Thai Cabinet told to fix worsening plight of poor

[webfact]

Cabinet told to fix worsening plight of poor

By THE NATION

 

Ongart Klampaiboon

 

DEMOCRAT PARTY deputy leader Ongart Klampaiboon yesterday urged the new Cabinet to quickly solve the rising cost of living rather than focusing on extending the lifespan of the junta-backed government.

Ongart said poor people, the majority of the population, were suffering as the cost of living continued to rise.

 

“The government has often told the public about the economy expanding, exports recovering, more tourists visiting the country, private investment picking up and consumption rising across social groups,” he said. “But if ministers go to meet ordinary people, they will find their standard of living moving in the opposite direction to the economic indicators.

 

“If government officials visit street vendors, or those who sell their goods at community outdoor markets, they will find that vendors sell less food than you would expect, so the government needs to act quickly to solve people’s economic hardships.” 

 

He said the price of farm products had dropped, which was proof of failure of the government’s performance. The government might also need to introduce a minimum-income guarantee scheme to support farmers, Ongart added. 

 

If the government could raise the price of farm products, it could help farmers, who make up the majority of the population, he said. 

 

“I hope the new cabinet will work hard to solve the people’s problems. Ministers should not work for their own interests or try to extend the term of the junta-backed government to keep it in power,” he added. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30332537

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-11-27

[Samui Bodoh]

55 minutes ago, webfact said:

“I hope the new cabinet will work hard to solve the people’s problems. Ministers should not work for their own interests or try to extend the term of the junta-backed government to keep it in power,” he added. 

 

If the comments above were made by a 'Red' politician, they might not be published or at least there would be a reply included which might even threaten to delay the election.

 

But, having a Dem politician speak, especially a senior one, is okay.

 

I cannot figure out if the military is going to try to co-opt the Dems into supporting them post-election, and/or if the Dems would be foolish enough to do so. Or perhaps this is just a case of old habits die hard...

 

[stanleycoin]

I'm sure everyone cares,

as they drive home in there new Mercedes Benz.

 

Edited November 26, 2017 by stanleycoin

[Get Real]

Sounds like a nice fairy tale.

[greatwhitenorth]

Sounds to me like it''s time for the cabinet to rent a jet and fly to Hawaii and think this dilemma through

[rkidlad]

If you really wanna help the poor, be sure not to partake in corruption and earnestly crackdown on it. Corruption is stealing from the poor. 

[coulson]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

If the government could raise the price of farm products, it could help farmers

How does that help the market vendors in his previous paragraph?

[tingtongtourist]

1 hour ago, rkidlad said:

If you really wanna help the poor, be sure not to partake in corruption and earnestly crackdown on it. Corruption is stealing from the poor. 

I dont get this theory of yours.

If there would be some kind of welfare system i could see how corruption is stealing from the poor, but really they have no chance do they?

I am sure the thinking is "if i dont help myself to this baht, someone else soon will"

 

Its no easy fix as is been going on forever in Asian cultures.

Like trying to train big dirty latrine rats into being a lovely little church mouse.

Never gonna happen.

 

As for poor farmers, well the government can fix prices or change laws. They already shown they have the freedom to bring in any law they can possibly dream up.

[robblok]

Controlling farm product prices is wrong and wont work. Tell farmers to use less pesticides as we read many products are contaminated with them. They would cut cost and save healthof people.

Try changing farmers re educating them for other jobs. Give only the poorest of farmers some money not influence the prices as that helps rich farmers too and creates opportunity for corruption. Like we saw with YL.

As for people getting poorer i am in Ko Lipe at the moment for a holiday been going here for years and have never seen more Thai tourists then now. So some people are certainly doing better than before.



Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[473geo]

19 minutes ago, robblok said:

Controlling farm product prices is wrong and wont work. Tell farmers to use less pesticides as we read many products are contaminated with them. They would cut cost and save healthof people.

Try changing farmers re educating them for other jobs. Give only the poorest of farmers some money not influence the prices as that helps rich farmers too and creates opportunity for corruption. Like we saw with YL.

As for people getting poorer i am in Ko Lipe at the moment for a holiday been going here for years and have never seen more Thai tourists then now. So some people are certainly doing better than before.



Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
 

I believe there is a push for organic farming, currently the spraying of crops is to control the weed/bug content no spray lowers revenue more than the actual cost of spray. The difficulty for the small farmer is of course the certification for organic product. The farmer may well be surrounded by others who spray their crop and thus his crops pick up the drift and the crop is ineligible. My uderstanding is the current price for organic rice is higher for the producer but less product per rai.

[JAG]

Getting certified as a grower of organic produce involves a long process. Several individuals are required to agree that "you are organic". Without that agreement you cannot sell your produce. I looked into it a couple of years ago. Let us just say, the "administrative overheads" of obtaining and retaining that certification are rather high...

Sent from my KENNY using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[hansnl]

3 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

If the comments above were made by a 'Red' politician, they might not be published or at least there would be a reply included which might even threaten to delay the election.

 

But, having a Dem politician speak, especially a senior one, is okay.

 

I cannot figure out if the military is going to try to co-opt the Dems into supporting them post-election, and/or if the Dems would be foolish enough to do so. Or perhaps this is just a case of old habits die hard...

 

You don't read very much, do you?

[rkidlad]

1 hour ago, tingtongtourist said:

I dont get this theory of yours.

If there would be some kind of welfare system i could see how corruption is stealing from the poor, but really they have no chance do they?

I am sure the thinking is "if i dont help myself to this baht, someone else soon will"

 

Its no easy fix as is been going on forever in Asian cultures.

Like trying to train big dirty latrine rats into being a lovely little church mouse.

Never gonna happen.

 

As for poor farmers, well the government can fix prices or change laws. They already shown they have the freedom to bring in any law they can possibly dream up.

My theory is that if all the allocated budgets went to where they were supposed to be going it would be better for everyone else. Whatever budget they have for hospitals, schools, police training and roads, etc, these things would much better if some rich parasites didn't come along and take their big slice.

 

Take speeding or reckless driving for example; if people were forced to pay the full fine instead of paying a smaller amount into the pocket of some thief, people would be less likely to drive like this. We'd have more money going into a better police force. But if fewer people are paying fines, that means less money, right? Not at all. It means people driving more safely on the roads. That means fewer injuries and deaths which cost the state money in hospital bills. It's win win. 

 

Sure, if you don't take the money someone else might. But if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem. If you sincere in cracking down on corruption, simply don't partake. Might not make any difference but it's a start. 

 

[dinsdale]

3 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

If the comments above were made by a 'Red' politician, they might not be published or at least there would be a reply included which might even threaten to delay the election.

This is pure conjecture.

[RichardColeman]

Well, if some people can be  'unusually rich' then it's fair that some can be 'Unreasonably poor' !! They should look harder at their bank accounts, maybe they have 20 million they did no know they had in an account. (Well, if it works for the rich government officials, they may want to roll it out)

[PatOngo]

......But.......we bought them submarines.......why are they still poor???

[yellowboat]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

“I hope the new cabinet will work hard to solve the people’s problems. Ministers should not work for their own interests or try to extend the term of the junta-backed government to keep it in power,” he added. 

That is what happens when you allow them complete, discretionary power.  They enjoy and stick around.  Now that history looks as though it will look down upon them,, they are looking for at least a legacy.  The bike lanes were a disaster. 

[YetAnother]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

so the government needs to act quickly to solve people’s economic hardships.” 

sounds like an outcry for socialism in a decidedly fascist time and government;  the current thai govt response options are clear; either say and do nothing or just do nothing

[Sid Celery]

It's good advice, even from a Democrat, but it's a case of 'pearls before swine' because the army generals are not poor, and the people who put them up to a treasonous overthrow of an elected government (warts and all) are not poor either. Yet the large part of Thailand's population are not wealthy and don't have the same access to corruption that the generals and the amaat do, and in a democracy, it's the majority that elect the government (notionally anyway).

 

They don't understand poor, but they need to try to follow the advice of numpty Ongart, because defeat at the polls is a real possibility and the international community won't accept many more postponements.

Edited November 27, 2017 by Sid Celery

[joebrown]

1 hour ago, robblok said:

Controlling farm product prices is wrong and wont work. Tell farmers to use less pesticides as we read many products are contaminated with them. They would cut cost and save healthof people.

Try changing farmers re educating them for other jobs. Give only the poorest of farmers some money not influence the prices as that helps rich farmers too and creates opportunity for corruption. Like we saw with YL.

As for people getting poorer i am in Ko Lipe at the moment for a holiday been going here for years and have never seen more Thai tourists then now. So some people are certainly doing better than before.



Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
 

Yep. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

[Sid Celery]

12 minutes ago, joebrown said:

Yep. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

Tellling farmers not to use pesticides won't work, and it wouldn't work with most Thais for simple economic reasons. Getting 20baht more profit or producing non-poisonous food is not a real choice for most Thais.

 

Sadly, getting buyers (supermarkets and the like) to test for pesticides won't work either, for the same reason.

Edited November 27, 2017 by Sid Celery

[tingtongtourist]

1 hour ago, rkidlad said:

My theory is that if all the allocated budgets went to where they were supposed to be going it would be better for everyone else. Whatever budget they have for hospitals, schools, police training and roads, etc, these things would much better if some rich parasites didn't come along and take their big slice.

 

Take speeding or reckless driving for example; if people were forced to pay the full fine instead of paying a smaller amount into the pocket of some thief, people would be less likely to drive like this. We'd have more money going into a better police force. But if fewer people are paying fines, that means less money, right? Not at all. It means people driving more safely on the roads. That means fewer injuries and deaths which cost the state money in hospital bills. It's win win. 

 

Sure, if you don't take the money someone else might. But if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem. If you sincere in cracking down on corruption, simply don't partake. Might not make any difference but it's a start. 

 

Ok i see that makes sense. But maybe to much for these guys to consider.

 

As good as it seem, i just dont think you ever get rid of corruption. 

 

Even in the so called, un-corrupt 1st world western country, the political partys takes huge election donation from multinationals and then in return they will ammend the laws to the companys wants, which is usually lowering workers rights and pay.

 

 But the politician will then set there own income rise every year when everyone else gets nothing.

 

My point, if they know the public are aware of this corruption, they easily just find another way to do it and train the brainless in the countrys to think it aint corruption.555

[mikebell]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

If government officials visit street vendors,

I thought the Government had banned these.

[Happyman58]

Heres an idea Just floating this one for the junta to think about Dont buy the subs for 1 billion baht and help the poor instead I bet that would go down like a lead Balloon. ( Opps sorry the balloon did go down the army had and 50 million baht was  wasted to keep it flying) The snouts in the trough are many and the wastage is unbelievable  Corruption is running rampant and maybe just maybe stop foreign workers from coming into the country and make the Thais work

 

 

[Happyman58]

43 minutes ago, mikebell said:

I thought the Government had banned these.

Did they not ban sitting in the back of pick-ups also? Just another law brought in but soon forgotten about How could u expect the police to enforce them anyway? They sooner be watching thai kick boxing or sitting in there stations 

[Media1]

Bla bla bla some new oldies everyone's been promised a feast around the buffet table..They don't give a hoot about the poor. In fact they will promise the world and deliver a picture of it.

[robblok]

Yep. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

Not rich Thais just a growing middle class that is a good thing for a country.

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[madusa]

9 hours ago, greatwhitenorth said:

Sounds to me like it''s time for the cabinet to rent a jet and fly to Hawaii and think this dilemma through

Why Hawaii? I don't understand, something happening there that I don't know about?

[Sid Celery]

7 hours ago, dinsdale said:

This is pure conjecture.

Yes it is. Conjecture, along with generalisations are probably two most necessary tools in our psychological suitcase. We use both every day in a hundred different ways.

 

Yet, when someone does it in a way we don't like, then we call it bad rather than give it some sensible thought. 

[candide]

2 hours ago, robblok said:

Not rich Thais just a growing middle class that is a good thing for a country.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
 

It's been a notable long-term evolution on Thailand but I haven't seen it mentionned in the current debate (which is about the last 2 years). Did you find any figures about it?

The other article talked about an increasing number of poor people instead.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30331972