Part of the proposal does "split up" Bangkok as it will take parts of Prawet and Ladkrabang (districts of Bangkok).

'Splitting up Bangkok' isn't entirely accurate, but I guess "How can we allow the loss of Prawet and Ladkrabang to the airport zone?" doesn't sound as dramatic.

Part of the proposal does "split up" Bangkok as it will take parts of Prawet and Ladkrabang (districts of Bangkok).

Heng, what does making a new province actually mean in the great scheme of things? Are there things that can be done after creating a new layer of government that can't be accomplished with the current provincial structure? I've never had the impression that the local provincial authorities are empowered to do much on their own without somebody in Bangkok giving the seal of approval.

SHOW US THE LAND DEALS!

Be sure of this, before ever this announcement was made, MP's and their families will have been buying up plots of land in the designated areas.

"Now where exactly shall we put the main business centre?... Ooooh look! This plot of land is just the right size, who owns that I wonder?"

Part of the proposal does "split up" Bangkok as it will take parts of Prawet and Ladkrabang (districts of Bangkok).

Heng, what does making a new province actually mean in the great scheme of things? Are there things that can be done after creating a new layer of government that can't be accomplished with the current provincial structure? I've never had the impression that the local provincial authorities are empowered to do much on their own without somebody in Bangkok giving the seal of approval.

In theory (and often in practice.... certainly not all the time though) local authorities can manage their own budgets better than the national government can, the same as anywhere else in the world with federal and state/city/etc. governments. Provincial funding can be quite substantial if you have enough business folks in your province.

For example, if it was all national gov't only, the BMA (the Democrats) wouldn't have in its power the budget to try to go ahead and complete the BTS link across the river (against the national government's wishes). They've been going to parliament (Thai Rak Thai) asking for the funds for 4 years now, rejected each time. This year they've said, no worries, we have the funds, we're going to go ahead and do it without national revenue/funding (instead using city revenue/funding).

IMO, whatever happens both industrial Samutprakarn and mix-and-match Bangkok will envelope this area and it'll be one huge strip of smog and lights from the air like LA or Tokyo.... but it has a slightly better chance a being more organized (let's not even use the word "masterplanned") with its own administration.

The airport project is worth some Bt155 billion, whereas

Nakhon Suvarnabhumi will be worth nearly three times as much. A cool Bt400 billion.

Enough to go around I suppose?

The airport project is worth some Bt155 billion, whereas

Nakhon Suvarnabhumi will be worth nearly three times as much. A cool Bt400 billion.

Enough to go around I suppose? 

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Oh, yeah!!! Suwannaphum (as it should be spelled) Airport is actually a shame of Thai nation. The corruptions started since the first grain of sand was drop to the airport. More tax money drain to someone or some group's pocket. The residents and schools there have suffering for a long time since the construction begun. Flooding area around the airport has not been treated yet and now they want to create a brand new province. More tax money will go to this new province and its whole admins. Good luck, Thailand, the land of bitter smiles!

Golf

There's some speculation that creating a new "political" area will allow a concentration of the powers necessary to create a number of casinos - and still mo' money for the "controllers" of this zone.

My wife has a smallish stock certificate of what was issued for the Airport project (forget the ticker symbol), you know, the one where lots of money disappeared.

Now she wants to buy stock in the electric power generating infrastructure as its about to be sold off from government ownership. I told her, don't you learn from your mistakes?

kenk3z

P.S. Look for higher electricity rates soon.

There's some speculation that creating a new "political" area will allow a concentration of the powers necessary to create a number of casinos - and still mo' money for the "controllers" of this zone.

My wife has a smallish stock certificate of what was issued for the Airport project (forget the ticker symbol), you know, the one where lots of money disappeared.

Now she wants to buy stock in the electric power generating infrastructure as its about to be sold off from government ownership.  I told her, don't you learn from your mistakes? 

kenk3z

P.S. Look for higher electricity rates soon.

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That's how people who are effected by the so call "privalization" react to this threat. If they can't beat it, join it. By doing that they like to buy "stocks" from those newly converted busines entities and hope they will gain the profits, and cover up their increasing expenses. Do we have lower phone bills? No. Theorically we should since there are more choices, but no. These phone companies are ripping us off. The energy company (former Government enterprise) will do the same. Are there any energy companies out there? No. Now it's in the stock market. Sotck holders want profits. The energy bills will skyrocket for sure. Poor Thai people. They have no choices. They get rip off since the moment they wake up in the morning until they go to bed. A perfect way to dehumanize its own people.

Golf

INTERIOR MINISTRY TO DRAFT THE ACT OF NAKHON SUVARNABHUMI

Interior Minister KONGSAK WANTANA (คงศักดิ์ วันทนา) has called for a meeting with government agencies and related officials to consider drafting initial provisions and acts of NAKHON SUVARNABHUMI.

At the moment the picture regarding the establishment of Nakorn Suwarnabhumi is still unclear, including the size of the establishment zone. Therefore, the Interior Ministry is speeding up its process, which may take up to 3 months time. Later, the ministry will propose the project to the cabinet meeting.

Pol. Air. Gen. KONGSAK said that the governing body for the special zone should involve a blend of local and provincial administration.

Source: thaisnews.com ประจำวันศุกร์ที่ 21 ตุลาคม 2548

Might be off the topic but I'll give it a shot:

I've been here for less than two yrs, but I've learnt to read Thai quiet accurately and know _most_ of the language rules.

Looking at "SUVARNABHUMI" raises two questions

1) There is no "v"-sound in Thai - they have only "w" - "woh - wan"

How can the official name of the name airport contain a "v"-sound then?

When going English->Thai, eg. "DVD" the Thais will of course say "DWD", nothing strange.

2) Where do the "r", the "b" and the "i" in "aRnaBhumI" come from?

In Thai it's pronounced "suwanapoom" but it's spelled with "Bali-Sanscript" characters at the end which may be confusing. Still, when transcribing it to English, it seems like the "official transcriber" mixed up Thai and Sanscript, or?

If all transcriptions were _this_ screwed up then Pattaya would be located close to ChoL-buri, Empire Tower would be located on Satr road and the last stop on the sky-train would be On-Nuch.

Guys, don't waste your time replying "uuh because Thai's are too stupid to spell", because all farang journalists at Bkkpost/Nation spell like this too and I would really like to know if there's a real reason for this.

There is reason behind the madness.

Think of it this way:

When someone gets into your cab and says "I want to go to Su-VARN-a-boo-me" you know you can charge about 900 Baht to take them there.

kenk3z

There is reason behind the madness.

Think of it this way:

When someone gets into your cab and says "I want to go to Su-VARN-a-boo-me" you know you can charge about 900 Baht to take them there.

kenk3z

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It was bad enough living a mile from Central Department store, Bangkok, and finding a taxi driver had never heard of it. "Central?" - "Mai Roo!".

He knew where "Centrun" was, of course.

Might be off the topic but I'll give it a shot:.....

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I've asked your questions in the Thai Language forum here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=48239

I hope we get some good answers!

The current government doesn't have a long concentration span to see this idea through. Forget it. It's not worth wasting bandwidth on.

I do admire Thai civil society critics who came out with solid arguments against this plan. This IS the most effective way to try to stop it. Usually, though, if Mr. T. wants to see something through no one can stop him from doing so.

I wonder how the roughly 12,000 folks living in Suwannaphum, Roi Et Province, feel about the new Nakhon Suwannaphum (as it should be spelled according to the Royal Institute's offical place name mandate)?

It should be selled "Suwannaphum", not that crapy name. Look at these names: "Sukhumvit," "Mahidol," "Chattuchak," "Vichaiyuj".... This screwed up transliteration is so bad. My American wife also asked me the same question. All I can tell is that you can forget the "j," "l," "v"..., and treat them like these: "t," "n," "w"...

Golf

DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERIOR ASSURES THERE WON’T BE ANY EXPROPRIATE OF LAND TO ESTABLISH ‘SUVARNABHUMI CITY’

Deputy Minister of Interior SOMCHAI SUNTHORNWAT (สมชาย สุนทรวัฒน์) has insisted that the general public will benefit the most once NAKHON SUVARNABHUMI (นครสุวรรณภูมิ), or SUVARNABHUMI City, has been established. He also reiterated that there will not be any expropriate of land in this project.

Deputy Minister of Interior SOMCHAI said the first round of meeting yesterday was to consider the frameworks of the draft of NAKHON SUVARNABHUMI act. He said the government is intending to provide benefits to the residents in the new airport’s surrounding areas such as transportation and land allocation.

The Deputy Minister of Interior stated that non-polluting commercial and industrial centers will also be established in NAKHON SUVARNABHUMI. He said the new city be governed by a special administrative zone, and it will also have its own elected governor. He added that NAKHON SUVARNABHUMI will be constructed to match with Bangkok.

Source: thaisnews.com ประจำวันเสาร์ที่ 22 ตุลาคม 2548

PRIME MINISTER EXPLAINS SUVARNABHUMI SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE ZONE

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has indicated that the establishment of a special administrative zone in Nakhon Suvarnabhumi (นครสุวรรณภูมิ) will help reduce the burden concerning the rapid growth of Bangkok. However, this will have to gain approval from the public hearing.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra spoke on the meeting concerning law draft for the special administrative zone which took place on Monday. The government will ask to take Lad Krabang (ลาดกระบัง) and Prawet (ประเวศ) Districts from Bangkok as well as 2 other districts from Samut Prakarn Province, namely Bangsaothong (บางเสาธง) and Bangphlee (บางพลี). Together these to-be-acquired districts will cover an area of 520 square kilometers around the Suvarnabhumi Airport. Prime Minister Thaksin noted that this would be close to the nation of Singapore. He also stated that the infrastructure will be well developed in a systematic manner.

Meanwhile, local politicians responsible for the area will remain in their current positions until the end of their terms, after which the new law will be used based on the same principle of power distribution.

Source: thaisnews.com ประจำวันเสาร์ที่ 22 ตุลาคม 2548

The folks out here (in Minburi, Chachoengsao, Samutprakarn, etc.) are about as connected to the unrest in the south as you or I are. And it's hardly corruption. Rama V gave individual families tens of thousands of plots of land out here when it was considered to be a land far far away (from Thonburi/Sampeng/etc.). And similar to the Thai Chinese, these Muslim Thais are often frugal and reluctant to sell real estate (whether in this lifetime, or as family assets over generations).

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so who has sold this land if nobody sells ? Also if a taskin aide knocked on your door tommorrow Heng offering you a crap price for your land , would / could you say " no thanks" ?

... He also reiterated that there will not be any expropriate of land in this project. ...

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Of course not. It was bought up years ago by $%&*^@ when he thought up this idea.

The folks out here (in Minburi, Chachoengsao, Samutprakarn, etc.) are about as connected to the unrest in the south as you or I are.    And it's hardly corruption.  Rama V gave individual families tens of thousands of plots of land out here when it was considered to be a land far far away (from Thonburi/Sampeng/etc.).    And similar to the Thai Chinese, these Muslim Thais are often frugal and reluctant to sell real estate (whether in this lifetime, or as family assets over generations).   

so who has sold this land if nobody sells ? Also if a taskin aide knocked on your door tommorrow Heng offering you a crap price for your land , would / could you say " no thanks" ?

Did I say nobody sells? I said they often are reluctant to sell. These folks tend to prefer to collect rent.

If I was made an offer I couldn't refuse, yes I would take the offer. As of present day though, I've only had offers that were of the "can refuse" variety. Now I've seen a situation with a relative's piece of land up in Suphan that they were indeed "pressured" to sell to Banharn's interests, but it was a rather polite affair ending in a win-win situation.