Category: Thailand

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Thai politics Thailand

Higher education in Thailand: a new story

I’ve got a story in the global edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education. The headline is “In Thailand, Grand Plans for Higher Education.”

Here’s the lede and the first few graphs:

On the fifth floor of an unremarkable concrete building in the Thai capital, several dozen students are scribbling furiously as they take their end-of-term examinations. The clusters of test-takers do not come close to filling the rows of wooden desks that stretch the length and breadth of the cavernous room where, administrators say, 1,000 people can attend a class.

This is Ramkhamhaeng University, a college with one of the world’s largest enrollments: More than 300,000 students spread across 24 campuses study in this system, say officials. Enrollment is open to all who can afford it, and the institution is very inexpensive: Tuition is roughly $30 per term.

Universities like Ramkhamhaeng are a key part of the success Thailand has had in expanding its higher-education system and enrollment rates in recent decades. While inequities remain, gross enrollment rates have increased from 19 percent of the college-age population in the early 1990s to 50 percent in 2007, and the number of colleges and universities has risen from five in 1967 to 166 in 2008, according to a World Bank report from last year.

But while institutions like Ramkhamhaeng have opened educational doors for some, education observers say colleges in Thailand need to modernize and become less insular.

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Thai politics Thailand

AFP, Reuters: Unexploded bombs found in Bangkok

AFP: Unexploded bombs raise tensions in Bangkok

BANGKOK — Police in Thailand defused three unexploded bombs discovered in Bangkok and surrounding suburbs over a matter of hours, one of them in front of a school and one in a shopping mall, they said Thursday.

The finds — which come after a string of blasts in Bangkok — have raised further doubts over the speed at which emergency rule can be lifted in the Thai capital and prompted opposition accusations of a government conspiracy.

One device was found under a footbridge outside a school in central Bangkok on Wednesday morning, Major General Prawut Thavornsiri, the national police spokesman, told AFP.

On Wednesday night, two more, each weighing around five kilograms (11 pounds), were found at a shopping mall and in the public health ministry car park in nearby Nonthaburi province, he added.

Reuters: Unexploded bombs found around Thai capital

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Police discovered three unexploded bombs in Bangkok and a neighbouring province, authorities said on Thursday, the latest in a series of mysterious incidents stoking fears of civil unrest in Thailand.

The devices were all found on Wednesday, one near a school in Bangkok and two others outside a shopping mall and the Public Health Ministry in Nonthaburi, a province on the outskirts of the capital where a controversial emergency decree is in force.

There’s more from the Bangkok Post: “Govt expects more attacks” and “Jatuporn: Bombs a govt ploy.”

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Thailand

Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to LA lands safely after bomb threat

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AP: FBI: Flight lands in Los Angeles after bomb threat:

LOS ANGELES — A Thai Airways flight from Bangkok landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport Tuesday evening after a bomb threat written in poorly worded English was spotted on a bathroom mirror on the plane, authorities said.

Airport officials were notified at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday of the alleged threat to Los Angeles-bound Flight 794, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

UPDATE: There’s more from AFP.

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Thai politics Thailand

WSJ: red shirts plan to rally Sept. 17 in Bangkok

WSJ: Red Shirts Test Thai Limits:

PATTAYA, Thailand—Four months after their marathon Bangkok street protests ended in a bloody crackdown, Thailand’s antigovernment Red Shirt protesters are testing the limits of what political and military leaders will allow, with a large fund-raising concert over the weekend in this bawdy seaside resort and another rally planned for the capital.

The movement’s leaders have set themselves a specific goal: the release of opposition activists arrested in the aftermath of May demonstrations. In their Bangkok rally, set for Sept. 17, they plan to lay red roses outside the prison where several Red Shirt leaders are held on terrorism charges. They are also encouraging supporters to stage other events to commemorate the 91 people killed during clashes between protesters and government security forces.

The story includes an image from last weekend’s Pattaya rally.

(Emphasis mine.)

(Via @terryfrd)

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Thailand

Thai baht rises to 31.06 to the dollar

Bloomberg: Baht Rises to 13-Year High as Growth Outlook Boosts Inflows:

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) — Thailand’s baht rose to the strongest level since 1997 as the outlook for economic growth and speculation interest rates may rise further encouraged investors to pour money into the nation’s stocks and bonds.

The baht gained 0.4 percent to 31.07 per dollar as of 1:32 p.m. in Bangkok and touched 31.06, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s its highest level since August 1997, when the currency’s collapse helped trigger the Asian financial crisis.

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Thailand

Thai court: 74 of 76 Map Ta Phut projects can resume

An update to follow up on my previous posts on the topic of the Map Ta Phut industrial estate impasse:

Reuters: Thai stocks seen up after Map Ta Phut court ruling

Thai stocks are expected to edge higher on Friday, supported by continued foreign fund inflows and after a court ruled to give the go-ahead to most projects at Map Ta Phut, the country’s largest industrial estate, analysts said.

The court lifted a ban on Thursday on all but two of 76 industrial projects halted because of environmental concerns at Map Ta Phut in a long-awaited decision that could accelerate
investment.

WSJ: Thai Court Rules Industrial Projects Can Resume

In a decision that will likely be cheered by foreign investors, a Thai court Thursday ruled that nearly all the projects at Map Ta Phut industrial park can resume operations, despite environmental and health concerns.

The ruling, which will allow most of the $12 billion in new projects to move forward, could lift worries that Ford Motor Co. and others had expressed earlier that investment-friendly Thailand is becoming a more difficult place to do business. Thailand faced increasing skepticism following the court decision last year that halted the projects, as well as concerns about stability following political turmoil earlier this year.

Bloomberg: Thai Court Lifts Ban on Industrial Projects Halted on Environment Grounds

A Thai court ruled that most of the 76 industrial projects halted last year because of pollution and licensing concerns can be restarted, a decision that may resolve uncertainties about the nation’s investment regulations.

The Administrative Court will allow 74 of the projects to proceed, Banyat Wisuddhimark, the senior state attorney, said after the ruling in Bangkok today. It revoked operating licenses for two projects that are included on a government list of “harmful activities,” he said.

Bangkok Post: Most Map Ta Phut projects off hook

The Administrative Court has ordered the operating permits of only two industrial projects in the Map Ta Phut area to be terminated, allowing 74 other earlier-suspended projects to go ahead.

The court on Thursday handed down its ruling in the case filed by Map Ta Phut villagers and the Stop Global Warming Association against eight state agencies in June last year.

The court spent almost three hours reading the 116-page verdict, while about 300 Map Ta Phut residents gathered in the court’s compound to listen to the much-awaited ruling.

Villagers affected by industrial pollution reacted emotionally to the verdict, which many considered as a defeat.

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Thailand

Thai court to rule today on 76 suspended industrial projects at Map Ta Phut

Bloomberg: Thai Administrative Court to Decide Fate of 76 Halted Industrial Projects:

A Thai court will decide today whether 76 industrial projects halted last year because of pollution and licensing concerns can restart, a ruling that may resolve uncertainties over the nation’s investment regulations.

The Administrative Court will begin delivering its ruling at 2 p.m. in Bangkok, it said in a statement.

For the back story, see this post.

UPDATE: Bangkok Post: “74 MTP projects allowed to proceed.”

Categories
Thai politics Thailand

NYT: In Rural Thailand, an Unappeased Opposition Bides Its Time

A story in yesterday’s NYT: In Rural Thailand, an Unappeased Opposition Bides Its Time:

In front of the charred ruins of the municipal hall here, a huge poster carries the photographs of 76 people being sought in an attack on the building three months ago, on the day the anti-government “red shirt” protests were crushed in Bangkok. Only 11 have been caught.

Scores of people are in hiding, many of them sheltered by a mostly sympathetic population. Scores more, arrested at the scene, are being held without bail.

Here in the heart of red shirt country, the government appears to have made little headway in calming or winning over its opponents, and the arrests and detentions illustrate the continuing divisions in the country.

Worth a read.

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Bangkok Thai politics Thailand

Reuters: Grenade explodes near Thai state TV channel

Grenade explodes near Thai state TV channel

BANGKOK, Aug 31 (Reuters) – A grenade exploded in the compound of a Thai state-run broadcaster on Tuesday but no one was injured, police said, the fourth mysterious blast in five weeks during a state of emergency in Bangkok.

The grenade damaged three vehicles inside the compound close to one of the city’s largest military bases on Viphavadi-Rangsit Road leading to the capital, said Police Colonel Paisan Wongwatcharamongkol, citing witnesses.

Authorities suspect the grenade was shot from an M79 launcher positioned on an overhead highway, Paisan said.”Three vehicles were slightly damaged by sharpnel from the explosion.”

Broadcaster NBT, whose compound was hit by the grenade, has faced criticism from “red shirt” anti-government demonstrators, who accuse the channel of biased reporting.

There are also stories from AP and AFP.

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Thailand

New NYT story on Viktor Bout

There are some interesting tidbits in this NYT story on Viktor Bout that ran Aug. 29: For Arms Sales Suspect, Secrets Are Bargaining Chips:

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The lede:

WASHINGTON — Accused of a 15-year run as one of the world’s biggest arms traffickers, Viktor Bout is thought to be a consummate deal maker.

Now his future may hang on whether he can strike one last bargain: trading what American officials believe is his vast insider’s knowledge of global criminal networks in exchange for not spending the rest of his life in a federal prison.

There’s this, about his weight loss, previously noted here:

Mr. Bout, who has lost about 70 pounds while imprisoned in Thailand, has shown no inclination to cooperate with investigators.

And we learn that Bout has his own Web site, Victorbout.com, which argues that he is a legitimate businessman:

On his Web site he calls himself “a born salesman with undying love for aviation and eternal drive to succeed.”

And:

Rumors in Bangkok have suggested that the Russians and the Americans engaged in a bidding war over the American extradition request, with Russia offering Thailand cut-rate oil and Americans offering military hardware.

Both sides have denied such bargaining. Thai officials say they must process a second United States request for extradition on a separate indictment for money laundering before Mr. Bout can be put aboard the American jet that arrived last week to pick him up.

And:

Mr. Bout developed ties with such notorious figures Charles Taylor of Liberia, bedded down next to his plane in African war zones and sometimes took payment in diamonds, bringing his own gemologist to assess the stones.

And:

Mr. Wolosky said he and his colleagues were astonished to learn from later news reports that Mr. Bout’s companies were used as subcontractors by the American military to deliver supplies to Iraq in 2003 and 2004, earning about $60 million, by Mr. Farah’s estimate.

And finally:

In 2007, Mr. Braun, then the D.E.A. operations chief, said he was asked by Bush administration officials about prosecuting Mr. Bout. The agency lured him into a trap in which the agency said he agreed to sell surface-to-air missiles and other military gear to agency informants posing as FARC operatives.

At a meeting in a Bangkok hotel in March 2008, according to court records, Mr. Bout scribbled price estimates and doodled an aircraft, telling his ostensible customers “that the United States was also his enemy.”

“It’s not, uh, business,” Mr. Bout said on tape, the records say. “It’s my fight.”

(All emphasis mine.)

(Via @tri26)