Week 45 (5Th November 2012 – 11Th November 2012)
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Week 45 (5th November 2012 – 11th November 2012) ASEAN Newspapers Issues pertaining to Thailand ‐ politics Number of article(s): 6 Keywords/criteria used for search: Thailand, Thai Search Engine: www.google.com Online newspapers included in search: Borneo Bulletin (Brunei) Brunei Times (Brunei) Phnom Penh Post (Cambodia) Jakarta Post (Indonesia) Jakarta Globe (Indonesia) Vientiane Times (Laos) Vietnam Net (Vietnam) Nhan Dan (Vietnam) The Star (Malaysia) The New Straits Times (Malaysia) The Strait Times (Singapore) The Philippine Inquirer (Philippines) The Japan Times (Japan) China Daily (China) The China Post (China) The Korean Times (South Korea) Headlines and Summaries THE BORNEO BULLETIN 4 07 /N OV. / 2012 – THAILAND BACKS 3.5 BILLION DOLLAR MEKONG RIVER DAM PROJECT 4 ‐ Last Tuesday, Thai Foreign Minister, Surapong Tovichachaikul said that the “Thai government [was] not opposed to the project”. Speaking on the sidelines of the Asia‐Europe Meeting in Vientiane, the Thai foreign minister assured that the Lao government had conducted studies that showed “there would be no impact on the environment and fisheries” due to the dam. ‐ Dam construction was previously delayed due to an agreement between Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam on the need for further studies on how to mitigate the environmental impact of the dam. ‐ According to Southeast Asia programme director for International Rivers (NGO) Ame Trandem, “The food security and jobs of millions of people in the region are now on the line," THE PHNOM PENH POST 5 11 /N OV. / 2012 – GRIDLOCK IN BANGKOK 5 ‐ Recently Jakarta ended its contest for the governership of the city which saw Joko Widodo being voted into office as the new boss. For Bangkok however the picture is very different with neither parties (Puea Thai or Democrats) deciding on their candidate for the fast approaching January election. ‐ The incumbent, Sukhumbhand Paribatra, has yet to receive the endorsement from his party to run for the second term. In return Sukhumbhand has hinted that he may run independently which would split voters between Sukhumbhand and the democrat candidate assuring a Puea Thai victory. ‐ This has further alienated Sukhumbhand, and he is on especially testy terms with party leader and former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva. ‐ Yet with both Abhisit and Sukhumbhand suffering from current yet separate scandals, it seems unlikely that the democrat party will be able to find a Jokowi to rescue the city. 08 /N OV. / 2012 – LOGGER SUFFERS SERIOUS WOUNDS AFTER SHOOTING 7 ‐ 23 year old Yeth Danich was shot by Thai forces last Friday after crossing into Thai territory from Oddar Meanchey province to log. 06 /N OV. / 2012 – XAYABURI DAM GETS GOAHEAD 7 ‐ Laos announce of the start of construction of the dam contradicts assurances made to fellow Mekong River Commission (MRC) countries – primarily Cambodia and Vietnam – that the project was on hold while further studies examined the effects it could have on communities downstream. ‐ Lao Vice‐Minister of Energy and Mines Viraponh Viravong said that Laos had addressed environmental concerns by commissioning its own studies, making Laos, in effect, an example that other countries with dam projects can follow. ‐ The announcement came as 250 Thai villagers representing 24,000 people who are predicted to be affected by the dam protested yesterday in Laos. THE STRAIT TIMES 9 06 /N OV. / 2012 – THAILAND AIMS TO EXPORT 8.5M TONES OF RICE IN 2013 9 ‐ According to Pranee Siriphand, director general of the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Foreign Trade, the 8.5 million tonnes set to be exported in 2013 would mean that Thailand could retain its position as the world’s number‐one exporter. THE NEW STRAIT TIMES 10 08 /N OV. / 2012 – US MAN JAILED FOR THAI INSULT SAYS LAW MUST CHANGE 10 ‐ Joe Gordon who was convict last year of translating excerpts of an unauthorized biography of his Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej from English into Thai and posted them online, recounts his ordeal while being charged with Thailand’s lese majeste laws. ‐ He notes that the laws hold back the country’s democratic development vowing that he would never to return until the country “allows full freedom of expression”. ‐ While recounting his experience while in prison, he states that “When the doctor knows that your case is a lese majeste or you are a Red Shirt or you are a political prisoner, they will not treat you, they will not give you medicine,” he said. The charge, which has been denied by prison official Sorasit Chongcharoen. The Borneo Bulletin 07 / Nov. / 2012 – Thailand backs 3.5 billion dollar Mekong River dam project VIENTIANE (dpa) ‐ Thailand on Tuesday threw its support behind a controversial hydropower dam on the lower Mekong River which neighbours, environmentalists and Thai communities have opposed. "The Thai government is not opposed to the project," said Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichachaikul, speaking at the sidelines of the Asia‐Europe Meeting (ASEM) in the capital of Laos. "The Lao government has already conducted studies that show there would be no impact on the environment and fisheries," Surapong said. Laos will hold a ceremony Wednesday in Xayaburi to mark the start of riverbed construction on the 3.5‐billion‐dollar project. The date was chosen to commemorate the 95th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, still a significant date in communist Laos which used to be a member of the Soviet bloc, government sources said. In December, members of the Mekong River Commission's council, consisting of water and environment ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, urged a delay to allow further studies on how to mitigate the environmental impact of the dam, the first proposed for the lower Mekong. In response, Laos and its chief partner in the project, Thailand's Ch Karnchang Public Co Ltd, agreed to spend an additional 100 million dollars to revamp the design of a fish ladder and sediment flow gates. Viraphonh Viravong, deputy minister of Energy and Mines, said the redesign has satisfied all parties, including Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. "There is no need for their formal approval," Viraphonh said of Laos' neighbours that share the Mekong as a valuable natural resource. So far, only Thailand has openly expressed its support of the project. In the past, the Xayaburi project faced strong opposition from neighbouring governments and environmentalist groups who raised questions about its impact on sediment flows downstream and fish migration. The lower Mekong Basin has a fisheries sector worth an estimated 2 billion dollars per year. "The food security and jobs of millions of people in the region are now on the line," said Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia programme director for International Rivers. "Laos has never even collected basic information about the ways that people depend on the river, so how can it say that there will be no impacts?" Trandem said. Ultimately, the decision to go ahead with the project lies with Laos, as the dam site is in Lao territory. "Laos wants to build the Xayaburi dam to increase its electricity exports to Thailand," Surapong said. "That's what Laos wants, and the dam is inside Lao territory." Laos, a mountainous, land‐locked country that ranks among the world's poorest nations, has abundant hydropower which the government hopes to export to its neighbours as an engine of economic growth. The country already has 13 hydroelectric plants in operation with a total capacity for 3,000 megawatts. The Xayaburi project, to be operational by 2019, will be one of its largest, with more than 90 per cent of its electricity to be exported to neighbouring Thailand. http://www.borneobulletin.com.bn/wed/nov7w7.htm The Phnom Penh Post 11 / Nov. / 2012 – Gridlock in Bangkok Bangkok and Jakarta are big, brash and ugly. They are chronically over‐crowded and suffer from flooding, pollution and horrendous traffic jams. By any reckoning, someone who campaigns for the job of trying to govern them must be certifiably mad. Yet a crowded field invariably competes for the governorship of both cities. Jakarta’s contest finally ended last month when a rank outsider, Joko Widodo, was elected boss of Indonesia’s sprawling capital. Though starting as a dark horse, Jokowi, as he is universally known, is now being hailed as “Indonesia’s most promising politician”. Vowing to bring real change and tagged as “lean and coolly self‐possessed”, Jokowi has even been compared to United States President Barack Obama. If only the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration could find someone like him. But neither the ruling Puea Thai Party nor the opposition Democrats have yet managed to agree on a candidate for the city’s fast‐approaching January election. The incumbent is a Democrat, Sukhumbhand Paribatra, and it might be thought the party would endorse him for a second term since he wants to run again. But it has not done so, and unless it does, Sukhumbhand has hinted he may run as an independent, which would split the Democrat vote and let Puea Thai win. Naturally, this has further alienated Sukhumbhand, and he is on especially testy terms with party leader and former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva, despite both hailing from two of Bangkok’s most elite and ultra‐rich families. Their tiff stems in part from the way Sukhumbhand was railroaded into running for the governorship in late 2008, just weeks before the military shepherded Abhisit’s Democrats into power. If Sukhumbhand had not been landed with the BMA, he would have become foreign minister, the post he has always coveted. Instead, Yellow Shirt leader Kasit Piromya was rewarded with the job, and his brash manner upset Thailand’s neighbours and practically took the nation to war with Cambodia. Poor Sukhumbhand had to watch this travesty from the sidelines, and instead of attending elegant diplomatic functions, he was obliged to get down and dirty and deal with Bangkok’s daily tribulations.