Politics, Economy, Insurgency : Crisis Times in Thailand
Interview of Samak (the “Prime Minister” of Thailand, sorry I need to use quotation marks…) published in Times (may 5).
After the killing of monks in the streets of Yangoon, Samak said that Burma’s leaders were “good buddhists” (read here). Now, he says that they are “normal people“.
At least, he’s constant. Constant in ignominy.
The journalist asks him :
-”Are you Thaksin’s Prime Minister ?”
-”It is an insult to ask me that question”.
Read it, it’s a “grand moment” of journalism. 
This article of the Guardian, about the first year of Thaksin as the owner of Manchester City football club, is a perfect allegory of his political life (as Prime Minister).
When he was elected the first time in 2001, hopes were high in Thailand and outside. He was different from the previous crooks (because he was rich already…). He was younger. And much smarter than the old politicians and generals in their tight uniform.
And then… he became megalomaniac. That’s stronger than him : his behaviour takes -always- the upper hand on his intellect. And then he starts to make mistakes. Big ones.
Fans who failed to question the Thai owner’s past are now shocked to see how authoritarian he can be.
hen Manchester City were about to be sold to Thaksin Shinawatra last summer the men in charge of City rejected any concerns about whether his really was the safest pair of hands for the self-styled true Manchester club. A cursory Google search could have told them of the long-standing allegations of human rights abuses, including the killing without trial of people suspected of drugs offences, while Thaksin was the prime minister of Thailand, and of other authoritarian aspects of his rule. (following)
I know the title is provocative.
But this is a quote. A quote from a very interesting article from Reuters… An article that shows what “racism” means in Asia (something normal and shared by… many countries). And the result of an appalling education system and a vicious propaganda machine…
Western people will be shocked. But again, these kind of feelings are common. Much more than you could imagine.
(thanks to AbsolutelyBangkok to have pointed out this article)
BANGKOK, May 14 (Reuters) – It takes more than a natural disaster to wipe out centuries of bad blood.
In Thailand, where school books and movies overflow with tales of atrocities and brutality by invading Burmese armies, the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis has left some people thinking Myanmar only got what it deserved.
[click here to continue reading]
Thailand is the first exporter of rice in the world… But unfortunatly, interesting articles about rice are not published by the thai press… but rather by the western medias.
Kamolsak Thongta was working at a garage in northern Thailand when rice prices began to soar. So he quit his job, found a plot of unused land and became a farmer.
“With the price like this, I don’t think this is a risky business,” said Kamolsak, 46. “Rice gives good return.”
That rush to profit from the global rice shortage may cause long-term pain for Thailand and world markets.
Farmers trying to cash in now are depleting water supplies set aside for the dry season, which may curtail yields by as much as 75 percent later this year, said Prasert Gosalvitra, head of the government’s rice department. More intensive farming also may make paddies less productive in the future, knocking Thailand from its spot as the world’s biggest rice exporter, he said.
“It is scary in the long term,” said Apichart Jongskul, secretary general of the national Office of Agricultural Economics. “There are impacts on natural resources like water and soil that should be taken into account.” (Bloomberg)
IN THAILAND’S most sensational crimes, the prime suspects are often the police. Among current cases are a group of border police accused of abducting innocent people and extorting money from them, and a huge car-theft ring thought to have been run by bent coppers.
The prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, this month sacked the national police chief, Sereepisut Taemeeyaves, for alleged corruption. Mr Sereepisut insists he is the victim of a conspiracy by crooked subordinates.
Earlier this month the justice minister visited Chalor Kerdthes, a former police general serving life in jail, belatedly seeking progress on the “blue diamond” affair of the early 1990s, which wrecked Thailand’s relations with Saudi Arabia.
After the priceless gem and other jewels were stolen from a Saudi royal palace by a Thai worker, three Saudi diplomats seeking their return were murdered in Bangkok. The Thai police supposedly solved the case but the jewels they sent back to Riyadh were fake.
Mr Chalor arranged the murders of the family of a gem dealer involved in the case. It is suspected he can dish the dirt on other former police chiefs.
Cases of police graft and abuse of power are legion. [...]
A good article published by The Economist. As usual.
Thai Political Beat Goes On
Never mind elections, the fate of Thaksin’s proxy party could be decided, yet again, by Thailand’s royalist judges and generals
Asia Sentinel publishes a very interesting analysis on the on going political struggle, and the risks of dissolution for the PPP and 2 other parties, members of the coalition.
The growing role and influence of the Privy Council (attached to the King, with 3 new nominations last week) and the role of the judges is also covered.
I totally agree with the views of the author (anonymous). It could have been me, but no, my english is clearly not that good.
The government’s lack of spending on healthcare is a scandal—but abusing intellectual property rights won’t help.
BANGKOK—This city is not exactly wealthy, but increasingly efficient public transportation, busy (if somewhat chaotic) roads, bustling traders, and very few beggars all give the impression that Bangkok is much richer than many nearby capitals in Southeast Asia. Thailand is indeed wealthier than its neighbors.
However, it spends less of its GDP on healthcare than any other government in the region, save for the backward military regime in Burma.
Thai health spending is also heading in the wrong direction: it is currently hovering around 3 percent of GDP, down from 3.5 percent a few years ago. (The American)
A very interesting article published by BBC, with some… striking charts.
Asian countries have been struggling to cope as the cost of rice has reached record levels.
The price of the staple crop has risen by as much as 70% during the last year, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). (BBC)
[my own chart for thai exports, here)]
Sometimes (not often) the mails sent by readers at Bangkok Post are interesting.
This one is indeed very interesting. It shows what some thais are thinking about land ownership and “foreigners”.
After all the commotion on Koh Samui after the arrest of Lauren Daniel James Fray further highlighting the involvement of foreigners illegally involved in buying, selling and developing land, isn’t it time the authorities did something about this scourge?
There are a large number of foreigners in Thailand who own land illegally through nominee companies.
This land is often engaged in profitable enterprises and not just to build a home on.
It is time for the Thai government to clarify the issue on land ownership by foreigners.
It is time to clamp down on these so-called “property developers” skirting around the law.
Once again the average law-abiding Thais have sand kicked in their faces by foreigners and complicit Thai officials who are getting rich on the back of criminal enterprise.
YADDON TOPLOI Bangkok
A good piece about real estate in Thailand, published by International Herald Tribune. As usual, you won’t find this type of article in the thai press… It’s a shame.
Resort housing developments in Thailand typically have fancy Web sites, catchy slogans, glossy magazine ads and even celebrity sponsors and launch parties at five-star hotels.
What they often lack, however, is money to construct the actual buildings.
“A lot of projects never get started because of funding difficulties,” said Larry Cunningham, managing director of Phuket One Real Estate.
“First-time developers often just have enough money to buy the land with no construction. When they don’t get sufficient sales, it never gets built. In the future, this could be quite a negative for the market.” (to continue)
Very interesting piece published by Asian Sentinel, with an interview of Noppadol, who is deputy secretary-general of the PPP but also the legal adviser of Thaksin.
Here are a few quotes.
“We sense a change in attitude” from the coup group
“We will look to amend the constitution to make it more democratic,” Noppadol said. The PPP wants the entire Senate to be elected and to change the voting system back to one vote per constituency instead of the multiple voting system installed after the coup, he added. Both provisions were originally in the 1997 constitution torn up by the generals when they ousted Thaksin.
Other quotes, from an economic adviser of the PPP.
“The first step is to regain the trust and confidence of investors. We hope to implement the megaprojects and the populist program, which will be payback to voters in the north and northeast.”
“The Senate will go against us all the way,” the adviser said. “There is no point bringing in a name brand as finance minister if he won’t do the hard things like bringing the baht to 35 [to the dollar, from about 31] and firing the central bank governor. The kind of program we are proposing is a major restructuring and we face many obstacles.”
“Pojaman would not have returned unless some deal had been struck,” said a senior PPP member, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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