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Thailand Live Wednesday 25 Jun 2014

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NCPO nods to measures to aid Thai farmers

BANGKOK, 25 June 2014 (NNT) – Assistance measures have been approved by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for rice farmers in the upcoming cultivation season, with an aim to reduce their production costs in a sustainable manner.

According to Permanent Secretary for Agriculture and Cooperatives Chavalit Chookajorn, the NCPO has conferred with rice growers about ways to assist them during the 2014/2015 crop season without having to resort to the rice pledging concept. It was agreed that decreasing the cost of production was the most viable and sustainable method.

The NCPO is targeting to cut the prices of production factors, especially chemical fertilizers, pesticides, rice seeds, harvesting equipment and land rental. The price reduction policy is said to be feasible and is expected to help bring down the production cost by at least 432 baht per rai, allowing rice growers to earn more profits.

The NCPO has also resolved to provide rice farmers with a loan of 50,000 baht, with an interest rate of only 3 percent. Moreover, the agricultural zoning policy as well as the rice disaster insurance scheme will be pushed forward while a national rice and farmers fund will be established to help the farmers when prices of rice undergo a slump.

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-- NNT 2014-06-25 footer_n.gif

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UN Secretary general suggests that Thailand undergo routine disaster drills

BANGKOK, 25 June 2014 (NNT) – A Special Representative to the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction is suggesting that relevant Thai organizations should conduct routine drills in order to lower the potential of damage when disasters strike.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/737299-un-secretary-general-suggests-that-thailand-undergo-routine-disaster-drills/

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AFTER COUP
Curtailing ties to have repercussions on the EU too, FTI warns
Erich Parpart,
Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thai industries yesterday warned the European Union that its decision to curtail diplomatic ties with Thailand after the military coup could result in mutual repercussions.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/737300-curtailing-ties-with-thailand-to-have-repercussions-on-the-eu-too-fti-warns/

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LABOUR
Fishery invites supply-chain inspection
Petchanet Pratruangkrai,
Erich Parpart
The Nation

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Acting Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow speaks during a news conference at the Foreign Ministry in Bangkok June 24, 2014. Sihasak dismissed the resistance group, telling reporters there was "only one legitimate government".

BANGKOK: -- The Thai fishery industry yesterday invited non-governmental organisations and private firms, as well as international government agencies, to inspect their plants and supply chains, insisting that the industry has strongly opposed forced labour.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/737303-thai-fishery-industry-invites-supply-chain-inspection/

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THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR PEACE AND ORDER
Junta unfazed by anti-coup free-Thai organisation set up overseas
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- THE NATIONAL COUNCIL for Peace and Order (NCPO) has decided to not take much notice of the organisation set up by politicians living in self-imposed exile to oppose the military coup.

NCPO spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvari said the council had not discussed the issue of the group, but only acknowledged its existence from media reports. Revelant organisations have not revealed information about the movement yet, he pointed out.

Politicians close to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra have reportedly set up an organisation aimed at opposing "the military dictatorship and its aristocratic network" overseas.

The so-called Organisation of Free Thais for Human Rights and Democracy (FT-HD) was launched yesterday by former Pheu Thai Party leader Charupong Ruangsuwan and Jakrapob Penkair, a close aide to Thaksin.

Charupong is the group's secretary-general and Jakrapob its executive secretary, according to separate video clips made available on YouTube and Facebook.

Yesterday marked the 82nd anniversary of the 1932 revolution that ended absolute monarchy in the Kingdom and introduced constitutional monarchy.

In an eight-minute-long clip, Charupong said FT-HD supported the principles of democracy and human rights without any violence.

In another video clip for about as long, Jakrapob said the term "Free Thai", with its connotations of a resistance movement against the Japanese occupation during World War II, "had a deep resonance with ordinary Thais, reflecting their genuine desire for freedom and dignity".

He said the group's goals include opposing military dictatorship and its aristocratic network; restoring and strengthening democracy; guaranteeing respect for human dignity, equality, freedom and peace; promoting a free and fair economy; reforming Thai culture and improving the quality of life for one and all.

The Information and Communications Technology Ministry blocked the clips a few hours after they were posted online.

A red-shirt leader familiar with this new group said yesterday that it would be based in an unidentified neighbouring country. Due to the presence of martial law, the group would for now focus on social media but would become more active both online and on the street once an interim government is in place, the source added.

Jakrapob is scheduled to speak at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents' Club on July 1.

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-- The Nation 2014-06-25

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UPDATE:

RICE SCHEME
"Sia Pieng" sentenced to six years in jail for fraud
The Nation

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Apichat

BANGKOK: -- The Samut Prakan provincial court yesterday sentenced a rice businessman reportedly close to former PM Thaksin Shinawatra to six years in jail and fined him Bt12,000 after finding him guilty of embezzlement and fraud for his failure to deliver a Bt200-million broken-rice shipment to Iran.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/737215-thaksin-aide-jailed-for-rice-fraud/page-3#entry8016390

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STOPPAGE TIME
There is only one 'Don't' for Prayuth
Tulsathit Taptim

BANGKOK: -- Do's and don'ts follow every coup as night follows day. Have an early election, Western countries say, insisting that power should be "returned to the people" as soon as possible. You shall not crack down on the media, add local and international activists. The likes of Amnesty International, meanwhile, will not tolerate rights abuses.

Political correctness aside, here is what the Thai junta can and cannot do. It can drag its feet on the election a bit, spank the media a little and lock up those "threatening" national security for a few days. Such acts will spur the West into a fresh condemnation mode, infuriate the social media and flood overseas news outlets with strongly worded editorials. But, like it or not, the junta will pull through, largely unscathed.

Unless, of course, the generals ignore the following. There is one huge "Don't" as far as the junta is concerned. It must never give in to greed and temptation. It must not be corrupt, to be precise. A corruption scandal, big or small, will act like dynamite, blowing away whatever "pillars" support the National Council for Peace and Order.

There should be a must-do list, you may argue. How about making genuine reform an urgent priority? How about revamping the Thai education system while they can? How about sorting out the accumulating vested interests in the energy sector? Then there are the problems of gambling, drugs and the violence in the South that no elected government has seemed able to solve.

Well, without graft, anything is possible. Keep corruption at bay and you can go from there - to any destination. When there's no corruption, there will be less dissent and less need to block the freedom of information or expression. When there are no vested interests, there will be no need for the junta to hang on to power by delaying an election or reform. And no-holds-barred reform is possible only when there's nothing in it for the junta.

Corruption always complicates constitutional reform, as modern Thai history shows. It discourages any revamping of education because corrupt rulers, deep down, don't want the people to get smart. Graft also blurs consciences when it comes to the energy sector, where the line between personal and national interests is getting thinner and thinner. It's more or less the same for the problems of narcotics, other vices and the deep South.

NCPO leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha, who has made daily pleas for time and patience, may get away with summoning those who are against his coup or putting a few through military courts. He may scrape through a "reform" process that takes longer than expected. The Thai public may grit their teeth and bear a few more curfews or news blackouts. But all these "luxuries" hang on one single condition: The NCPO must not be caught doing things the overthrown administration was accused of doing.

A corruption case implicating the junta would make martyrs of all the figures so far summoned. It would cast a bad light on every extra day that the "reform process" takes. Curfews and media controls would cease to be something in the "national interest" and start to look like measures of oppression designed to protect a malicious regime. The military bunkers on Bangkok streets would stop drawing selfie-crazed tourists and start radiating what critics of the coup insist has been there all along - a climate of fear.

Ultimately, a corruption case would revive the debate over "imperfect democracy" and "absolute power that corrupts absolutely". The only "justification" for Prayuth's coup would evaporate into thin air. Those who think there was never any justification to begin with would simply say "We told you so." And the urge to silence them would get stronger and stronger because corruption and oppression feed off each other.

A graft-free environment alone can't take the country forward, many insist. Even if the NCPO manages to avoid temptation, that doesn't guarantee the coup will have revitalised Thailand two years from now. Taking political power by force carries too many other risks, so to speak. However, we can worry about any other shortcomings of the generals later. As of now, it's imperative that the NCPO avoid the only thing that can turn "resetting Thailand" into taking the country back to Square One.

I may be wrong, but Prayuth doesn't look like a man eyeing short-term gains. "I'm not doing this for myself," the General often says. The Thai people wouldn't mind, though, if he's doing it to make his name - just as long as it's not to make money. Critics of the coup may say this is asking too much of the men in uniform, and the doubters have the evidence of history on their side. Prayuth only has to remember that if corruption wins, everybody, including himself, will lose.

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-- The Nation 2014-06-25

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Phuket swimmers warned to beware Portuguese Men o' War
Tanyaluk Sakoot

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Beached bluebottles can still sting and are best left alone.

PHUKET: -- Swimmers and divers should be warned to keep a sharp look-out for Portuguese Men o’ War, or bluebottles, around the coast of Phuket, after a tourist was stung by one of the bizarre creatures at Patok Beach on Racha Island last Thursday (June 19).

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/737313-phuket-swimmers-warned-to-beware-portuguese-men-o-war/

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Coup prevented 'failed state', junta economic adviser claims
Erich Parpart
The Nation

Criticism from West understandable, though improvements so far 'tangible'

BANGKOK: -- A MEMBER of the National Council for Peace and Order's economic advisory board said yesterday that Thailand had been on the verge of becoming a "failed state", but the domestic situation had been improved by the coup.

Somkid Jatusripitak, an economic adviser, told a seminar organised by the Thai Institute of Directors that improvement of the country's political and economic situations was tangible even though several developed countries disagree with the political developments here.

Time and history will tell whether the coup was right or wrong.

"There is no surprise that some developed countries in a democratic world are not pleased and have questions about the political development in Thailand," because they dislike seeing matters unfold in a way they believe is incompatible with a modern world.

"And the force of their reaction depends on which mask they put on, but there is no need for a feeling of resentment," he said.

Each country has specific beliefs

"A country has its own beliefs and benefits, and no one can truly understand that Thailand before May 22 was nearly on the verge of a civil war.

"People were about to kill one another," he said.

The results of the coup and the commitment to solve the country's problems will speak for themselves on the international stage, and if the promise of reform is met by the NCPO, the countries that have shunned Thailand will definitely change their tune.

"Bilateral relationships are very important in the Asia-Pacific region and especially in Asean, and since Thailand is situated in one of the most important tactical geographic position, there is no way that they can find a replacement for us," he said.

Now the country's situation will keep on improving throughout the rest of the year, and the economy will continue to improve even more so next year thanks to political certainty, stability, reduced violence and commitment to reform, he promised.

In the past decade, the country was not able to grow to its full potential and there is a need to reform the political structure along with economic and social structures to ensure sustainable development, Somkid claimed.

"Thailand has been living on past merit, and we have to improve ourselves through reform or we will be marginalised and even go backwards," he warned.

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-- The Nation 2014-06-25

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Police break up betting gang run by four Chinese suspects
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Four Chinese men who allegedly ran an online football betting operation as well as two punters - one Thai and one Malaysian - were arrested in Bangkok recently, Metropolitan Police deputy chief Pol Maj-General Chanthawit Ramasut told the press yesterday.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/737317-bangkok-police-break-up-betting-gang-run-by-four-chinese-suspects/

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llegal wood worth more than Bt1m seized in Samut Prakarn

BANGKOK: -- Joint force raided a company and seized illegaly processed wood worth over Bt1m in Samut Prakarn's Bang Bo district on Wednesday.

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-- The Nation 2014-06-25

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Kamronwit resigns as board PAT president

BANGKOK: -- Ex-metropolitan police chief Lt Gen Kamronwit Thoopkrajank has quitted as Port Authority of Thailand's president.

He said no one pressured him to do so.

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-- The Nation 2014-06-25

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Princess Pa Kaset Fair 2014 features food, plants and pets for sale

BANGKOK, 25 June 2014 (NNT) - The Princess Pa Kaset Fair 2014 enters its sixth day today at Kasetsart University Bangkhen campus in Chatuchak District.

The fair is jointly organized by the Friends in Need (of “Pa”) Volunteers Foundation of the Thai Red Cross Society and Kasetsart University to raise financial support for needy people affected by natural disasters, promote activities of the Princess Pa foundation and to publicize agricultural innovations created to stabilize and facilitate farm-related careers. The innovations on display are results of researches conducted by Kasetsart University students and academicians.

The fair features many food shops and interesting activities. It is divided into different zones such as the zone of the Friends in Need (of “Pa”) Volunteers Foundation which is highlighted by rice berry products and wide-ranging handicrafts, and the OTOP zone which presents good-quality community products from all parts of the country. Other zones comprise pet animals, flowers and decorative plants, freshly cooked food, agricultural tools, etc.

The fair will continue until June 29, 2014. It is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., at Kasetsart University in Bangkhen.

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-- NNT 2014-06-25 footer_n.gif

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