Thai Govt House Compound To Be 'Adjusted' Again

[webfact]

FENG SHUI?

Govt House compound to be 'adjusted' again

By PIYANART SRIVALO

THE NATION

New trees recently planted at the Government House compound as part of a feng shui adjustment will be removed soon, a source from Government House said yesterday.

PM's secretary general Korbsak Sabhavasu has ordered another renovation of the landscape. During the earlier renovation by the staff of Suan Nong Nooch in September, many trees, especially palms, were planted in front of the Thai Ku Fah and Santi Maitree buildings.

However, after the renovation the government received a lot of negative feedback, the source said, with some critics saying the result was "too dull". Too many trees hid the elegance of the Thai Ku Fah Building from view.

The planned renovation will be undertaken on a weekend.

"It [the renovation] has nothing to do with a feng shui adjustment," a key leader of the government said.

However, the source said Korbsak had ordered the renovation because a Democrat feng shui expert had concerns about the feng shui of the previous renovation.

That expert said that if the government did not pull down the tress or adjust the feng shui, the fortune of the government and the country would be at a low ebb.

The geomancy expert predicted that without the adjustment, the government would reach a "crisis point".

This will be the third renovation for the current government. When Abhisit Vejjajiva became prime minister, his government cleaned up Government House and spruced up the grounds after its occupation by the People's Alliance for Democracy.

Suan Nong Nooch had failed in its bid for cleaning up Government House because its quoted price of Bt25 million was considered expensive.

After that, PM's then secretary-general Niphon Promphan hired Bangkok Metropolitan Administra-tion (BMA) to do the work.

The September renovation was estimated to cost Bt5.8 million. However, the owner of Suan Nong Nooch offered to do it for free, saying the BMA's work at Government House was "not good".

"It's likely that the owner of Suan Nong Nooch will have to pay for the removal of the plants," the source said.

-- The Nation 2010-10-02

[tomyummer]

Great Government House Feng Shui? Lots of land mines.

[asiawatcher]

Well with the disparaging remarks of those who believe it is all smoke and mirrors, hoodoo and a waste of money - I could only concur and I would love them to make public the budget for this continuing change! You can bet the Govt gardener is not providing or removing trees for 2,000 Baht each!

[RKASA]

Suan Nong Nooch wanted 25mil - but then BMA wanted only 5.8mil - they Suan Nong Nooch didn't like that and changed it for free. Now it is needed changes again because of complants i.e. check the BMA mail list here and Suan Nong Nooch may have to pay to have its free trees removed. Can anyone say child at play.

Soon there will be armed men in black at the site, guarding trees.

[webfact]

UPDATE

Gardeners set for feng shui fine-tuning today

By THE NATION

Master Ma 'orders many new trees to be taken out'

Despite the government's denial that recent landscape work at Government House was based on a feng shui system, a ceremony believed to be a feng shui "counter-measure" is scheduled today to remove 46 new trees from the many planted barely one month ago.

The removal of the trees, scheduled precisely at noon, is reportedly being done after suggestions from a feng shui expert known as Master Ma, or Worrathanat Assakulkowit, who is close to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's mother.

The trees marked for removal are 13 yawa palm (footstool palm) trees and all 33 British banyan (ficus annulata) trees. They were planted just last month in a project said to be a periodic renovation, courtesy of Nong Nooch Garden and Resort in Pattaya free of charge.

The Nong Nooch resort has been given the task of taking back the 46 trees, with manager Kamphol Tansajja wondering about the reasons. He said a secretary to the PM, Korbsak Sabhavasu, who coordinated with him over the renovation, may know the answer.

"I really don't know why the government wants us to take back the 46 trees, but I can comply with the request without problems," Kamphol said.

Korbsak has reportedly been the subject of complaints over the removal of the trees, especially by Nong Nooch Garden gardeners, who said they had the hard task of removing the trees without getting extra pay, in addition to a daily wage for caring for the trees for two weeks, from their employer.

The 13 selected yawa palms marked for removal were among 70 trees Nong Nooch Garden planted in the Government House compound. Kamphol said they would be planted in a special zone in Nong Nooch Garden and Resort in a display he says could be regarded historic.

Government House sources said Master Ma, who decided to take the feng shui job reportedly after Abhisit's mother Sodsai pleaded with him to do so on three occasions. But he was allegedly unhappy with the renovation work in violation of earlier advice, and ordered the 46 trees planted in "unwanted" locations be removed.

Ma, according to an unpublished biography, was born in Phetchaburi in May 1941, to Chinese parents who migrated to Thailand after the Communists rose to power. His paternal grandfather served with Chiang Kai-shek and reportedly predicted the fall of his Kuomintang regime through his "horoscope skills", before he advised family members and most relatives, who believed in his prediction, to migrate away before the Communists took control of China.

Ma's feng shui works have been recognised and applied to many local and international businesses in renovations of their offices. These reportedly include British Airways offices in many countries, the Thai embassy in Singapore and the Standard Chartered head office in the UK. In Thailand, Ma's work is also followed in most ministry compounds along with shopping malls, including Siam Paragon.

-- The Nation 2010-10-03