http://eng.ntc.or.th/index.php?option=com_...7&Itemid=22

No link I am afraid, but in todays edition of the Bangkok Post there was an article regarding efavirenz (stocrin)

US drug manufacturer Merck & Co announced a 14.5% reduction in the price of its HIV/Aids medicine efavirenz in Thailand and other countries hardest hit by the epidemic

The company said yesterday the price of the 600mg formulation of efavirenz had been reduced to US$ 0.65 per day or US$237.25 per patient per year, from US$0.75 per day. The new price is equivelent to 700 baht per patient per month.

Might not have a choice in the end..... if new airport closes that is.

Todays news:

Don Muang may not be reopened: offiical

Don Muang International Airport may not be reopened due to lower-than-expected number of airlines that have shown the intention of moving their operations to the old airport, said an executive of Airports of Thailand.

Pinit Saraithong, Don Maung director, said the old airport may not be reopened as only three airlines are interested in moving to Don Muang. The airlines operate a number of flights which account for a tiny part of the flights operated at Suvarnabhumi.

"How could we survive with the few number of clients," he said.

AOT earlier expected at least 30 per cent flights from Suvarnabhumi would be moved to Don Muang.

Transport Minister Theera Haocharoen said after the meeting with over 60 airlines today that most of them insist on staying at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The issue would be finalised by the a panel, chaired by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, which will hold a meeting Friday, he said.

source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...newsid=30026966

Lets see what tomorrows story is........

-"National emergency" ? As ColPyat said, with Aids they could have a point (eventhough the mortality rate can not be compared with Africa). But drugs against heart diseases ? And even some antibiotics ?

-Compare Thailand with... Africa ? That's a utter joke. Thailand has money. Thailand has a medical system.

-The aim of this circus is to save... 24 millions dollars ? How many cars BMW has sold in Thailand in 2006 ? 3200. The foreign currency reserves of BOT has reached 65 billions USD...

-The health minister said to Reuters : "We have to do this because we have so many patients to treat with so little budget. We can't watch our people die and their patents have been here for so long". Big thai mouth, totally disconnected from reality.

The truth is : the thai elite is not willing to pay a little to save its citizen (I should write its slaves).

-The whole story can be compared with Capital control, FBA, Airport etc. Everything this gvt does is equal to a minigun aimed at their feet.

-Once again, Thailand's reputation is going to be tarnished.

I'm not going to disagree with you on what you have stated. But for the record, I presume that the anti-biotics in question are probably going to be Bactrim which is one of the few anti-biotics which is good at clearing up pcp pneumonia (An AIDS related disease), and is also frequently given to people who have very low cd4 counts to assist their body's natural immune system.

Whilst a lot of the figures point to doom and gloom, one thing which does have to be remembered is that Thailand's death rate from AIDS is actually comparable to first world countries such as U.K and France.

2004 - 2005 figures show approx 500,000 AIDS sufferers in Thailand

2004 - 2005 figures show approx 50,000 AIDS sufferers in the U.K

2004 - 2005 figures show approx 100,000 AIDS sufferers in France

Deaths due to AIDS in all these countries during this period was approx 1%. Obviously the numbers quoted are approx and could be out by as much as 100% for each country...

How many people were affected percentage wise? How valid is the argument that cheap Thai generic medicine creates more problems than it solves? Is it because of substandard quality or would it be the case with patented drugs as well?

I understand that there aren't that many drugs available (and they should be cheap and generic, too) for those who developed drug resistance.

It's difficult to come up with exact figures as to how many people are affected by resistance. One quite small study came up with the following:

According to assistant professor Dr. Wasun Chantrtita, a member of Mahidol University's faculty of medicine at Ramathibodi Hospital, a study of about 300 patients receiving the generic combination of three HIV/AIDS drugs found increasing resistance to the treatment. Forty-nine percent of patients were resistant to lamivudine, 39.6 percent to stavudine, and 58 percent to nevirapine. Resistant patients switched to a more powerful regimen costing Bt10,000 ($239 US) per month, compared to Bt1,000 ($24 US) for GPO-vir, developed by the Government Pharmaceutical Organization

source: http://www.thebody.com/cdc/news_updates_ar...resistance.html

As to your question about whether cheap Thai generic drugs have created more problems than they solve? Well for the people who have been prescribed the medication it was mostly GPO/vir or nothing. Do people get resistant to the original patented medicines? Yes but they are normally given alternative medications which the GPO/vir doesn't allow.

Lets hope that some form of co-operation can be initiated, the last thing that Thailand needs is for Pharmaceutical companies to stop providing needed drugs.

What about claims that Thai copy of the drug is less effective and that HIV virus developed resistance to it, so that now Thais treated with Gipovir (sp?) initially to save costs now have to take a second line of drugs that are far more expensive than the initial patented drug? Will they make a cheap copy of that second line of drugs, develop resistance to it, then there will be no drugs to copy left, seriously.

It sound like a strong case against copying drugs in substandard factories.

How much of it is true? I've read at least two articles with these allegations.

Like any drug the GPO/vir medication has it's good points and it's bad points.

The good points are:

Being a combination treatment, means that it is easy for the patients to take as prescribed (1 tablet every 12 hrs)

It's cheap enough to provide free of charge

For the majority of people it does what it is supposed to.

The Bad points:

The gpo tried to make a "one-drug-for-all medicine", which means that if someone builds up a resistance to one of the ingredients they have no choice but to go onto another form of medication.

Drugs like efavirenz (stocrin) are still classed as a first stage hiv medication, but they have to be taken with 2 additional medications which can be either seperate or in a combination tablet. The advantages of using medicines like stocrin are that various dosages or a combination of different stage one medications can be tried in order to get the required results.

Even when GPO/vir was first released they admitted that even should the medication be taken exactly as prescribed it was probable that it would only be effective for 5 - 7 years, for those who didn't take the medicine as prescribed, then the effictiveness was upto 2 years.

Thailand to 'unpatent' 14 drugs: Report

Thailand is planning to break the foreign patents of 14 HIV/Aids, cancer and heart drugs, a move that may prompt companies to withhold new drugs from the Thai market, the Reuters news agency reported in a dispatch from Bangkok on Wednesday evening.

the article also states:

"Individual pharmaceutical companies will certainly consider the very significant risk this policy poses when deciding whether to bring their latest medicines to the Thai market," he said.

"Far from providing poor patients with the best medicines, the compulsory licence policy might block access to new treatments in Thailand."

Full story: http://www.bangkokpost.net/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=116803

another article in The Nation by Philip Stevens against the Thai governments proposals on the introduction of three new Compulsory licence agreements can be found at:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/14...on_30026809.php

Pojaman tax case will take time, says AEC spokesman

The tax evasion case against Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra and her brother will take time to reach a final verdict as the case has to go through three courts, Assets Examination Committee (AEC) spokesman Sak Korsaengruang said yesterday.

Sak said the AEC had found it could not lodge the tax evasion case with a Tax Court because the bill to set up such a court has not been passed yet.

Even if the National Legislative Assembly passes the bill quickly, the law will only come into effect 180 days after it is announced in the Royal Gazette.

Sak said if the case was lodged with the Tax Court - and the suspect appeals - the case can skip trial in the Appeal Court and be tried only in the Supreme Court.

The AEC will submit the tax evasion case to the public prosecutor today after checking all the evidence and documents.

Maybe someone can make some sense of this....

In a previous post the AEC said it had found the couple guilty of tax evasion, but they are now saying that the law they want to charge them with, hasn't been written yet (Or at least there's no court willing to take the case). As the Tax court can only try cases of actual Tax evasion, whereas Tax in this case has been paid (allbeit belatedly). But if the AEC do charge them with tax evasion (At the Tax Court) ,and the siblings appeal the charge, then they can skip trial in the appeals court (The Appeals court can only be used once a trial has actually taken place) and progress to the Supreme Court for trial (With no means of appeal).

Otherwise they have to wait 6 months for a new court to be appointed specifically for conspiring to evade taxes, and by which time the statute of limitations has expired....

Forgot to put a link to the original article, which is:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/15...al_30026910.php

Pojaman tax case will take time, says AEC spokesman

The tax evasion case against Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra and her brother will take time to reach a final verdict as the case has to go through three courts, Assets Examination Committee (AEC) spokesman Sak Korsaengruang said yesterday.

Sak said the AEC had found it could not lodge the tax evasion case with a Tax Court because the bill to set up such a court has not been passed yet.

Even if the National Legislative Assembly passes the bill quickly, the law will only come into effect 180 days after it is announced in the Royal Gazette.

Sak said if the case was lodged with the Tax Court - and the suspect appeals - the case can skip trial in the Appeal Court and be tried only in the Supreme Court.

The AEC will submit the tax evasion case to the public prosecutor today after checking all the evidence and documents.

Bhanapot Damapong, Pojaman's brother, will today give his testimony over the Shin Corp sale at the AEC.

AEC member Udom Fuangfung said he would not file a libel suit against Pojaman for citing he has "no ethics" as the reason against him sitting on an investigation committee to probe the land-deal corruption allegation. He dismissed her reason as groundless.

As parts of a public relations effort, the AEC will televise its work on Channel 5 during prime time from 8.30pm to 9.30pm, once a week starting March 9.

AEC secretary Kaewsan Atibodhi said the AEC was considering what format the programme should take. The agency wants the public to know just how corruption is carried out and what the process is - and how to prevent it.

The agency will not provide details about the 13 cases it is investigating.

Meanwhile, AEC member Jaruwan Maintaka has given a media interview disagreeing with the media blitz about the AEC's work.

Source: The Nation - 15 February 2007

Govt invites editors to dinner tonight

The government will host a dinner on Tuesday evening for newspaper editors and executives of television stations - but ministers will not ask them during dinner to stop reporting about the travels of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Prime Minister's Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan said that, instead, the editors will listen to an appeal for media cooperation to report news that would benefit the public

Full story: http://www.bangkokpost.net/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=116760

Compulsory licencing 'on hold': Public Health Minister

BANGKOK, Feb 13 (TNA) - Thailand's Public Health Ministry has said it has no intention to override additional drug patents in the near future while defending its controversial decision to issue compulsory licences for three original drugs.

Thailand's campaign to bring affordable healthcare to all in need has run counter to the perceived proporietary interests in multinational pharmaceutical firms which hold the patents to several key drugs that Thailand sees as too expensive for local patients and their families.

Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla insisted Monday that the government did carefully and thoroughly consider its earlier move to effectively 'break the patents' of two AIDS drugs and a heart disease medication because it was aware of possible negative repercussions from the international pharmaceutical industry.

But he stressed that the move was necessary if the government wanted to ensure broader access to necessary medicines.

Last week, the Health Ministry issued compulsory licences for the heart disease drug Plavix, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis and Abbott Laboratories' Kaletra to treat HIV/AIDS. In November, it overrode the patent for Efivirenz, an anti-retroviral drug made by Merck.

The ministry has appointed a new panel to review whether it would be necessary to take similar action on any other drugs still under the patents of pharmaceutical giants. A committee set up by the previous administration recommended a list of 10 medicines including diabetes, cancer and cholesterol reduction pills.

Dr. Mongkol said no decision has been reached while the review is still on-going. "We don't do it without necessity or rationale," the minister stressed.

When asked if the move could upset the pharmaceutical industry and dissuade original drug manufacturers to introduce innovative treatments to the Thai market, Dr. Mongkol said he would take into account the length of time during which the drugs in question have been introduced locally.

In addition, there would necessarily be appropriate committees to consider the pros and cons of adopting compulsory licensing before any recommendation is sent to him, the minister said.

He hoped that the policy on compulsory licensing would lead to a dialogue between health authorities and the pharmaceutical industry over public access to inexpensive and quality medical treatment over the long run.

"If companies see that their drugs are in the market for some time, they can bring prices down on their own. Then we don't have to enforce compulsory licensing because we honestly don't want to. It only creates ill feelings between us," Dr. Mongkol said. (TNA)-E110

When did they actually start to construct (back filling etc) the new airport? Was this during Thaksin reign or did they start already earlier before he came to power?

Whilst there are probably better chronology reports of the new airport, one good reference can be found at:

http://bidding.airportthai.co.th/airportne.../history1en.php

The first page details contracts awarded by the NBIA and cabinet resolutions from 1996 to the end of 2004 and pages 2 - 4 give some of the background info on Proposed sites, future of Don Meung

Interesting snippets are:

May 27th 1997- The Cabinet resolves to approve a revised plan whereby NBIA is to complete construction of the Second Bangkok International Airport by 2003 and have it open for service in 2004. Initially, the airport is to have only 1 runway and a capacity of 20 million passengers per year.

July 21st 1998 - The Cabinet resolves to approve NBIA’s construction of the Second Bangkok International Airport with two runways and a capacity of 30 million passengers per year, at a cost of 120 billion baht.

hope of some help

Bangkok's new airport runway is safe

Bangkok (dpa) - A two-week investigation into about 100 cracks that have appeared on the taxiways and a runway of Bangkok's new 3.9-billion-dollar Suvarnabhumi Airport found that the damage is less serious than expected, inspectors said Monday.

"Judging from our two-week investigation, I'm confident that the runway is safe," said Tortrakul Yomnak, a chief engineer for the Airports of Thailand government agency, which led the inquiry.

Full story: http://www.bangkokpost.net/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=116747

Time to blame the foreigners.......

A drain should have been put in place to take water from beneath the taxiways and runways of Suvarnabhumi airport, says an expert investigating problems there. Foreign engineers might not be aware that the airport's site was once a swamp, said the expert, who asked not to be named.

Full story: http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/12Feb2007_news01.php

Post-coup Thailand in the eyes of the US and China

Thailand's relations, both strategic and related to defence, with the world's most powerful countries, the US and China, are akin to a cat-and-mouse game - nothing is left to chance.

Both countries play a pivotal role in Thailand's security, as well as its political and economic wellbeing, especially in the aftermath of the September 19 coup.

The US and China have each taken a distinct approach towards Thailand. At home, they were among the first countries to congratulate Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, but both have greatly differed in their follow-up diplomatic activities. While Washington loudly condemned the coup, China was mute under the pretext of the principle of non-interference. An immediate ban of bilateral military assistance worth US$24 million (Bt818 million) was quickly imposed a few days after the coup by the US.

Speedily and discretely, China moved in to fill the void left by the US ban with a special assistance package that included $49 million worth of military aid and training. The good news was delivered to General Sonthi Boonyaratglin during his unpublicised trip to Beijing recently. At a time like this, China's new found power and influence is being felt deeply in Thailand.

Beijing continued with visits by several senior Chinese officials, mostly in the military and security fields. State councillor Tang Jiaxuan, a former Chinese foreign minister, will be visiting Bangkok after Chinese New Year to reaffirm Beijing's support of the Council for National Security (CNS) and the government. Tang has played a significant part in the Thailand-China friendship, as he penned the comprehensive framework of cooperation with former foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan in 1998, which subsequently led to similar agreements with all Asean members. It effectively signalled a new era of closer cooperation between Thailand and China after diplomatic relations were established in 1975.

The exchanging of visits between Surayud and his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, could be finalised during Tang's trip. Beijing wanted to delay Surayud's proposed visit to China on February 27 or 28 to either May or June, with Wen's return visit set for the end of the year. Beijing's reluctance drew a shrug from the Thai side.

So far no senior US officials have visited Thailand, except three former presidents, George Bush, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram was unable to secure a positive response from the US State Department on the possibility of him visiting Washington late last month. It was a big blow for him given the extensive network in the capital that he has been building for over a decade. However, the worst has yet to come.

For almost three decades, Thailand and the US have been holding combined military exercises code-named Cobra Gold, which has transformed from a bilateral exercise to what is now the largest US joint military exercise in Asia. But the coup could change all of that this year. Decisions on the exercise will be made next week in Washington. Intra-security agencies will meet and review Thai-US relations and the coup's consequences. At this juncture, preparations for the exercise have yet to be called off.

The coup's aftermath and the latest Thai decision to produce copycat licensed drugs along with subsequent negotiated compromises, not to mention the unfinished Free Trade Agreement, have already turned off some Washington decision makers. They are the same people who follow Thailand's abuse of Karen and Hmong refugees and the country's attempt to forcibly repatriate them. Thaksin Shinawatra's hiring of James Baker's law firm to lobby the Congress and the US government to advocate for his return to power will also increase anti-American sentiment over here.

After a series of bomb blasts rocked Bangkok, Thaksin wanted to improve his sagging image and counter allegations that he was behind the incident. Ironically, he was identified in US Congress documents as the "freely-elected" Thai prime minister, rather than the usual "democratically-elected" leader. Thai folks tend to look suspiciously at the US government's growing ambiguity concerning the government and Thaksin.

Washington-based Thai diplomats know that officials in the Bush administration and lawmakers aere extremely disappointed with the CNS and the government for their failure to deliver a quick return to democracy and a business-like atmosphere. Media intimidation and Internet censorship has further rubbed salt into the wounds and will now form part of the annual human rights report on Thailand to be released by the US State Department at the end of the month. It will be more critical than last year's report.

Moreover, the government also shocked international investors and business communities with its capital control measures. With 35 provinces still under martial law and uncertainties surrounding the drafting of the new charter, it is difficult for Bangkok-based US Embassy officials - the same team that handled the 1991 coup with flying colours - and those from the European Union to defend their host country. The current government's performance pales miserably compared to the similar set up under the leadership of Anand Panyarachun in 1991.

All of the above has not posed any problems for the friendship between Thailand and China. In fact, the coup was a blessing for China, as it can now quickly fine-tune relations with its most important partner in Asean. Although the friendship prospered under Thaksin's reign, there was an uneasiness as the bilateral ties were too personalised and interwoven with his business empire and affiliated groups with vested interests. Thaksin's attitude towards the monarchy does not help. Obviously, Thailand-China relations are more resilient and adaptable to a changing environment, especially when it involves drastic changes of government. This is probably true of China's relations with other Asean countries and it augurs well with the shifting geopolitical realities of the region.

Thailand has tried hard to balance its military and economic relationship with the US with those of rising China. So far, it is has not been able to reconcile the two. As a competitor of the US, China is often more agile and seldom argues for diplomatic limitations as the US often does.

Kavi Chongkittavorn

source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/12...on_30026583.php

For anyone who is travelling with a dtac phone it might be worth bookmarking the following page:

http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/roa_thta.shtml#SectA

Hope of some use...

New airport closure unnecessary, says senior official

BANGKOK, Feb 9 (TNA) -- Only a small portion of Suvarnabhumi airport will be closed for repairs and maintenance, leaving most areas operable as normal, said Narongchai Thanadchangsaeng, deputy director of the airport.

Mr. Narongchai's comment followed the suggestion by Admiral Bannawit Kengrian, head of the National Legislative Assembly's committee investigating Suvarnabhumi airport problems, that the airport be closed temporarily for repairs following reports of runway and taxiway cracks.

The committee chairman said only about five or six per cent of the entire three-million-square-metre space of the airport will be closed for repairs while all other areas will open as normal.

Such partial repairs are commonplace at other international airports worldwide, the deputy Suvarnabhumi airport director commented.

Workers employed to repair a portion of the airport will be kept removed from the passenger terminals while airport security measures will be thoroughly enforced to assure safety for passengers as repair and maintenance work proceeds, Mr. Narongchai said.

Meanwhile, an Airport of Thailand's committee headed by Tortrakul Yommanak and currently investigating the runway cracks is scheduled to give a press conference on progress in the probe on Monday (February 12). (TNA)-E008

source: http://etna.mcot.net/query.php?nid=27839

20 odd years ago when I was still a youngster I needed blood. Unfortunetely for me this was prior to blood being tested for hiv.

So, Do you want my blood then....

Closure talk riles Saprang

Airports of Thailand (AoT) board chairman Saprang Kalayanamitr was upset yesterday following public comments by the head of a committee investigating problems at Suvarnabhumi airport. Bannawit Kengrian, who chairs the committee picked by the National Legislative Assembly, said he would make proposals to yesterday's AoT meeting.

also

Sources at the ministry said they were not happy at seeing Adm Bannawit make remarks about the future of Suvarnabhumi which differed from the line of the ministry and AoT.

source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/09Feb2007_news14.php

I think it is time Photo's were published....

OK then if its a myth we will arrange for some blood from an infected person and you can inject it into yourself without fear ok?

He can have some of mine if he wants....