Mong Thongdee, the 12-year-old stateless boy who won first prize in a paper airplane team competition, has been honoured as a science ambassador and promised a scholarship for a doctorate degree.
Science and Technology Minister Kalaya Sophonpanich yesterday led officials to greet Mong at Suvarnabhumi airport and said the boy had been rewarded for encouraging other children to study the sciences.
The Science and Technology Ministry will sponsor his study, Khunying Kalaya said.
"All Thais are proud of him and the ministry will offer him a scholarship to study for a doctorate," she said.
Mong's father, Yun, said that without the scholarship he could send the boy only to Prathom 6(Grade 6) because he and his wife earn just 190 baht each a day and they had a two-year-old daughter to take care of.
The boy now studies at Prathom 4 in Chiang Mai. He has no nationality because he was born to the ethnic Burmese construction workers in Thailand.
Mong yesterday returned to Thailand with the third prize in the individual contest for children and the first prize in the team contest in the Origami Airplane Contest in Chiba at the weekend.
Prasert Chalermkannon and Surin Intarachot won the second and third places in the men's individual category and Fongfon Sriswat came first in the wom-en's individual contest. Mong's paper airplane stayed in the air for 10.53 seconds, which was enough to win him third place in the individual category.
"I am so delighted, and this award will be given to His Majesty the King,"said the boy after alighting from the real aircraft at Suvarnabhumi airport.
"My technique to make the plane stay aloft longer was to fold its wings in equal parts. When I grow up I would like to be a pilot."
Mong nearly lost his chance to participate in the contest after the Interior Ministry refused to issue him a document to apply for travel papers because of his statelessness.
The ministry's decision was overturned.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Flooded homes get relief
Foundations under royal patronage have been handing out emergency relief bags to victims of floods in downtown Chaiyaphum.
The bags were given to 2,000 families most affected by the floods in the northeastern province.
The bags were donated by the Rajaprajanugroh Foundation under His Majesty the King's patronage and the Princess Pa Foundation under Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha.
The floods were caused by run-off from the Lam Pathao reservoir in Kaeng Khro district, and are now receding after inundating downtown areas for the past few days.
Chaiyaphum's city mayor, Banyong Kiatkongchoochai, yesterday handed out the bags on behalf of the foundations.
The council worked pumps around the clock to drain water from the city centre. Council staff are on the lookout for crocodiles which escaped from flooded farms.
In the eastern province of Rayong,persistent heavy rain at the weekend has triggered a mudslide which damaged communities around Wat Nong Wa in tambon Makhamkoo of Nikhom Phatthana district. Residents said the mudslide appeared to have weakened the foundations of the temple wall, which they feared could collapse on to nearby homes.
The bags were given to 2,000 families most affected by the floods in the northeastern province.
The bags were donated by the Rajaprajanugroh Foundation under His Majesty the King's patronage and the Princess Pa Foundation under Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha.
The floods were caused by run-off from the Lam Pathao reservoir in Kaeng Khro district, and are now receding after inundating downtown areas for the past few days.
Chaiyaphum's city mayor, Banyong Kiatkongchoochai, yesterday handed out the bags on behalf of the foundations.
The council worked pumps around the clock to drain water from the city centre. Council staff are on the lookout for crocodiles which escaped from flooded farms.
In the eastern province of Rayong,persistent heavy rain at the weekend has triggered a mudslide which damaged communities around Wat Nong Wa in tambon Makhamkoo of Nikhom Phatthana district. Residents said the mudslide appeared to have weakened the foundations of the temple wall, which they feared could collapse on to nearby homes.
IN PURSUIT OF HAPPY ECONOMICS
What is your idea of economics? What good is this branch of social science for the ordinary, non-business people?For many, economics evokes the notion of opportunity, employment and financial security. For others, it's a discipline that suggests Darwinian competition, greed,and simply the egotistical pursuit of self-interests at all costs.
But to Helena Norberg-Hodge, director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture (Isec), economics can bring happiness, and without having to produce a huge sum of monetary profit, or the stresses and strains that are typical of a large-scale economy.
Norberg-Hodge received the 1986 Right Livelihood Award,aka the alternative Nobel Prize, for her dedication in promoting more peaceful, just and sustainable communities worldwide.
It all started from a small project the Swedish woman runs in Ladakh, initially a backwater region in northern India. Norberg-Hodge launched the Ladakh Project in 1978 in a bid to reverse the damaging trends of mass tourism and consumerism through promoting development based on Ladakhi cultural values. The innovative programme soon grew into Isec, where Norberg-Hodge and her colleagues had been initiating campaigns around the world to encourage ways of living that are more de-centralised and land-based.
A globetrotting and extremely busy Norberg-Hodge recently visited Thailand and delivered lectures in Bangkok and Khon Kaen on the theme of "Economics of Happiness".Norberg-Hodge took some time off from her hectic schedule to talk with 'Outlook'.
Could you please tell us what exactly this 'Economics of Happiness' is? It now seems the economics has been a tool for making money and a tool for making disasters,considering the recession we are now facing ...
Well, the 'Economics of Happiness' is essentially an economics of strengthening the local economy. It's a systemic shift away from the current direction of economy,which is going more and more global. At the fundamental level, what I'm arguing is that as economic policies support the globalising path, they support a bigger and bigger distance between production and consumption. And with this distance, structurally, it means pushing business to become bigger and bigger and bigger.with nature. And those therapies are successful. Even prisoners, juvenile delinquents or violent men can be changed if you help them to connect to people with similar situations and to really share and help them to [re]connect with nature.
With the scale of business and the distance, we are getting enormous problems both environmentally, socially and psychologically.
Again, structurally, this globalising path is leading to monoculture. These large businesses inevitably have to impose monoculture; it's not possible to adapt to diversity.It's directly linked to using media and advertisement to foster a human monoculture where children worldwide are made to feel inferior to the standards that are fundamentally Western. But it's also anti-Western, in the sense that there is this image of perfection that the young children feel they cannot live up to. By establishing an unrealistic role model - a global consumer identity this is responsible for massive increases in self-rejection,and even self-hatred.
By subsiding global trade and global businesses, a government is simultaneously subsidising a path that's encouraging businesses to use more fossil fuel and technology and fewer people. So the next result is job insecurity, and very, very intense competitions for scarce jobs. This combination of creating an unrealistic role model, the role model of consumer identity, and at the same time, the job scarcity, the unemployment and the competition is increasing worldwide friction and unhappiness.
What I'm suggesting is that we must shift away from these bigger and more global business activities, and toward supporting local businesses worldwide that spend less fossil, and adapted to the natural-biological-cultural diversity and identities. We need to bring the economy closer to home worldwide. Localising as an economics of happiness at the fundamental level is about reducing the competition for jobs, by establishing cultural and community role models that are realistic. This might sound utopian, or unrealistic, but the fact is that the unrealistic is to go further and further as we have done up until now.
Related to the economics of happiness is an economics of survival. Because subsidising more and more global trade, it literally leads to the import and export of the same products - water, milk, chicken, pigs, live animals. The US imports just as much as it exports. The UK exports as much butter and milk as it imports. This is utter madness on a planet dying from global warming. Oil is scarce and polluting. We want to minimise the use of oil, obviously.So ending a trade in identical products is the most logical and commonsensical way, which is not depriving anybody.But the profits of the giants would decrease, whereas the profits of millions of local businesses would increase. And this is the way of reducing the gap between the rich and the poor while reducing global warming.
The alternative, localisation movement seems to look good, but having witnessed the past economic recession,after the crisis is over, we tend to go back through the same process again and again. Humankind seems to hardly change, why?
I'd argue that it isn't humankind that is deciding what kind of economy that they need. It's a very small number of increasingly powerful people. If you look at who is actively promoting the deregulation of trade and finance,it's maybe point zero one of the human population ...maybe even less than that. I'd estimate that about 10,000 people worldwide. Most people wouldn't even understand the mechanisms. They think it's free trade that allows freedom. I think the main reason that this is happening is ignorance from the top and ignorance from the bottom.
But shall we be able to counter the trend in time,considering the urgency of the situation?
I think we do have enough time right now. I feel too many people in the environmental movement would say,'Oh it's all going to break down,[so] we don't need to worry about the system'. I believe if more people would focus on education for action, awareness, what I call 'economic literacy'. Spread the awareness. If we can't write for the newspaper, then we can write for newsletters.If we can't speak on television, then let's speak on radio programmes. Let's encourage everybody with the idea that there is a solution.
I believe that in theory, in two or three years, there could be enough of a movement to change policies. But I think this economic literacy needs to be understood from a global point of view. We need to have a lot more information shared between the North and the South. I believe in the localisation in the small states.
It seems, though, that the level of the 'immune system'of people in the South has already been drastically eroded ...
I believe in the so-called 'less developed countries' that the structures are much stronger for localisation. The structure of this crucial identity with one another, with the land, with animals, with the sense of belonging to a place,a language, a history and a group - that identity is still here. The sense of identity is what localisation can rebuild.
More importantly, or just as importantly, you have skills, both social and practical skills that we have lost.More people here know how to grow foods, know how to build houses out of natural, local materials. In the West,these skills and the communities are much more destroyed.However, in the West, there is more awareness of the problems with the global consumer culture. Here, people are still not experiencing it as much. Even when they see Bangkok - it's polluted, crowded, they believe if they just get more education, more Western schooling, learn English,get more development, then they will be like this paradise - the paradise of America or Europe. So lack of awareness here is the big problem of this dominant model of progress/development. So this is where I believe a deep dialogue between the North and the South is needed.
How have you seen yourself change over the years since you first set foot in Ladakh in the mid-'70s?
My views of everything [have] changed. I have studied psychology and I thought that cultural differences were not so significant. I thought it had more to do with hereditary [factors]. But what I experienced in Ladakh, a pre-industrial,pre-developed culture, I realised there were huge differences between that and all the industrialised countries that were very similar.
With industrial development, the most important thing that developed was the breakdown of identity through[out]communities, to realise the differences between old and young, male and female, and this role model for the children and sense of belonging.
I believe that community is essential for mental health.It's essential for learning how to be loving and tolerant.And breaking that down is like breaking down the sense of interdependence, which is the teaching of all spiritual traditions. I'd say it is a spiritual and psychological need that is just as important as breathing air is for your lungs.To feel spiritually and psychologically connected, it's something that modernity has destroyed, and that creates self-hatred, self-rejection, which leads to intolerance,violence, unhappiness. That may be the most important thing I have learned from Ladakh.
Having understood that, I also see in the West therapies that are fundamentally about rebuilding communities and the sense of interdependence and spiritual connection with nature. And those therapies are successful. Even prisoners, juvenile delinquents or violent men can be changed if you help them to connect to people with similar situations and to really share and help them to [re]connect with nature.
But how do you feel when you go back to Ladakh and see that it, too,changes year after year to be ... er,just like any other place on Earth?
There have been times when it becomes very depressing and upsetting.The worst was in 1989 when Buddhists and Muslims were killing each other.And year after year, the change has been quite difficult. But each year, with the breakdown of communities and ecological conditions, there were more and more Ladakhis who became interested in looking for alternatives,in assisting our work, particularly in the last 10 or so years. This interest has been going on at the same time as the destruction. So that has given me the strength and the hope to continue.
It seems young children nowadays have been groomed to think that they have to be No.1, and the interdependence has been thus cut off ...
Yes, absolutely. Even explicitly. In Ladakh they have now been taught:'You've got to be more ambitious; you've got to literally be more greedy; you've got to look up to [be] number one'.These are the terrible values that are being taught in the schools. In many journals, they'll talk about community identity as tribalism, and they identify tribalism with friction, with warfare.And the picture is painted that in the past, all of these diverse war-like tribes were fighting each other, and that modernity and homogenising has created peace. Well, let's look at how peaceful America is - look at the teenagers who go to school and kill each other, look at the violent crimes.You don't have group violence in the same way, but you have a complete breakdown. A lot of violence.
When you centralise power and you push people into the big cities, and they have to have a job for survival,then the people in power will give jobs to people of their own kind. If they're Buddhists, then they give the jobs to Buddhists. And if they're Muslims, then to Muslims. And this leads to ethnic friction and violence.
Centralisation is part of globalisation.Decentralisation is what can allow more people to have jobs, and to have interdependence with different groups.
I think another very major point is that by destroying communities and then creating job scarcity, these are crimes against humanity. However many people we are, there is more work to be done. Unemployment is a modern product of this economy. It never existed for thousands of years in any society.The artificial constriction of job opportunities is a crime against humanity that must be written about,explaining how and why it could happen.With more people, we need more care,because we have more work. First of all, every plant, every fish, every thing that lives right now is threatened, so we need more people caring for everything that's living. With global warming, we have drought and floods.
We need to protect everything against floods, fire and drought. So that means more people caring for every bit of water,and every little tree, so there's more work than ever. However many people we are, we need proportionate teachers,nurses, doctors ... there is no limit of work. But through this globalising path we are artificially constricting, and we're partly doing it through taxes and subsidies. So we must expose them.
And there's also this artificial scarcity of time ...
The scarcity of time is directly linked to the scarcity of jobs. Because we support businesses when they use technology and fossil fuel, they benefit from scientific research, subsidies and tax breaks. And the more fossil fuel they use, the less they pay. It's more the small businesses that use very little that will be punished because they pay more. This is crazy.
At the same time, if you employ a person, you pay heavy taxes. This should be shifted toward reducing the taxes on employment and increasing the taxes on technology and fossil fuel. The technology is part of speeding everything up. So the few people who have the jobs now in computers, you have to answer with more posts. Whereas when it was by post, in a day, you might have to answer how many letters. And now with emails, you have to answer much more.
It's because we've chosen subsidising technology and subsidising speed, which is linked to unemployment.
What project is your organisation working on right now?
We are working on a film called,"Economics of Happiness", which should be ready in about two months.I've worked on it for more than four years, and I've tried to get people from every continent -Africa, South America, North America, Europe, China,India, Thailand - to basically spell out that the globalisation of consumer culture is creating too much unhappiness in the world, and that localising would solve most of these problems. Localising needs to be pursued with an international and collaborative mindset. It's not about isolation. It's not about no travel, no trade. We actually need more deep,deep dialogue between the North and the South. And we need it now more than ever before.
But to Helena Norberg-Hodge, director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture (Isec), economics can bring happiness, and without having to produce a huge sum of monetary profit, or the stresses and strains that are typical of a large-scale economy.
Norberg-Hodge received the 1986 Right Livelihood Award,aka the alternative Nobel Prize, for her dedication in promoting more peaceful, just and sustainable communities worldwide.
It all started from a small project the Swedish woman runs in Ladakh, initially a backwater region in northern India. Norberg-Hodge launched the Ladakh Project in 1978 in a bid to reverse the damaging trends of mass tourism and consumerism through promoting development based on Ladakhi cultural values. The innovative programme soon grew into Isec, where Norberg-Hodge and her colleagues had been initiating campaigns around the world to encourage ways of living that are more de-centralised and land-based.
A globetrotting and extremely busy Norberg-Hodge recently visited Thailand and delivered lectures in Bangkok and Khon Kaen on the theme of "Economics of Happiness".Norberg-Hodge took some time off from her hectic schedule to talk with 'Outlook'.
Could you please tell us what exactly this 'Economics of Happiness' is? It now seems the economics has been a tool for making money and a tool for making disasters,considering the recession we are now facing ...
Well, the 'Economics of Happiness' is essentially an economics of strengthening the local economy. It's a systemic shift away from the current direction of economy,which is going more and more global. At the fundamental level, what I'm arguing is that as economic policies support the globalising path, they support a bigger and bigger distance between production and consumption. And with this distance, structurally, it means pushing business to become bigger and bigger and bigger.with nature. And those therapies are successful. Even prisoners, juvenile delinquents or violent men can be changed if you help them to connect to people with similar situations and to really share and help them to [re]connect with nature.
With the scale of business and the distance, we are getting enormous problems both environmentally, socially and psychologically.
Again, structurally, this globalising path is leading to monoculture. These large businesses inevitably have to impose monoculture; it's not possible to adapt to diversity.It's directly linked to using media and advertisement to foster a human monoculture where children worldwide are made to feel inferior to the standards that are fundamentally Western. But it's also anti-Western, in the sense that there is this image of perfection that the young children feel they cannot live up to. By establishing an unrealistic role model - a global consumer identity this is responsible for massive increases in self-rejection,and even self-hatred.
By subsiding global trade and global businesses, a government is simultaneously subsidising a path that's encouraging businesses to use more fossil fuel and technology and fewer people. So the next result is job insecurity, and very, very intense competitions for scarce jobs. This combination of creating an unrealistic role model, the role model of consumer identity, and at the same time, the job scarcity, the unemployment and the competition is increasing worldwide friction and unhappiness.
What I'm suggesting is that we must shift away from these bigger and more global business activities, and toward supporting local businesses worldwide that spend less fossil, and adapted to the natural-biological-cultural diversity and identities. We need to bring the economy closer to home worldwide. Localising as an economics of happiness at the fundamental level is about reducing the competition for jobs, by establishing cultural and community role models that are realistic. This might sound utopian, or unrealistic, but the fact is that the unrealistic is to go further and further as we have done up until now.
Related to the economics of happiness is an economics of survival. Because subsidising more and more global trade, it literally leads to the import and export of the same products - water, milk, chicken, pigs, live animals. The US imports just as much as it exports. The UK exports as much butter and milk as it imports. This is utter madness on a planet dying from global warming. Oil is scarce and polluting. We want to minimise the use of oil, obviously.So ending a trade in identical products is the most logical and commonsensical way, which is not depriving anybody.But the profits of the giants would decrease, whereas the profits of millions of local businesses would increase. And this is the way of reducing the gap between the rich and the poor while reducing global warming.
The alternative, localisation movement seems to look good, but having witnessed the past economic recession,after the crisis is over, we tend to go back through the same process again and again. Humankind seems to hardly change, why?
I'd argue that it isn't humankind that is deciding what kind of economy that they need. It's a very small number of increasingly powerful people. If you look at who is actively promoting the deregulation of trade and finance,it's maybe point zero one of the human population ...maybe even less than that. I'd estimate that about 10,000 people worldwide. Most people wouldn't even understand the mechanisms. They think it's free trade that allows freedom. I think the main reason that this is happening is ignorance from the top and ignorance from the bottom.
But shall we be able to counter the trend in time,considering the urgency of the situation?
I think we do have enough time right now. I feel too many people in the environmental movement would say,'Oh it's all going to break down,[so] we don't need to worry about the system'. I believe if more people would focus on education for action, awareness, what I call 'economic literacy'. Spread the awareness. If we can't write for the newspaper, then we can write for newsletters.If we can't speak on television, then let's speak on radio programmes. Let's encourage everybody with the idea that there is a solution.
I believe that in theory, in two or three years, there could be enough of a movement to change policies. But I think this economic literacy needs to be understood from a global point of view. We need to have a lot more information shared between the North and the South. I believe in the localisation in the small states.
It seems, though, that the level of the 'immune system'of people in the South has already been drastically eroded ...
I believe in the so-called 'less developed countries' that the structures are much stronger for localisation. The structure of this crucial identity with one another, with the land, with animals, with the sense of belonging to a place,a language, a history and a group - that identity is still here. The sense of identity is what localisation can rebuild.
More importantly, or just as importantly, you have skills, both social and practical skills that we have lost.More people here know how to grow foods, know how to build houses out of natural, local materials. In the West,these skills and the communities are much more destroyed.However, in the West, there is more awareness of the problems with the global consumer culture. Here, people are still not experiencing it as much. Even when they see Bangkok - it's polluted, crowded, they believe if they just get more education, more Western schooling, learn English,get more development, then they will be like this paradise - the paradise of America or Europe. So lack of awareness here is the big problem of this dominant model of progress/development. So this is where I believe a deep dialogue between the North and the South is needed.
How have you seen yourself change over the years since you first set foot in Ladakh in the mid-'70s?
My views of everything [have] changed. I have studied psychology and I thought that cultural differences were not so significant. I thought it had more to do with hereditary [factors]. But what I experienced in Ladakh, a pre-industrial,pre-developed culture, I realised there were huge differences between that and all the industrialised countries that were very similar.
With industrial development, the most important thing that developed was the breakdown of identity through[out]communities, to realise the differences between old and young, male and female, and this role model for the children and sense of belonging.
I believe that community is essential for mental health.It's essential for learning how to be loving and tolerant.And breaking that down is like breaking down the sense of interdependence, which is the teaching of all spiritual traditions. I'd say it is a spiritual and psychological need that is just as important as breathing air is for your lungs.To feel spiritually and psychologically connected, it's something that modernity has destroyed, and that creates self-hatred, self-rejection, which leads to intolerance,violence, unhappiness. That may be the most important thing I have learned from Ladakh.
Having understood that, I also see in the West therapies that are fundamentally about rebuilding communities and the sense of interdependence and spiritual connection with nature. And those therapies are successful. Even prisoners, juvenile delinquents or violent men can be changed if you help them to connect to people with similar situations and to really share and help them to [re]connect with nature.
But how do you feel when you go back to Ladakh and see that it, too,changes year after year to be ... er,just like any other place on Earth?
There have been times when it becomes very depressing and upsetting.The worst was in 1989 when Buddhists and Muslims were killing each other.And year after year, the change has been quite difficult. But each year, with the breakdown of communities and ecological conditions, there were more and more Ladakhis who became interested in looking for alternatives,in assisting our work, particularly in the last 10 or so years. This interest has been going on at the same time as the destruction. So that has given me the strength and the hope to continue.
It seems young children nowadays have been groomed to think that they have to be No.1, and the interdependence has been thus cut off ...
Yes, absolutely. Even explicitly. In Ladakh they have now been taught:'You've got to be more ambitious; you've got to literally be more greedy; you've got to look up to [be] number one'.These are the terrible values that are being taught in the schools. In many journals, they'll talk about community identity as tribalism, and they identify tribalism with friction, with warfare.And the picture is painted that in the past, all of these diverse war-like tribes were fighting each other, and that modernity and homogenising has created peace. Well, let's look at how peaceful America is - look at the teenagers who go to school and kill each other, look at the violent crimes.You don't have group violence in the same way, but you have a complete breakdown. A lot of violence.
When you centralise power and you push people into the big cities, and they have to have a job for survival,then the people in power will give jobs to people of their own kind. If they're Buddhists, then they give the jobs to Buddhists. And if they're Muslims, then to Muslims. And this leads to ethnic friction and violence.
Centralisation is part of globalisation.Decentralisation is what can allow more people to have jobs, and to have interdependence with different groups.
I think another very major point is that by destroying communities and then creating job scarcity, these are crimes against humanity. However many people we are, there is more work to be done. Unemployment is a modern product of this economy. It never existed for thousands of years in any society.The artificial constriction of job opportunities is a crime against humanity that must be written about,explaining how and why it could happen.With more people, we need more care,because we have more work. First of all, every plant, every fish, every thing that lives right now is threatened, so we need more people caring for everything that's living. With global warming, we have drought and floods.
We need to protect everything against floods, fire and drought. So that means more people caring for every bit of water,and every little tree, so there's more work than ever. However many people we are, we need proportionate teachers,nurses, doctors ... there is no limit of work. But through this globalising path we are artificially constricting, and we're partly doing it through taxes and subsidies. So we must expose them.
And there's also this artificial scarcity of time ...
The scarcity of time is directly linked to the scarcity of jobs. Because we support businesses when they use technology and fossil fuel, they benefit from scientific research, subsidies and tax breaks. And the more fossil fuel they use, the less they pay. It's more the small businesses that use very little that will be punished because they pay more. This is crazy.
At the same time, if you employ a person, you pay heavy taxes. This should be shifted toward reducing the taxes on employment and increasing the taxes on technology and fossil fuel. The technology is part of speeding everything up. So the few people who have the jobs now in computers, you have to answer with more posts. Whereas when it was by post, in a day, you might have to answer how many letters. And now with emails, you have to answer much more.
It's because we've chosen subsidising technology and subsidising speed, which is linked to unemployment.
What project is your organisation working on right now?
We are working on a film called,"Economics of Happiness", which should be ready in about two months.I've worked on it for more than four years, and I've tried to get people from every continent -Africa, South America, North America, Europe, China,India, Thailand - to basically spell out that the globalisation of consumer culture is creating too much unhappiness in the world, and that localising would solve most of these problems. Localising needs to be pursued with an international and collaborative mindset. It's not about isolation. It's not about no travel, no trade. We actually need more deep,deep dialogue between the North and the South. And we need it now more than ever before.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Mong gets third place in new event
Mong Thongdee, the stateless boy representing Thailand at the Japanese paper airplane contest, has captured third place in the individual event.
It was the second achievement in two days for the boy. On Saturday, Mong,12, and his three-member Thai team won the group competition.
Contestants quickly fold their planes,then throw them into the air.
Mong won a national paper airplane championship in Thailand in August 2008 after he threw a plane that flew for 12 seconds, and was later chosen to attend the Japanese contest in Chiba,near Tokyo.
But Mong, who lives in Chiang Mai,is the son of Burmese migrants who are stateless and so have no legal right to travel abroad.
His first application to leave Thailand was denied, but after media coverage of his plight the government granted him a temporary passport.
Mong yesterday appeared in a white T-shirt decorated with the Thai flag, whipping his carefully folded airplanes high into the air during the competition in front of hundreds of spectators.
He placed third in the division for elementary school students with a time of 10.53 seconds.
After the event he said he wanted his family back home to know he won third place, and that he was grateful to the people who supported him.
It was the second achievement in two days for the boy. On Saturday, Mong,12, and his three-member Thai team won the group competition.
Contestants quickly fold their planes,then throw them into the air.
Mong won a national paper airplane championship in Thailand in August 2008 after he threw a plane that flew for 12 seconds, and was later chosen to attend the Japanese contest in Chiba,near Tokyo.
But Mong, who lives in Chiang Mai,is the son of Burmese migrants who are stateless and so have no legal right to travel abroad.
His first application to leave Thailand was denied, but after media coverage of his plight the government granted him a temporary passport.
Mong yesterday appeared in a white T-shirt decorated with the Thai flag, whipping his carefully folded airplanes high into the air during the competition in front of hundreds of spectators.
He placed third in the division for elementary school students with a time of 10.53 seconds.
After the event he said he wanted his family back home to know he won third place, and that he was grateful to the people who supported him.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Efforts to regulate jet skis to be stepped up
Authorities are stepping up efforts to regulate jet ski operators following alleged scams involving extortion of foreigners over damage to jet skis on Phuket and other incidents.
Phuket officials, jet ski operators and representatives of insurance companies yesterday met to discuss measures to promote tourism in the resort island and to bring jet ski operations into the insurance system to prevent possible extortion of foreigners.
The move came after the recent distribution of video recordings featuring foreign tourists allegedly being ripped off over damage to jet skis on Phuket and other incidents.
Phuket deputy governor Samith Palwatwichai said a committee will be set up to look at the possibility of having all jet skis in the province insured.
Mr Samith said local authorities, insurers and jet ski operators will meet again on Wednesday to thrash out the details of insurance premiums for jet skis.
A total of 219 jet skis are available for rent on Surin, Bangtao, Kamala, Patong and Kata-Karon beaches.
Mr Samith said the provincial marine office had been asked to survey and register jet ski operators in the province.
The deputy governor said operators will be asked to stop overcharging and extorting tourists or demanding exorbitant compensation for minor damage to jet skis.
Suvimol sae Lim, director of the Phuket insurance commission office, said Phuket should serve as a trail-blazer in jet ski insurance as so far no insurers had ever provided coverage for jet ski operators in the country.
She said if jet ski insurance was introduced in the province, this would help sort out problems involving the extortion of foreigners over damage.
Tourists who rented jet skis would feel confident they would not be taken advantage of, Ms Suvimol said.
"If Phuket is successful, it will serve as an example for other provinces which has jet ski operators," she said.
Ms Suvimol said initially proposed insurance packages would cover damage to jet skis, insure against loss of income due to the damage to jet skis and provide coverage to tourists renting them.
So far only the Bangkok Insurance company has offered to provide cover for jet skis in Phuket, Ms Suvimol said.
Anusorn Sa-re, head of the Phuket association of jet ski operators, said he agreed with the proposal and said the insurance premium must be acceptable to operators. He said operators can only earn income between December and May. They could not make money during the remainder of the year as it is the monsoon season.
Recently, video clips have been distributed showing a female British tourist being arrested for marijuana possession at a full moon party on Koh Phangan and a British marine and a US marine being threatened to pay exorbitant compensation for damage to rented jet skis on Phuket in separate incidents.
Phuket officials, jet ski operators and representatives of insurance companies yesterday met to discuss measures to promote tourism in the resort island and to bring jet ski operations into the insurance system to prevent possible extortion of foreigners.
The move came after the recent distribution of video recordings featuring foreign tourists allegedly being ripped off over damage to jet skis on Phuket and other incidents.
Phuket deputy governor Samith Palwatwichai said a committee will be set up to look at the possibility of having all jet skis in the province insured.
Mr Samith said local authorities, insurers and jet ski operators will meet again on Wednesday to thrash out the details of insurance premiums for jet skis.
A total of 219 jet skis are available for rent on Surin, Bangtao, Kamala, Patong and Kata-Karon beaches.
Mr Samith said the provincial marine office had been asked to survey and register jet ski operators in the province.
The deputy governor said operators will be asked to stop overcharging and extorting tourists or demanding exorbitant compensation for minor damage to jet skis.
Suvimol sae Lim, director of the Phuket insurance commission office, said Phuket should serve as a trail-blazer in jet ski insurance as so far no insurers had ever provided coverage for jet ski operators in the country.
She said if jet ski insurance was introduced in the province, this would help sort out problems involving the extortion of foreigners over damage.
Tourists who rented jet skis would feel confident they would not be taken advantage of, Ms Suvimol said.
"If Phuket is successful, it will serve as an example for other provinces which has jet ski operators," she said.
Ms Suvimol said initially proposed insurance packages would cover damage to jet skis, insure against loss of income due to the damage to jet skis and provide coverage to tourists renting them.
So far only the Bangkok Insurance company has offered to provide cover for jet skis in Phuket, Ms Suvimol said.
Anusorn Sa-re, head of the Phuket association of jet ski operators, said he agreed with the proposal and said the insurance premium must be acceptable to operators. He said operators can only earn income between December and May. They could not make money during the remainder of the year as it is the monsoon season.
Recently, video clips have been distributed showing a female British tourist being arrested for marijuana possession at a full moon party on Koh Phangan and a British marine and a US marine being threatened to pay exorbitant compensation for damage to rented jet skis on Phuket in separate incidents.
POLICE TO ENLIST 1,000 INFORMERS
Police are enlisting 1,000 residents to help them fight crime.
Wichai Sangprapai, chief of the city police unit, said the Sai Lub Phan Na (Spies With A Thousand Faces) project encourages residents to play an active part in cracking down on crime in their communities.
One thousand volunteers have been recruited from 140 communities in areas under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police Division 1, which supervises Government House, parliament, Ratchadamnoen Avenue, Sam Sen, Phaya Thai, and Huai Khwang. The project was launched yesterday.
The Office of the Narcotics Control Board has allocated 420,000 baht to train the volunteers to work as police informants. Pol Maj Gen Wichai said they will be rewarded for their efforts.
Wichai Sangprapai, chief of the city police unit, said the Sai Lub Phan Na (Spies With A Thousand Faces) project encourages residents to play an active part in cracking down on crime in their communities.
One thousand volunteers have been recruited from 140 communities in areas under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police Division 1, which supervises Government House, parliament, Ratchadamnoen Avenue, Sam Sen, Phaya Thai, and Huai Khwang. The project was launched yesterday.
The Office of the Narcotics Control Board has allocated 420,000 baht to train the volunteers to work as police informants. Pol Maj Gen Wichai said they will be rewarded for their efforts.
Mong lands gold in team event
Mong Thongdee, a stateless child from Chiang Mai province representing Thailand in an international paper airplane flying contest in Japan, yesterday emerged the champion in the team event.
MONG GOES FOR GOLD: Mong Thongdee prepares to throw his paper plane in Japan yesterday.
The 12-year-old boy was part of a three-man team which included two adults at the All-Japan Origami Airplane competition being held at the Makuhari Complex in Chiba, Japan, according to Japanese newspaper Mainichi.
Mong's paper plane stayed in the air for 11 seconds, which was good enough for victory, but not good enough to break the record of 12.50 seconds set last year.
Mong was wearing a yellow shirt and a pair of jeans when he made his throw.
After the team victory, in which only the best throw is counted out of the three throws, he smiled and shook hands with members of the rival teams.
Mong said he wanted to thank all the people who supported him and said he would tell his parents he was proud to have represented Thailand and won.
He will be competing Sunday in the individual event.
Mong is a Prathom 4 (grade 4) student at the Ban Huay Sai School in Chiang Mai province.
Mong almost didn't make it to Japan for the competition as he is a stateless person in Thailand - his parents are Burmese - and he has no ID card and didn't qualify for a Thai passport.
But after the story of his plight first broke in the Bangkok Post Sunday, senior government officials stepped in.
Mong was then given the all-clear to travel to Japan after PM Abhisit Vejjajiva stepped in. A certificate and temporary passport were issued to the boy, allowing him to travel to Japan.
MONG GOES FOR GOLD: Mong Thongdee prepares to throw his paper plane in Japan yesterday.
The 12-year-old boy was part of a three-man team which included two adults at the All-Japan Origami Airplane competition being held at the Makuhari Complex in Chiba, Japan, according to Japanese newspaper Mainichi.
Mong's paper plane stayed in the air for 11 seconds, which was good enough for victory, but not good enough to break the record of 12.50 seconds set last year.
Mong was wearing a yellow shirt and a pair of jeans when he made his throw.
After the team victory, in which only the best throw is counted out of the three throws, he smiled and shook hands with members of the rival teams.
Mong said he wanted to thank all the people who supported him and said he would tell his parents he was proud to have represented Thailand and won.
He will be competing Sunday in the individual event.
Mong is a Prathom 4 (grade 4) student at the Ban Huay Sai School in Chiang Mai province.
Mong almost didn't make it to Japan for the competition as he is a stateless person in Thailand - his parents are Burmese - and he has no ID card and didn't qualify for a Thai passport.
But after the story of his plight first broke in the Bangkok Post Sunday, senior government officials stepped in.
Mong was then given the all-clear to travel to Japan after PM Abhisit Vejjajiva stepped in. A certificate and temporary passport were issued to the boy, allowing him to travel to Japan.
17 injured in clash near Preah Vihear
Seventeen people were injured yesterday as thousands of protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) clashed with local residents who live near Preah Vihear temple.
A protester from Chachoengsao, Phongsak Ritthichaikul, was hit in the right eye by a stone, while villager Prasert Piewkhao suffered facial injuries after being beaten up.
Teenagers armed with sticks and slingshots attacked the yellow shirts as they marched through their village to Preah Vihear.
Local villagers opposed the PAD protest, as they feared it could spark a war with Cambodia. The villagers have already suffered from the temple being closed, which has cost them income from the lack of tourists. Access to their farms has also been blocked by the military since last year.
The villagers were a similar mob to one that clashed with the PAD in July last year when yellow shirts rallied at the site to oppose the site being nominated for World Heritage listing.
However, thousands of PAD protesters led by Veera Somkwamkid managed to break the police and villagers' barricades in Si Sa Ket's Ban Phumsarol to reach the gate of Pha Mor Ee Daeng, next to Preah Vihear temple.
Veera said the villagers were misinformed about the PAD mission.
"We have come here to demand the removal of Cambodians from the disputed 4.6-square-kilometre area," he told reporters after the clash.
The PAD just wanted to enter Pha Mor Ee Daeng to read out their statement. However, they would stay put if the Abhisit government made no clear proposals to evict the Cambodians, he warned.
Si Sa Ket provincial governor Rapee Phongpuphakit had lengthy negotiations with Veera but failed to get the protesters to leave the site.
PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila yesterday called on the government to ensure safety of the protesters and prevent future clashes with local residents.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, in Bangkok, said he did not understand the PAD's intent. "I don't understand what is the purpose behind their protest," he told reporters.
The government had tried to brief the Cambodian government about the PAD protest and begged Phnom Penh to understand the situation to prevent a military clash, he said.
Second Army Region Commander Wiboonsak Neeparn said the protesters would not be allowed to get into Preah Vihear and the disputed area.
The most they would be allowed to do was for some representatives to read a statement at Pha Mor Ee Daeng.
A protester from Chachoengsao, Phongsak Ritthichaikul, was hit in the right eye by a stone, while villager Prasert Piewkhao suffered facial injuries after being beaten up.
Teenagers armed with sticks and slingshots attacked the yellow shirts as they marched through their village to Preah Vihear.
Local villagers opposed the PAD protest, as they feared it could spark a war with Cambodia. The villagers have already suffered from the temple being closed, which has cost them income from the lack of tourists. Access to their farms has also been blocked by the military since last year.
The villagers were a similar mob to one that clashed with the PAD in July last year when yellow shirts rallied at the site to oppose the site being nominated for World Heritage listing.
However, thousands of PAD protesters led by Veera Somkwamkid managed to break the police and villagers' barricades in Si Sa Ket's Ban Phumsarol to reach the gate of Pha Mor Ee Daeng, next to Preah Vihear temple.
Veera said the villagers were misinformed about the PAD mission.
"We have come here to demand the removal of Cambodians from the disputed 4.6-square-kilometre area," he told reporters after the clash.
The PAD just wanted to enter Pha Mor Ee Daeng to read out their statement. However, they would stay put if the Abhisit government made no clear proposals to evict the Cambodians, he warned.
Si Sa Ket provincial governor Rapee Phongpuphakit had lengthy negotiations with Veera but failed to get the protesters to leave the site.
PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila yesterday called on the government to ensure safety of the protesters and prevent future clashes with local residents.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, in Bangkok, said he did not understand the PAD's intent. "I don't understand what is the purpose behind their protest," he told reporters.
The government had tried to brief the Cambodian government about the PAD protest and begged Phnom Penh to understand the situation to prevent a military clash, he said.
Second Army Region Commander Wiboonsak Neeparn said the protesters would not be allowed to get into Preah Vihear and the disputed area.
The most they would be allowed to do was for some representatives to read a statement at Pha Mor Ee Daeng.
Friday, September 18, 2009
BEADS OF LASTING HERITAGE AND PRIDE
The sky was still dark when Captain Boonyarit Chaisuwan, an archaeologist of the Phuketbased 15th Fine Arts Office, readied himself for another mission. His destination: Ban Dan School, in Kapoe district, Ranong province.The archaeologist was to meet with a group of 40 students and teachers from the school who took part in a heritage conservation project in which participants attended archaeological workshops, as well as an excavation process.
The project is the brainchild of Capt Boonyarit in a bid to promote conservation awareness in communities close to key archeological sites on the Andaman coast of southern Thailand. Ban Dan School and Wat Pathum Tararam were chosen because of their rice heritage, he said.
The archaeologist said the project, which ended earlier this month, was to serve as a model for conservation awareness campaigns.
"Bead hunting has become rampant in the area and we need to do something about it," he said, adding that his project was only an initial, but crucial, step to protect the local heritage since crackdown alone was not enough.
The archaeologist noted that the bead hunters turned to Kapoe and other archeological areas, including Phu Khao Thong village in Ranong's Suk Samran district,because they had already exhausted most of the resources at Kuan Lukpad in Krabi's Khlong Thom district.
Kuan Lukpad, which literally means "Hill of Beads",was well-known for its various types of beads, in particular,the face bead or the so-called "Suriya Dev" and Roman carnelian intaglio, featuring Peseus holding the head of Medusa. The craze for beads led to widespread illegal bead hunting over the past 30 years. Since every square metre had been scoured by local villagers who made a fortune selling beads to collectors, it is believed that there were no ancient beads left in the area and the "Hill of Beads" is just one on the list.
"The Kuan Lukpad phenomenon is a precious lesson for every community with archaic artefacts," said Capt Boonyarit, stressing that he didn't want other areas to ever repeat the same mistake.
That prompted him to launch the first project at Phu Khao Thong village in 2006, which raised awareness among the local people and encouraged them to better safeguard their heritage.
In his article,Archaeology along the Andaman Coast ,which was recently presented at an international seminar on Thai-Malaysian Archaeology Joint Project, Capt Boonyarit pointed out that Phu Khao Thong is still largely unknown to scholars but is no less important to Kuan Lukpad.
Some 2,000 years ago, Kuan Lukpad and Phu Khao Thong were both once prosperous port cities and trading stations where people exchanged goods with foreigners from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe along the so-called "Southern Silk Route".
More importantly, he noted that archaeological evidences, in particular, clumps of glass and stone, as well as unfinished beads that were found in drove, indicated that both cities were not just bead trading stations as previously believed by many Western scholars, but major bead-making sites of the region. Other exquisite findings at Phu Khao Thong archaeological sites included gold ornaments - also in large amounts - from the Middle East; carnelian triratana beads, a symbol of Buddhism;and some Rouletted ware, a kind of pottery with a smooth surface. It was the first time that Rouletted ware (c.2nd century BC to 1st century AD) was discovered on Thailand's Andaman coast as this type of artefact was mostly found in Arikamedu, an archaeological site in India. It was also found in Java, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
Capt Boonyarit said he believed that Phu Khao Thong beads were much sought-after items that were sent to other parts of the Malay peninsula and Southeast Asia,and said that more research is needed for this archaeological site. Phu Khao Thong and Kuan Lukpad eventually lost their importance as seaports between the 8th and 11th centuries AD.
"Excavation work has covered about 40 percent of the Phu Khao Thong area," he said. Yet he expressed great concern over the spawning bead hunting by local villagers - an illegal activity that caused extensive damage to the archaeological sites.
Capt Boonyarit conceded that even though the law stipulates that all unearthed antique items belong to the state and those who come across such items are required to give them up to the state, there exists many loopholes that make it very difficult for law enforcement authorities to deal properly with illegal treasure hunters.
"That is partially because beads are scattered in privatelyowned lands and the police are reluctant to take action since they recognise the private land ownership. This explains why illegal bead trading still continues today and we need cooperation from every party concerned to curb the illegal hunting."
But local villagers need to realise that bead trading is not a short-lived business, he said.
"They can probably pick 20 to 30,000 baht from selling beads. However, I have told them [the locals] that once the beads are all gone, there will be nothing left in the community. On the contrary, if they manage to keep the beads and other artefacts within their community, we can then develop it into a more sustainable way," he said.
To have that happen, the local community must take pride in their heritage and have the urge to safeguard it,insisted Capt Boonyarit, who recognises the potential of young students in promoting conservation awareness in their respective communities.
The heritage conservation project began with locating archeological study sites, he said.
"Focus is on the areas with traces of ancient human settlement. In the case of Kapoe, they are scattered around the school and the temple," he said, adding that it's important the designated areas remain "clean", which means areas that have never been searched by hunters in the past.
Students not only learn about conservation and the archeologist's work process as they help him excavate the archaeological pits, they also learn to treasure and value the artefacts they unearth.
Capt Boonyarit said he encourages the students to attach importance to all types of artefacts that are found during an excavation, while most hunters only go after beads."We are different as we keep and study all the artefacts that we come across in order to learn more about ancient human settlement," he said.
And the excavation at Ban Dan produced huge finds - gold beads, remnants of tripod pottery, the first time ever that such ancient items have been found, dated about two to 3,000 years, were found in the lowland southern region.
"The pottery, normally found in caves, helps us determine the time when the ancient people settled in the area," he said.
Capt Boonyarit expressed confidence that both Phu Khao Thong and Ban Dan, with exquisite heritage, have the potential to be developed as a learning centre and a tourist attraction in the long run.
He said if the local community is ready, then it could eventually have its own folk museum to showcase its heritage with pride.
"In fact, things go well at Phu Khao Thong village as people take part in bead-making workshops and Phu Khao Thong beads have become well-known in the market since people enjoy the extra income," he said.
It is his hope that Phu Khao Thong will eventually restore traditional heating methods in bead-making, using old-style kiln, as to add uniqueness to their final products.
When asked about his next project site, Capt Boonyarit said he may probably go back to Kapoe district.
"There is a whole lot more to search in that area," he said.
The project is the brainchild of Capt Boonyarit in a bid to promote conservation awareness in communities close to key archeological sites on the Andaman coast of southern Thailand. Ban Dan School and Wat Pathum Tararam were chosen because of their rice heritage, he said.
The archaeologist said the project, which ended earlier this month, was to serve as a model for conservation awareness campaigns.
"Bead hunting has become rampant in the area and we need to do something about it," he said, adding that his project was only an initial, but crucial, step to protect the local heritage since crackdown alone was not enough.
The archaeologist noted that the bead hunters turned to Kapoe and other archeological areas, including Phu Khao Thong village in Ranong's Suk Samran district,because they had already exhausted most of the resources at Kuan Lukpad in Krabi's Khlong Thom district.
Kuan Lukpad, which literally means "Hill of Beads",was well-known for its various types of beads, in particular,the face bead or the so-called "Suriya Dev" and Roman carnelian intaglio, featuring Peseus holding the head of Medusa. The craze for beads led to widespread illegal bead hunting over the past 30 years. Since every square metre had been scoured by local villagers who made a fortune selling beads to collectors, it is believed that there were no ancient beads left in the area and the "Hill of Beads" is just one on the list.
"The Kuan Lukpad phenomenon is a precious lesson for every community with archaic artefacts," said Capt Boonyarit, stressing that he didn't want other areas to ever repeat the same mistake.
That prompted him to launch the first project at Phu Khao Thong village in 2006, which raised awareness among the local people and encouraged them to better safeguard their heritage.
In his article,Archaeology along the Andaman Coast ,which was recently presented at an international seminar on Thai-Malaysian Archaeology Joint Project, Capt Boonyarit pointed out that Phu Khao Thong is still largely unknown to scholars but is no less important to Kuan Lukpad.
Some 2,000 years ago, Kuan Lukpad and Phu Khao Thong were both once prosperous port cities and trading stations where people exchanged goods with foreigners from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe along the so-called "Southern Silk Route".
More importantly, he noted that archaeological evidences, in particular, clumps of glass and stone, as well as unfinished beads that were found in drove, indicated that both cities were not just bead trading stations as previously believed by many Western scholars, but major bead-making sites of the region. Other exquisite findings at Phu Khao Thong archaeological sites included gold ornaments - also in large amounts - from the Middle East; carnelian triratana beads, a symbol of Buddhism;and some Rouletted ware, a kind of pottery with a smooth surface. It was the first time that Rouletted ware (c.2nd century BC to 1st century AD) was discovered on Thailand's Andaman coast as this type of artefact was mostly found in Arikamedu, an archaeological site in India. It was also found in Java, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
Capt Boonyarit said he believed that Phu Khao Thong beads were much sought-after items that were sent to other parts of the Malay peninsula and Southeast Asia,and said that more research is needed for this archaeological site. Phu Khao Thong and Kuan Lukpad eventually lost their importance as seaports between the 8th and 11th centuries AD.
"Excavation work has covered about 40 percent of the Phu Khao Thong area," he said. Yet he expressed great concern over the spawning bead hunting by local villagers - an illegal activity that caused extensive damage to the archaeological sites.
Capt Boonyarit conceded that even though the law stipulates that all unearthed antique items belong to the state and those who come across such items are required to give them up to the state, there exists many loopholes that make it very difficult for law enforcement authorities to deal properly with illegal treasure hunters.
"That is partially because beads are scattered in privatelyowned lands and the police are reluctant to take action since they recognise the private land ownership. This explains why illegal bead trading still continues today and we need cooperation from every party concerned to curb the illegal hunting."
But local villagers need to realise that bead trading is not a short-lived business, he said.
"They can probably pick 20 to 30,000 baht from selling beads. However, I have told them [the locals] that once the beads are all gone, there will be nothing left in the community. On the contrary, if they manage to keep the beads and other artefacts within their community, we can then develop it into a more sustainable way," he said.
To have that happen, the local community must take pride in their heritage and have the urge to safeguard it,insisted Capt Boonyarit, who recognises the potential of young students in promoting conservation awareness in their respective communities.
The heritage conservation project began with locating archeological study sites, he said.
"Focus is on the areas with traces of ancient human settlement. In the case of Kapoe, they are scattered around the school and the temple," he said, adding that it's important the designated areas remain "clean", which means areas that have never been searched by hunters in the past.
Students not only learn about conservation and the archeologist's work process as they help him excavate the archaeological pits, they also learn to treasure and value the artefacts they unearth.
Capt Boonyarit said he encourages the students to attach importance to all types of artefacts that are found during an excavation, while most hunters only go after beads."We are different as we keep and study all the artefacts that we come across in order to learn more about ancient human settlement," he said.
And the excavation at Ban Dan produced huge finds - gold beads, remnants of tripod pottery, the first time ever that such ancient items have been found, dated about two to 3,000 years, were found in the lowland southern region.
"The pottery, normally found in caves, helps us determine the time when the ancient people settled in the area," he said.
Capt Boonyarit expressed confidence that both Phu Khao Thong and Ban Dan, with exquisite heritage, have the potential to be developed as a learning centre and a tourist attraction in the long run.
He said if the local community is ready, then it could eventually have its own folk museum to showcase its heritage with pride.
"In fact, things go well at Phu Khao Thong village as people take part in bead-making workshops and Phu Khao Thong beads have become well-known in the market since people enjoy the extra income," he said.
It is his hope that Phu Khao Thong will eventually restore traditional heating methods in bead-making, using old-style kiln, as to add uniqueness to their final products.
When asked about his next project site, Capt Boonyarit said he may probably go back to Kapoe district.
"There is a whole lot more to search in that area," he said.
Call to probe sand transfer to Singapore
A company's request to ship sand sediment to Singapore after dredging it needs more study, a local environmental group says.
The sediment could contain a high level of silica, which is protected under the law, the coordinator of the Andaman Organisation for Participatory Restoration of Natural Resources, Thanu Nabneon, said yesterday.
Singapore-based K and Sand Corp has offered to help the Tambon Bang Nai Sri Administrative Office in Phangnga's Takua Pa district clear sediment blocking the mouth of the Takua Pa River.
The company offered the service at no charge on the condition it was allowed to ship the sediment to Singapore, he said.
The firm could not be reached for comment but the Department of Mineral Resources confirmed the request had been made.
The sediment would be cleared from a site measuring 30 square kilometres and up to 11 metres deep, said Preecha Laochu, director of the Department of Mineral Resources' Geo-Technical Office.
Mr Thanu said the firm had asked a handful of state agencies for permission.
"The company claims the sediment has no value for industry and would not breach export regulations," Mr Thanu said.
"But if there is no economic value,why does the company offer to dredge it for free?
"We could lose over a million cubic metres of sediment, which could harm the coastline's ecological system.
"The area is an environment and natural resources protection zone, so an environment impact study is required for any activities which might harm the environment."
A Commerce Ministry regulation said sand containing over 75% silica oxide could not be exported.
The regulation was designed to preserve sand, which has economic value.Silica is a component used in making cement.
Mr Preecha said the Geo-Technical Office and the company planned to test the silicon level of the sediment.
"We have written to the company and the tambon office demanding a sediment sampling test. The department and company will share the cost," Mr Preecha said.
The sediment could contain a high level of silica, which is protected under the law, the coordinator of the Andaman Organisation for Participatory Restoration of Natural Resources, Thanu Nabneon, said yesterday.
Singapore-based K and Sand Corp has offered to help the Tambon Bang Nai Sri Administrative Office in Phangnga's Takua Pa district clear sediment blocking the mouth of the Takua Pa River.
The company offered the service at no charge on the condition it was allowed to ship the sediment to Singapore, he said.
The firm could not be reached for comment but the Department of Mineral Resources confirmed the request had been made.
The sediment would be cleared from a site measuring 30 square kilometres and up to 11 metres deep, said Preecha Laochu, director of the Department of Mineral Resources' Geo-Technical Office.
Mr Thanu said the firm had asked a handful of state agencies for permission.
"The company claims the sediment has no value for industry and would not breach export regulations," Mr Thanu said.
"But if there is no economic value,why does the company offer to dredge it for free?
"We could lose over a million cubic metres of sediment, which could harm the coastline's ecological system.
"The area is an environment and natural resources protection zone, so an environment impact study is required for any activities which might harm the environment."
A Commerce Ministry regulation said sand containing over 75% silica oxide could not be exported.
The regulation was designed to preserve sand, which has economic value.Silica is a component used in making cement.
Mr Preecha said the Geo-Technical Office and the company planned to test the silicon level of the sediment.
"We have written to the company and the tambon office demanding a sediment sampling test. The department and company will share the cost," Mr Preecha said.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
CRITICS SLAM GOVT'S 'CHEAP' POPULIST POLICY
The new government policy allowing the leasing of 1 million rai of state-owned land to farmers has met more criticism than praise from people who had their plots repossessed thanks to a 2001 Cabinet decision.
In a Bangkok seminar yesterday, critics - labelling the scheme as a populist policy - said the government was handing out stolen property instead of returning it to the rightful owners.
Prayong Phikulthong, an activist known for fighting for the poor, said the "Community Title Deeds" project was unacceptable and vowed to have villagers in Pathum Thani return the deeds they received earlier this month.
"Instead of returning the land to its rightful owners, this government has taken stolen assets and leased them cheaply to gain political benefits. This is unacceptable," Prayong said. He also called on farmers living in other parts of Pathum Thani, who will soon be given leases, to not accept them.
In 2001, Thaksin Shinawatra's first government issued a decree reclaiming 30 million rai of land held by farmers, who had legal claim over the plots since 1970.
Under the current government's "Community Title Deeds" project, about 1 million rai of state-owned land, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department, will be leased to farmers or low-income earners at a low rate of Bt20 per rai per year. On September 3, a total of 1,182 farmers based in Pathum Thani received deeds and leasing rights on farmland covering 7,912 rai.
Sunee Chairos, a former Human Rights Commission member, said communities should be granted full authority to manage the project on a permanent basis instead of just 15 years under government supervision.
Panya Khongpan, chairman of the Farmer's Federations Association for Development Thailand, said he was planning to organise a rally of farmers in Nakhon Pathom to demand that they be allowed to manage title deeds and leases through cooperatives.
"Once the 15-year period is over and the land is returned to the Treasury Department, I believe these plots will definitely be transferred or sold to financiers," he added.
Assoc Prof Nualnoi Treerat, a Chulalongkorn University lecturer, said the project should be beneficial to the public, but clear guidelines on management policies were needed to prevent administrative and social headaches once the 15-year period is over.
In a Bangkok seminar yesterday, critics - labelling the scheme as a populist policy - said the government was handing out stolen property instead of returning it to the rightful owners.
Prayong Phikulthong, an activist known for fighting for the poor, said the "Community Title Deeds" project was unacceptable and vowed to have villagers in Pathum Thani return the deeds they received earlier this month.
"Instead of returning the land to its rightful owners, this government has taken stolen assets and leased them cheaply to gain political benefits. This is unacceptable," Prayong said. He also called on farmers living in other parts of Pathum Thani, who will soon be given leases, to not accept them.
In 2001, Thaksin Shinawatra's first government issued a decree reclaiming 30 million rai of land held by farmers, who had legal claim over the plots since 1970.
Under the current government's "Community Title Deeds" project, about 1 million rai of state-owned land, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department, will be leased to farmers or low-income earners at a low rate of Bt20 per rai per year. On September 3, a total of 1,182 farmers based in Pathum Thani received deeds and leasing rights on farmland covering 7,912 rai.
Sunee Chairos, a former Human Rights Commission member, said communities should be granted full authority to manage the project on a permanent basis instead of just 15 years under government supervision.
Panya Khongpan, chairman of the Farmer's Federations Association for Development Thailand, said he was planning to organise a rally of farmers in Nakhon Pathom to demand that they be allowed to manage title deeds and leases through cooperatives.
"Once the 15-year period is over and the land is returned to the Treasury Department, I believe these plots will definitely be transferred or sold to financiers," he added.
Assoc Prof Nualnoi Treerat, a Chulalongkorn University lecturer, said the project should be beneficial to the public, but clear guidelines on management policies were needed to prevent administrative and social headaches once the 15-year period is over.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Proxy land holdings come under threat
Thais holding land on behalf of foreigners in breach of legal limits may lose title to the land, Phuket governor Wichai Praisa-ngob says.
Ownership of some parcels of land,thought to be in the hands of nominees of foreign investors, was expected to be revoked, Mr Wichai said yesterday as the province moves to enforce foreign ownership curbs.
Inquiries by the province had discovered at least "four to five landlords might need to have their title deeds cancelled", he said.
They were acting as nominees of foreigners trying to get around curbs on foreign land ownership.
Government help was needed to tackle the problem, he said.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has asked land officials on the island to investigate 16 plots which they suspect are controlled by foreign businessmen through Thai proxies.
Most of the land, covering thousands of rai, is in tambon Rawai in Muang district.
The plots are owned by five property developers.
"We need to keep checking, but we can't root out the whole thing ourselves,"Mr Wichai said.
The Phuket land office has issued up to 130,000 land title deeds and is now examining 1,000 applications more.
Tambon Choeng Talay in Thalang district is also popular with development companies part-owned by foreigners.
Chief of Choeng Talay tambon administration organisation Manot Pancharat said he supported the province's attempt to get things right.
Land purchases had boomed in Phuket since last year after foreign investors became more interested in housing projects.
Among them are homestays, a type of lodging that provides tourists with an experience similar to that of Thai families.
Democrat MP for Phuket Chalermlak Kebsap said foreign businesses could exploit legal loopholes for their own interest, including tax avoidance.
However, he warned against too much scrutiny, saying it could affect legitimate development in Phuket.
Pol Lt Col Prawut Wongsinil, of the DSI, said a similar problem was occurring in Surat Thani province, where consultancies were giving foreigners advice on how to buy land and get around legal curbs.
Foreigners are suspected of colluding with Thai partners in land development projects which break foreign ownership limits, said the DSI, which is expanding its investigation to Samui island and other tourist provinces.
Ownership of some parcels of land,thought to be in the hands of nominees of foreign investors, was expected to be revoked, Mr Wichai said yesterday as the province moves to enforce foreign ownership curbs.
Inquiries by the province had discovered at least "four to five landlords might need to have their title deeds cancelled", he said.
They were acting as nominees of foreigners trying to get around curbs on foreign land ownership.
Government help was needed to tackle the problem, he said.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has asked land officials on the island to investigate 16 plots which they suspect are controlled by foreign businessmen through Thai proxies.
Most of the land, covering thousands of rai, is in tambon Rawai in Muang district.
The plots are owned by five property developers.
"We need to keep checking, but we can't root out the whole thing ourselves,"Mr Wichai said.
The Phuket land office has issued up to 130,000 land title deeds and is now examining 1,000 applications more.
Tambon Choeng Talay in Thalang district is also popular with development companies part-owned by foreigners.
Chief of Choeng Talay tambon administration organisation Manot Pancharat said he supported the province's attempt to get things right.
Land purchases had boomed in Phuket since last year after foreign investors became more interested in housing projects.
Among them are homestays, a type of lodging that provides tourists with an experience similar to that of Thai families.
Democrat MP for Phuket Chalermlak Kebsap said foreign businesses could exploit legal loopholes for their own interest, including tax avoidance.
However, he warned against too much scrutiny, saying it could affect legitimate development in Phuket.
Pol Lt Col Prawut Wongsinil, of the DSI, said a similar problem was occurring in Surat Thani province, where consultancies were giving foreigners advice on how to buy land and get around legal curbs.
Foreigners are suspected of colluding with Thai partners in land development projects which break foreign ownership limits, said the DSI, which is expanding its investigation to Samui island and other tourist provinces.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
"Natural" fuels ignite power struggle
Villagers in many parts of the country are up in arms over proposed natural gas and biomass power plants in their communities By Tunya Sukpanich
"This project must stop," said Wanna Rodpitak, a member of the Chachoengsao Provincial Administration Organisation who has led the protest against a natural gas-fueled power plant in Bang Khla district,about 60 kilometres east of Bangkok. Protests against the proposed power plant on 500 rai of land in tambons Samed Nue and Samed Tai, with a generating capacity of 1,600 megawatts, have been ongoing for almost two years.
The scene is being repeated in many provinces with planned natural gas and biomass power plants, with determined protestors in Chiang Rai, Saraburi, Ubon Ratchathani, and Prachuab Khiri Khan among other places demanding the projects be terminated and refusing any compromise. In some areas locals are blocking roads or obstructing work on construction sites.
Mr Wanna insists that such protests represent the true voice of the communities which will be most affected by the plants. His group began their protest in early 2008 soon after learning of the project in their district.
They were not included in any decision to construct a power plant in their backyard,they say, and only became aware of the project after their suspicions were aroused that something was going on, as more and more land in the area was being bought up, and later large pipes were delivered to some of the sites.
More than 20,000 locals signed a petition requesting detailed information from every agency that might be involved, including the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Industry,the Office of the Parliament and provincial authorities
"We tried every method to make the authorities listen to our reasons why we do not want the power plant, but nothing happened.Finally, in July last year we blocked the road for three days," said Mr Wanna.
"After negotiations, a so-called tripartite committee and a sub-committee were set up to find a solution, but they never functioned,"he continued.
The locals worry that the plant might cause air pollution, but they are most concerned about the tremendous amount of water it will need for its operation from the Bang Pakong River."We know the plant will need 60,000 cubic metres of water per day for its system. Of that, half will evaporate into the air and another 20,000 cu m will be treated and released back into the river.
"What will happen in the dry season, what will happen to farmers? We need water too,"he said.
Water is also the reason for the locals'protest in Saraburi's Nong Saeng district,where another gas-fueled power plant is in the works. They are very disappointed that the plant's environment impact assessment (EIA) was recently approved by the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (Onep).
"Both the state authorities and the company involved want to deny us the right to protect our way of living as farmers. What is really ironic is that the power plant site is in a planned agricultural preservation zone in the province," said Tee Trairattanamanee, who along with two other villagers was recently arrested for obstructing work on the construction site.
Villagers have petitioned concerned authorities in an attempt to obstruct any work on the planned construction site, and have asked various organisations to help study the rich biodiversity of the area to establish its ecological value. This site too is part of a planned agricultural zone.
"We plant rice three or four times a year.Any project with the possibility of damaging our environment and the natural resources essential to farming should not be allowed,"said Mr Tee.
BENEFITS DOUBTED
Villagers in Chiang Rai, Phayao, Ubon Ratchathani and Prachuap Khiri Khan provinces are protesting proposed power plants fueled by biomass in the form of agricultural waste.
The government believes biomass is most suitable for Thailand because it is a renewable energy source, using rice husks, bagasse, coconut wastes, wood chips, animal dung and other agricultural waste as fuel.
A study from the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency shows that each year about 13 million tonnes of bagasse, five million tonnes of rice husks,and 1.7 million tonnes of cassava roots are left as farm waste. The study says one MWhour of electricity can be produced by 14,100 tonnes of bagasse,9,800 tonnes of rice husks or 14,687 tonnes of cassava roots.
The government has been promoting biomass power plants among the private sector. At the present time,17 biomass power plants - most of which fall into the category of Very Small Power Producer (VSPP), referring to a generating capacity of not more than 10MW - using bagasse, cornstalks, woodchips, rice husk, and waste from palm trees sell electricity to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT).
Most of the opposition against biomass power plants is based on the air pollution that results in burning the organic matter to create energy. As well, many locals are angry that they have been left out of the decisionmaking process.
Article 67 of the Constitution says that individuals and communities have the right to conserve, protect and to benefit from local natural resources and biodiversity, and prohibits any projects or activities which can cause serious negative impacts to the environment, natural resources and public health.The Constitution further states that if the authorities want to pursue a project with the potential to cause these negative impacts a comprehensive EIA must be conducted. This must include a public hearing process with the participation of locals and independent environmental and public health organisa-tions. Local communities can file a lawsuit against government agencies, local authorities or state enterprises if they do not follow the rules.
However, many small power plants avoid the EIA process because regulations state that plants with less than a 10MW capacity don't need to conduct an EIA. A number of power plants are proposed which will generate only 9.9MW.
Locals feel the rules are being manipulated to deny them participation in the process and they are distrustful of assurances from the government and the companies involved that environmental impacts will be minimal.They feel a thorough study is essential to ensuring the protection of their lifestyle and environment.
A planned biomass power plant which will use coconut waste as its energy source in Tap Sakae district of Prachuab Khiri Khan province has faced a strong protest from the locals,even though many will earn extra income from selling coconut waste to the plant. Initially the plan was for a 5MW capacity plant but this was changed to 9.6MW.
Locals are concerned about the possibility of air pollution, and, according to Anchulee Chumrum, of the Huay Yang conservation group, they also fear the plant might shift to other fuel sources such as coal if there is not enough coconut waste to supply it.
Villagers in Wiangchai and Wiang Chiangrung district of Chiang Rai province are protesting against a planned rice husk-fueled power plant with a capacity of 9.4MW. The company involved, Palang Gharn Sa-ad Dee 2, is in the process of preparing a suit to be filed at the Administrative Court to allow it to construct the plant as soon as possible.
A representative of Palang Gharn Sa-ad Dee 2 said the company has done everything according to the law and regulations. He said that the operation of rice husk-fueled power plants in Surin and Pichit provinces, run by other companies, has proved that they are friendly to the environment, and pointed out that promoting biomass power plants is government policy. He called on the government to take an active role in solving the widespread and ongoing protests which threaten the industry.
Protests have halted the development of even plants much smaller than the 10MW limit, such as a planned plant with a capacity of 1.8MW in Tambon Mae Na Rue of Phayao province. Last year, a proposed 9.6MW biomass power plant in Dok Kham Tai in Phayao was also called off because of strong protest from the locals.
Deunnapa Panyawong, of the Mae Na Rue conservation group, said that the tambon administration organisation (TAO) and villagers turned down the smaller project because it is located close the community,and the local school. She pointed out that without the proper system and management even a small plant can cause significant pollution.
She questioned if the company had studied the local farm production before they came up with the scheme. The plant was supposed to use rice husks and cornstalks as fuel.
"This is doubtful because there is no rice mill in the area since we don't plant much rice here," she said.
Ms Deunnapa added that many locals fear that lignite coal might be used as fuel, especially as the mines that supply the Mae Moh lignite power plant in nearby Lampang province are in the vicinity of Mae Na Rue.
Meanwhile, some plant operators are apparently concerned that the government's promotion of biomass power plants will result in a problem in fuel supply. One operator told Spectrum that with high competition from both Thai and foreign investors, farm biomass will be much more expensive.
NOT IN MY BACKYARD: The past decades of reckless energy management in Thailand have resulted in widespread suspicions and protests whenever a new power plant is proposed.
ACTIVIST: Wanna Rodpitak has led the protest against the power plant in Bang Khla district of Chachoengsao province for almost two years
OPPOSED: Left, Tee Trairattanamanee is leading the protest against the power plant in Saraburi province.
"This project must stop," said Wanna Rodpitak, a member of the Chachoengsao Provincial Administration Organisation who has led the protest against a natural gas-fueled power plant in Bang Khla district,about 60 kilometres east of Bangkok. Protests against the proposed power plant on 500 rai of land in tambons Samed Nue and Samed Tai, with a generating capacity of 1,600 megawatts, have been ongoing for almost two years.
The scene is being repeated in many provinces with planned natural gas and biomass power plants, with determined protestors in Chiang Rai, Saraburi, Ubon Ratchathani, and Prachuab Khiri Khan among other places demanding the projects be terminated and refusing any compromise. In some areas locals are blocking roads or obstructing work on construction sites.
Mr Wanna insists that such protests represent the true voice of the communities which will be most affected by the plants. His group began their protest in early 2008 soon after learning of the project in their district.
They were not included in any decision to construct a power plant in their backyard,they say, and only became aware of the project after their suspicions were aroused that something was going on, as more and more land in the area was being bought up, and later large pipes were delivered to some of the sites.
More than 20,000 locals signed a petition requesting detailed information from every agency that might be involved, including the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Industry,the Office of the Parliament and provincial authorities
"We tried every method to make the authorities listen to our reasons why we do not want the power plant, but nothing happened.Finally, in July last year we blocked the road for three days," said Mr Wanna.
"After negotiations, a so-called tripartite committee and a sub-committee were set up to find a solution, but they never functioned,"he continued.
The locals worry that the plant might cause air pollution, but they are most concerned about the tremendous amount of water it will need for its operation from the Bang Pakong River."We know the plant will need 60,000 cubic metres of water per day for its system. Of that, half will evaporate into the air and another 20,000 cu m will be treated and released back into the river.
"What will happen in the dry season, what will happen to farmers? We need water too,"he said.
Water is also the reason for the locals'protest in Saraburi's Nong Saeng district,where another gas-fueled power plant is in the works. They are very disappointed that the plant's environment impact assessment (EIA) was recently approved by the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (Onep).
"Both the state authorities and the company involved want to deny us the right to protect our way of living as farmers. What is really ironic is that the power plant site is in a planned agricultural preservation zone in the province," said Tee Trairattanamanee, who along with two other villagers was recently arrested for obstructing work on the construction site.
Villagers have petitioned concerned authorities in an attempt to obstruct any work on the planned construction site, and have asked various organisations to help study the rich biodiversity of the area to establish its ecological value. This site too is part of a planned agricultural zone.
"We plant rice three or four times a year.Any project with the possibility of damaging our environment and the natural resources essential to farming should not be allowed,"said Mr Tee.
BENEFITS DOUBTED
Villagers in Chiang Rai, Phayao, Ubon Ratchathani and Prachuap Khiri Khan provinces are protesting proposed power plants fueled by biomass in the form of agricultural waste.
The government believes biomass is most suitable for Thailand because it is a renewable energy source, using rice husks, bagasse, coconut wastes, wood chips, animal dung and other agricultural waste as fuel.
A study from the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency shows that each year about 13 million tonnes of bagasse, five million tonnes of rice husks,and 1.7 million tonnes of cassava roots are left as farm waste. The study says one MWhour of electricity can be produced by 14,100 tonnes of bagasse,9,800 tonnes of rice husks or 14,687 tonnes of cassava roots.
The government has been promoting biomass power plants among the private sector. At the present time,17 biomass power plants - most of which fall into the category of Very Small Power Producer (VSPP), referring to a generating capacity of not more than 10MW - using bagasse, cornstalks, woodchips, rice husk, and waste from palm trees sell electricity to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT).
Most of the opposition against biomass power plants is based on the air pollution that results in burning the organic matter to create energy. As well, many locals are angry that they have been left out of the decisionmaking process.
Article 67 of the Constitution says that individuals and communities have the right to conserve, protect and to benefit from local natural resources and biodiversity, and prohibits any projects or activities which can cause serious negative impacts to the environment, natural resources and public health.The Constitution further states that if the authorities want to pursue a project with the potential to cause these negative impacts a comprehensive EIA must be conducted. This must include a public hearing process with the participation of locals and independent environmental and public health organisa-tions. Local communities can file a lawsuit against government agencies, local authorities or state enterprises if they do not follow the rules.
However, many small power plants avoid the EIA process because regulations state that plants with less than a 10MW capacity don't need to conduct an EIA. A number of power plants are proposed which will generate only 9.9MW.
Locals feel the rules are being manipulated to deny them participation in the process and they are distrustful of assurances from the government and the companies involved that environmental impacts will be minimal.They feel a thorough study is essential to ensuring the protection of their lifestyle and environment.
A planned biomass power plant which will use coconut waste as its energy source in Tap Sakae district of Prachuab Khiri Khan province has faced a strong protest from the locals,even though many will earn extra income from selling coconut waste to the plant. Initially the plan was for a 5MW capacity plant but this was changed to 9.6MW.
Locals are concerned about the possibility of air pollution, and, according to Anchulee Chumrum, of the Huay Yang conservation group, they also fear the plant might shift to other fuel sources such as coal if there is not enough coconut waste to supply it.
Villagers in Wiangchai and Wiang Chiangrung district of Chiang Rai province are protesting against a planned rice husk-fueled power plant with a capacity of 9.4MW. The company involved, Palang Gharn Sa-ad Dee 2, is in the process of preparing a suit to be filed at the Administrative Court to allow it to construct the plant as soon as possible.
A representative of Palang Gharn Sa-ad Dee 2 said the company has done everything according to the law and regulations. He said that the operation of rice husk-fueled power plants in Surin and Pichit provinces, run by other companies, has proved that they are friendly to the environment, and pointed out that promoting biomass power plants is government policy. He called on the government to take an active role in solving the widespread and ongoing protests which threaten the industry.
Protests have halted the development of even plants much smaller than the 10MW limit, such as a planned plant with a capacity of 1.8MW in Tambon Mae Na Rue of Phayao province. Last year, a proposed 9.6MW biomass power plant in Dok Kham Tai in Phayao was also called off because of strong protest from the locals.
Deunnapa Panyawong, of the Mae Na Rue conservation group, said that the tambon administration organisation (TAO) and villagers turned down the smaller project because it is located close the community,and the local school. She pointed out that without the proper system and management even a small plant can cause significant pollution.
She questioned if the company had studied the local farm production before they came up with the scheme. The plant was supposed to use rice husks and cornstalks as fuel.
"This is doubtful because there is no rice mill in the area since we don't plant much rice here," she said.
Ms Deunnapa added that many locals fear that lignite coal might be used as fuel, especially as the mines that supply the Mae Moh lignite power plant in nearby Lampang province are in the vicinity of Mae Na Rue.
Meanwhile, some plant operators are apparently concerned that the government's promotion of biomass power plants will result in a problem in fuel supply. One operator told Spectrum that with high competition from both Thai and foreign investors, farm biomass will be much more expensive.
NOT IN MY BACKYARD: The past decades of reckless energy management in Thailand have resulted in widespread suspicions and protests whenever a new power plant is proposed.
ACTIVIST: Wanna Rodpitak has led the protest against the power plant in Bang Khla district of Chachoengsao province for almost two years
OPPOSED: Left, Tee Trairattanamanee is leading the protest against the power plant in Saraburi province.
Friday, September 11, 2009
City elephants get park in Surin
Surin is to be home to a new elephant park to shelter jumbos rescued from city streets.
A number of elephants have died or been seriously injured in accidents in Bangkok and other cities after being hit by cars, falling into potholes or suffering an electrical shock.
In the latest bid to solve the seemingly insurmountable problem, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry will set up an elephant shelter on 6,000 rai owned by the Royal Forest Department and the Forestry Industry Organisation, permanent secretary Saksit Tridech said yesterday.
Initially, about 100 stray elephants were expected to be relocated to the shelter, which could become another tourist attraction in Surin, dubbed "elephant city" because of the number of captive elephants in the province.
"We are going to invite all related parties such as the Interior Ministry and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and elephant owners to discuss how to operate the shelter in a way that will help solve the elephant problem,"Mr Saksit said.
The Department of National Parks,Wildlife and Plant Conservation believes there are about 2,000 elephants living in the wild and about 3,000 in captivity.
Officials estimate about half of the captive elephants have been forced to roam city streets and tourists sites at some stage.
Mattana Srikrachang, the wildlife department's elephant expert, said more needed to be done to stop elephant owners from bringing the animals into the major cities and putting their lives at risk. That included overhauling the captive elephant registration system so the authorities could get an accurate count of the number of captive elephants as well as information about their ownership and working places.
The data would help authorities come up with effective plans to manage and protect the elephants from danger.
A number of elephants have died or been seriously injured in accidents in Bangkok and other cities after being hit by cars, falling into potholes or suffering an electrical shock.
In the latest bid to solve the seemingly insurmountable problem, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry will set up an elephant shelter on 6,000 rai owned by the Royal Forest Department and the Forestry Industry Organisation, permanent secretary Saksit Tridech said yesterday.
Initially, about 100 stray elephants were expected to be relocated to the shelter, which could become another tourist attraction in Surin, dubbed "elephant city" because of the number of captive elephants in the province.
"We are going to invite all related parties such as the Interior Ministry and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and elephant owners to discuss how to operate the shelter in a way that will help solve the elephant problem,"Mr Saksit said.
The Department of National Parks,Wildlife and Plant Conservation believes there are about 2,000 elephants living in the wild and about 3,000 in captivity.
Officials estimate about half of the captive elephants have been forced to roam city streets and tourists sites at some stage.
Mattana Srikrachang, the wildlife department's elephant expert, said more needed to be done to stop elephant owners from bringing the animals into the major cities and putting their lives at risk. That included overhauling the captive elephant registration system so the authorities could get an accurate count of the number of captive elephants as well as information about their ownership and working places.
The data would help authorities come up with effective plans to manage and protect the elephants from danger.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
River Kwai statue gets no mercy
Provincial officials have found a special interest group does not own the land on which it plans to build a giant Goddess of Mercy statue and a religious complex at the foot of the bridge on the River Kwai.
A panel set up by the Kanchanaburi provincial administration accused the Kuang Yim Sunthorntham Foundation of illegal occupation of the four rai of land as it could not produce full ownership documents.
The land on the bank of the River Kwai was not included in the ownership documents of two other plots of land the foundation submitted to the local authorities.
The panel will check to see whether the land, where construction has already begun on some parts of the complex, is public land, a source said.
The panel, chaired by Kanchanaburi deputy governor Cherdsak Champathet,yesterday recommended the government order the foundation to suspend work and demolish the constructions already built.
Work on land for which there are no ownership documents would cease immediately, the panel said.
The foundation was not attacked for planning to build a construction that would ruin the scenery in the area.
Local environment groups also accused the foundation of violating the 1979 Building Control Act and city planning laws which control construction on historic sites, and the 2007 constitution which requires a public hearing for projects which might affect the general public.
A panel set up by the Kanchanaburi provincial administration accused the Kuang Yim Sunthorntham Foundation of illegal occupation of the four rai of land as it could not produce full ownership documents.
The land on the bank of the River Kwai was not included in the ownership documents of two other plots of land the foundation submitted to the local authorities.
The panel will check to see whether the land, where construction has already begun on some parts of the complex, is public land, a source said.
The panel, chaired by Kanchanaburi deputy governor Cherdsak Champathet,yesterday recommended the government order the foundation to suspend work and demolish the constructions already built.
Work on land for which there are no ownership documents would cease immediately, the panel said.
The foundation was not attacked for planning to build a construction that would ruin the scenery in the area.
Local environment groups also accused the foundation of violating the 1979 Building Control Act and city planning laws which control construction on historic sites, and the 2007 constitution which requires a public hearing for projects which might affect the general public.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Vasit to head panel to tackle BMA graft
Former deputy police chief Vasit Dejkunjorn will lead a committee to tackle corruption involving City Hall projects, a Bangkok Metropolitan Administration source says.
Pol Gen Vasit, who is renowned for his campaigns against corrupt police officers, will head an eight-member committee to take on a similar role to that of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
The new body, which has five other members not associated with the BMA,has been endorsed by Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra.
The other outsiders besides Pol Gen Vasit are Juree Vichit-Vadakan, Tortrakul Yomnak, Jirawan Phakdibutr, Kittiwat Uchupalanant and Kanokkan Anukaensai, the source said.
The other two are BMA Deputy Governor Thirachon Manomaipiboon and Charoenrat Chutikarn, head of the BMA's Civil Service Commission, the source said.
Apart from investigating corruption and irregularities involving BMA projects,particularly procurement schemes, the committee will advise the governor on how to prevent and tackle graft, the source said.
The establishment of the panel was introduced by MR Sukhumbhand in his attempts to restore the credibility of City Hall officials.
Earlier, MR Sukhumbhand said the BMA was badly in need of its own corruption investigation body as several projects in the past have had to be screened by independent agencies.
The source said the governor had no special cases for the new committee,which is expected to meet and lay down its framework soon.
Former governor Apirak Kosayodhin had set up a similar panel to investigate graft at the BMA. However the committee's work was "not quite fruitful", the source said.
It is believed the committee failed to do its job because most of the members were BMA officials.
The BMA has been rocked by graft scandals with the fire boats and trucks purchase scheme among its high-profile cases.
Its attempt to nullify the contract was foiled last month when the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court denied an injunction to suspend the sixth and remaining payments to Austria-based supplier Steyr Co.
The purchase deal, signed in 2004 by then Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej, meant the BMA was obliged to buy the fire equipment once the letter of credit was opened.
Mr Samak's successor, Apirak Kosayodhin, signed the letter when he became city governor.
Mr Samak and Mr Apirak are among five politicians who have been indicted by the NACC over alleged irregularities involving the procurement.
The others are former interior minister Pokin Polakul, former deputy interior minister Pracha Maleenont and former commerce minister Watana Muangsuk.
Pol Gen Vasit, who is renowned for his campaigns against corrupt police officers, will head an eight-member committee to take on a similar role to that of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
The new body, which has five other members not associated with the BMA,has been endorsed by Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra.
The other outsiders besides Pol Gen Vasit are Juree Vichit-Vadakan, Tortrakul Yomnak, Jirawan Phakdibutr, Kittiwat Uchupalanant and Kanokkan Anukaensai, the source said.
The other two are BMA Deputy Governor Thirachon Manomaipiboon and Charoenrat Chutikarn, head of the BMA's Civil Service Commission, the source said.
Apart from investigating corruption and irregularities involving BMA projects,particularly procurement schemes, the committee will advise the governor on how to prevent and tackle graft, the source said.
The establishment of the panel was introduced by MR Sukhumbhand in his attempts to restore the credibility of City Hall officials.
Earlier, MR Sukhumbhand said the BMA was badly in need of its own corruption investigation body as several projects in the past have had to be screened by independent agencies.
The source said the governor had no special cases for the new committee,which is expected to meet and lay down its framework soon.
Former governor Apirak Kosayodhin had set up a similar panel to investigate graft at the BMA. However the committee's work was "not quite fruitful", the source said.
It is believed the committee failed to do its job because most of the members were BMA officials.
The BMA has been rocked by graft scandals with the fire boats and trucks purchase scheme among its high-profile cases.
Its attempt to nullify the contract was foiled last month when the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court denied an injunction to suspend the sixth and remaining payments to Austria-based supplier Steyr Co.
The purchase deal, signed in 2004 by then Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej, meant the BMA was obliged to buy the fire equipment once the letter of credit was opened.
Mr Samak's successor, Apirak Kosayodhin, signed the letter when he became city governor.
Mr Samak and Mr Apirak are among five politicians who have been indicted by the NACC over alleged irregularities involving the procurement.
The others are former interior minister Pokin Polakul, former deputy interior minister Pracha Maleenont and former commerce minister Watana Muangsuk.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Vote fraud mars TAO elections
Tambon administration organisation elections held yesterday have been marred by widespread vote-buying allegations.
Poll cheats are suspected of spending more money than ever in the elections which were held in 2,959 tambons across 74 provinces.
The chair of the People's Network for Election Thailand (Pnet) in Ayutthaya,Chollada Boonkasem, said vote-buying was rampant in several tambons in the central province. Voters were offered as much as 1,000 baht to vote for candidates for the position of TAO chair, and 200 baht to 300 baht for TAO rank-and-file members.
Most cash handouts were reported in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Phachi,Uthai, Sena and Bang Sai districts, Ms Chollada said, as she was handing poll fraud evidence to the provincial election committee. There are 93 tambons in Ayutthaya.
Mana Yaemchabok, an election committee member in Polkrang in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima,said poll supervisors and police were out in force looking for vote buyers on Saturday night. No violations were reported.
Thawee Chunkor, director of the Buri Ram election commission, said the atmosphere in many tambons in the northeastern province was lively. He expected the voter turnout to top 70%.
Mr Thawee said his panel had not received any complaints about poll violations.
But an observer said a group of teenagers was seen handing out pre-paid mobile phone cards to voters in several areas. Cash handouts of about 300 baht to 500 baht were also made, he said.
In the southern province of Ranong,voters flocked to the polls amid heavy rain.
Kamol Wipadapisut, chairman of the Ranong provincial election office, said the office received a complaint that a village head in tambon Ngao had failed to maintain his neutrality by suggesting that voters support certain candidates.The committee was investigating.
In the lower southern province of Trang, two election canvassers were arrested with cash they allegedly were using to buy votes.
Sompong Buaban, chair of the provincial election commission, said three complaints had been lodged with the commission, including the one about two arrested canvassers in Natam Nua TAO in Muang district.
The atmosphere in the three restive southern border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani was quiet.
In Yala, only a small number of voters showed up in tightly guarded Pron tambon in Muang district to cast their ballot.
Election Commission secretarygeneral Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn said the turnout around the country was expected to be about 70%.
Official results were expected to be declared by the EC this week, he said.
Poll cheats are suspected of spending more money than ever in the elections which were held in 2,959 tambons across 74 provinces.
The chair of the People's Network for Election Thailand (Pnet) in Ayutthaya,Chollada Boonkasem, said vote-buying was rampant in several tambons in the central province. Voters were offered as much as 1,000 baht to vote for candidates for the position of TAO chair, and 200 baht to 300 baht for TAO rank-and-file members.
Most cash handouts were reported in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Phachi,Uthai, Sena and Bang Sai districts, Ms Chollada said, as she was handing poll fraud evidence to the provincial election committee. There are 93 tambons in Ayutthaya.
Mana Yaemchabok, an election committee member in Polkrang in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima,said poll supervisors and police were out in force looking for vote buyers on Saturday night. No violations were reported.
Thawee Chunkor, director of the Buri Ram election commission, said the atmosphere in many tambons in the northeastern province was lively. He expected the voter turnout to top 70%.
Mr Thawee said his panel had not received any complaints about poll violations.
But an observer said a group of teenagers was seen handing out pre-paid mobile phone cards to voters in several areas. Cash handouts of about 300 baht to 500 baht were also made, he said.
In the southern province of Ranong,voters flocked to the polls amid heavy rain.
Kamol Wipadapisut, chairman of the Ranong provincial election office, said the office received a complaint that a village head in tambon Ngao had failed to maintain his neutrality by suggesting that voters support certain candidates.The committee was investigating.
In the lower southern province of Trang, two election canvassers were arrested with cash they allegedly were using to buy votes.
Sompong Buaban, chair of the provincial election commission, said three complaints had been lodged with the commission, including the one about two arrested canvassers in Natam Nua TAO in Muang district.
The atmosphere in the three restive southern border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani was quiet.
In Yala, only a small number of voters showed up in tightly guarded Pron tambon in Muang district to cast their ballot.
Election Commission secretarygeneral Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn said the turnout around the country was expected to be about 70%.
Official results were expected to be declared by the EC this week, he said.
Beyond the concept of country is humanity
The star of all media this past week was indisputably Mong Thongdee,a 12-year-old stateless boy from Chiang Rai. Blessed with a talent for making paper planes, Mong has participated in the paper plane He was invited to join the international competition in Chiba, Japan, on Sept 19 and 20.
The problem was that he could miss that chance of a lifetime although he has every right to participate under the United Nations' Universal Declarations for Human Rights and is protected by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which Thailand ratified.
Although this case ended happily later in the week when Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva intervened personally on Mong's behalf, it uncovered a flaw in our bureaucracy and the attitude of certain officials.
Thailand can do much better.Although Mong was born in the Kingdom to registered migrant workers, he is not allowed Thai citizenship according to the Nationality Act. His sponsors brought him to meet the minister of the interior to seek his permission for Mong to join the contest.
Instead of figuring out a way to help him, the minister ruled out such a possibility and warned him that if Mong ever left Thailand, he could not return to the country.
The Ministry of Interior (MOI) stuck to this principle although Mong's supporters cited provisions under the two UN conventions, as well as accepted principles of common humanity. The ministry stood its ground and said even if Mong were allowed to leave the country and won the contest, it would not be in the name of Thailand because he is not a national.
But a high official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) pointed out that in the past an exception was not unheard of, and that the MOI had allowed aliens to leave the country on a case-by-case basis by coordinating with other ministries, including the MOFA. In those cases,the MOFA considered issuing appropriate types of passports and the aliens could return to the Kingdom.
She added that the MOFA could issue a yellow passport with a validity of one year and a re-entry visa if the MOI asks it to accommodate the request.
Listening to her, I felt relieved. With the help of civil officials like her Thailand could become willing to make exceptions to the rules when warranted, and avoid being dubbed as a violator of human rights, and Thailand has long held to a clear principle of enforcing the law to the letter, but if there is no applicable provisions for a particular situation, the closest possible provisions shall apply mutatis mutandis - with the necessary changes having been made.
I remember that during the dictatorial rule of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat (1959-1963), the abbreviated charter in effect in those days, with a mere 20 sections, still had this exception spelled out in the last section:"In a case where no provision under this charter applies,the case will be deliberated based on the customs of constitutional democracy." The provision is similar to Section 4 of the Civil and Commercial Code.
Those detained without limits under the anti-communist law in those days cited this provision as grounds to appeal their detention to the Criminal Court.They claimed their detention violated principles of human rights and customs of democracy. The court ruled in their favour.
The world today has changed a lot since those days, especially in terms of human rights, whose principles have become a compulsory subject for undergraduate law students at every university.In my view, the MOFA has greater experience and understanding of human rights issues than the MOI, and the MOI should strive to keep up with global developments. Even the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), of which Thailand is the chair this year,has voted to set up a human-rights organisation. This behooves Thai MPs and senators to study and catch up with the latest global trends.
Thailand is not Burma, where a person can be detained at will without limits or credible charges, to the condemnation and exasperation of the world community. The MOI has to catch up with the world instead of acting like a cold-hearted dinosaur, as it did with Mong.
The number of registered migrant workers in Thailand is almost two million,and there are another two million unregistered ones, according the Labour Ministry. The children of registered and unregistered foreign labourers are considered "stateless".
However, the two UN conventions cited above endorse the rights of children to citizenship and education, whether their parents are in the country legitimately or not.
Of course, national security is a big concern. But let's not forget that beyond the concept of country is humanity. We cannot deny anyone their basic rights and treat them as if they are not human.Both the international conventions and the Buddhist religion teach us the same thing - to have compassion for our fellow human beings. This philosophy has won us so many friends worldwide,and it is this principle that we must always uphold.
The problem was that he could miss that chance of a lifetime although he has every right to participate under the United Nations' Universal Declarations for Human Rights and is protected by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which Thailand ratified.
Although this case ended happily later in the week when Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva intervened personally on Mong's behalf, it uncovered a flaw in our bureaucracy and the attitude of certain officials.
Thailand can do much better.Although Mong was born in the Kingdom to registered migrant workers, he is not allowed Thai citizenship according to the Nationality Act. His sponsors brought him to meet the minister of the interior to seek his permission for Mong to join the contest.
Instead of figuring out a way to help him, the minister ruled out such a possibility and warned him that if Mong ever left Thailand, he could not return to the country.
The Ministry of Interior (MOI) stuck to this principle although Mong's supporters cited provisions under the two UN conventions, as well as accepted principles of common humanity. The ministry stood its ground and said even if Mong were allowed to leave the country and won the contest, it would not be in the name of Thailand because he is not a national.
But a high official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) pointed out that in the past an exception was not unheard of, and that the MOI had allowed aliens to leave the country on a case-by-case basis by coordinating with other ministries, including the MOFA. In those cases,the MOFA considered issuing appropriate types of passports and the aliens could return to the Kingdom.
She added that the MOFA could issue a yellow passport with a validity of one year and a re-entry visa if the MOI asks it to accommodate the request.
Listening to her, I felt relieved. With the help of civil officials like her Thailand could become willing to make exceptions to the rules when warranted, and avoid being dubbed as a violator of human rights, and Thailand has long held to a clear principle of enforcing the law to the letter, but if there is no applicable provisions for a particular situation, the closest possible provisions shall apply mutatis mutandis - with the necessary changes having been made.
I remember that during the dictatorial rule of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat (1959-1963), the abbreviated charter in effect in those days, with a mere 20 sections, still had this exception spelled out in the last section:"In a case where no provision under this charter applies,the case will be deliberated based on the customs of constitutional democracy." The provision is similar to Section 4 of the Civil and Commercial Code.
Those detained without limits under the anti-communist law in those days cited this provision as grounds to appeal their detention to the Criminal Court.They claimed their detention violated principles of human rights and customs of democracy. The court ruled in their favour.
The world today has changed a lot since those days, especially in terms of human rights, whose principles have become a compulsory subject for undergraduate law students at every university.In my view, the MOFA has greater experience and understanding of human rights issues than the MOI, and the MOI should strive to keep up with global developments. Even the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), of which Thailand is the chair this year,has voted to set up a human-rights organisation. This behooves Thai MPs and senators to study and catch up with the latest global trends.
Thailand is not Burma, where a person can be detained at will without limits or credible charges, to the condemnation and exasperation of the world community. The MOI has to catch up with the world instead of acting like a cold-hearted dinosaur, as it did with Mong.
The number of registered migrant workers in Thailand is almost two million,and there are another two million unregistered ones, according the Labour Ministry. The children of registered and unregistered foreign labourers are considered "stateless".
However, the two UN conventions cited above endorse the rights of children to citizenship and education, whether their parents are in the country legitimately or not.
Of course, national security is a big concern. But let's not forget that beyond the concept of country is humanity. We cannot deny anyone their basic rights and treat them as if they are not human.Both the international conventions and the Buddhist religion teach us the same thing - to have compassion for our fellow human beings. This philosophy has won us so many friends worldwide,and it is this principle that we must always uphold.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Saving a bygone beauty
Samphraeng residents fight to preserve the charm of Old Bangkok
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is backing similar efforts by locals to conserve the historical charm of Samphraeng with plans for a cultural festival of its own.
The 42rai neighbourhood in Phra Nakhon district is a showcase for King Rama IV and V's plans to modernise 19thcentury Siam with shophouses, fresh markets and trams.
Festival of historical treats
"Tarn Arharn, Chim Kanom, Chom Ardee Samprang" ("Enjoy Food, Desserts and Learn About Samphraeng's History") will be held between September 18 to 20, 11am to 11pm. "We'll focus on the rich historical background of the area including Phraeng Nara, Phraeng Phutorn and Phraeng Sanphasart, which house lots of old shops," said BMA Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra.
More than 300 families living in the neighbourhood's 144 herฌitage buildings will join the event. Community leader Teeraporn Kachaceevar says about 40 shops will also be part of celebrations, which will include an exhibition on bygone days in Samphraeng. Traditional plays and outdoor cinema will add to the nostalgia.
"We're hoping the Suntaraporn band will turn up to play," said Teeraporn. The idea of the festival is to bring the area to the attention of the average city resident. "We want people to be able to jump in a taxi and ask for Phraeng Phuthon without adding that it's near Chao Por Sua Shrine."
After holding a similar event on a smaller scale in 1998, the community believes this time it can do better.
Teeraporn says that residents are desperate to promote their case for sustainable development of the area. "There are plans for building and infrastructure but we believe the community should be consulted over all new development."
Samphraeng was home to the country's first market of luxury goods, opened during the reign of King Rama V. Many of the other commercial buildings that first rose here when roads replaced canals are still operating. "So far 10 to 15 per cent are still in the business as shops," says Samphraeng Community president Kanlawat Talathat.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is backing similar efforts by locals to conserve the historical charm of Samphraeng with plans for a cultural festival of its own.
The 42rai neighbourhood in Phra Nakhon district is a showcase for King Rama IV and V's plans to modernise 19thcentury Siam with shophouses, fresh markets and trams.
Festival of historical treats
"Tarn Arharn, Chim Kanom, Chom Ardee Samprang" ("Enjoy Food, Desserts and Learn About Samphraeng's History") will be held between September 18 to 20, 11am to 11pm. "We'll focus on the rich historical background of the area including Phraeng Nara, Phraeng Phutorn and Phraeng Sanphasart, which house lots of old shops," said BMA Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra.
More than 300 families living in the neighbourhood's 144 herฌitage buildings will join the event. Community leader Teeraporn Kachaceevar says about 40 shops will also be part of celebrations, which will include an exhibition on bygone days in Samphraeng. Traditional plays and outdoor cinema will add to the nostalgia.
"We're hoping the Suntaraporn band will turn up to play," said Teeraporn. The idea of the festival is to bring the area to the attention of the average city resident. "We want people to be able to jump in a taxi and ask for Phraeng Phuthon without adding that it's near Chao Por Sua Shrine."
After holding a similar event on a smaller scale in 1998, the community believes this time it can do better.
Teeraporn says that residents are desperate to promote their case for sustainable development of the area. "There are plans for building and infrastructure but we believe the community should be consulted over all new development."
Samphraeng was home to the country's first market of luxury goods, opened during the reign of King Rama V. Many of the other commercial buildings that first rose here when roads replaced canals are still operating. "So far 10 to 15 per cent are still in the business as shops," says Samphraeng Community president Kanlawat Talathat.
Pay rise proposed
The Interior Ministry will propose to Cabinet next week salary increases of 23 to 51 per cent for Bangkok councillors, district councillors and city council officials, a source at Government House said yesterday.
The ministry says pay for officials is not appropriate for conditions and living costs in the capital, plus salaries and allowances had to be in line with adjusted pay for political officials.
The proposal seeks to alter pay rates retrospectively, from October 1 last year. The ministry also wants to amend the paycut for Bangkok councillors who miss more than a quarter of meetings in each term, from Bt320 a day to 3 per cent of the person's pay each day they are absent.
The rise, if approved, would give the Bangkok Council chairman a 24percent pay hike (Bt78,920 a month), while the vice chairman would get a similar rise (Bt64,970 a month) and city councillors get a 32percent hike (Bt54,120 a month). District council presidents would get a 40percent hike (Bt19,050 salary), while district councillors would get a 51percent hike (Bt15,250 salary), if the move is endorsed.
The ministry says pay for officials is not appropriate for conditions and living costs in the capital, plus salaries and allowances had to be in line with adjusted pay for political officials.
The proposal seeks to alter pay rates retrospectively, from October 1 last year. The ministry also wants to amend the paycut for Bangkok councillors who miss more than a quarter of meetings in each term, from Bt320 a day to 3 per cent of the person's pay each day they are absent.
The rise, if approved, would give the Bangkok Council chairman a 24percent pay hike (Bt78,920 a month), while the vice chairman would get a similar rise (Bt64,970 a month) and city councillors get a 32percent hike (Bt54,120 a month). District council presidents would get a 40percent hike (Bt19,050 salary), while district councillors would get a 51percent hike (Bt15,250 salary), if the move is endorsed.
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