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 January 2011 : Constitutional Amendment passed second reading
Constitutional amendment passed second reading On 25th January, at the second reading, Parliament voted 343 to 205 with 4 abstentions and 2 no-votes, to pass Article 190 of the Constitutional Amendment Bill. On the following day, 26th January, Articles 93-98 were passed by 298 to 211 with 35 abstentions and 3 no-votes. The third reading is scheduled for 11th February. Article 190 requires prior parliamentary approval for agreements with foreign countries and Articles 93-98 increase the number of party-list as against constituency MPs to 375 and 125 as opposed to 400 and 80 currently. PM anticipates House dissolution The Prime Minister, during his weekly television broadcast, anticipated parliamentary dissolution after the Constitutional Amendment Bill had passed. He said that his government was ready for the general election before the term ends. Who killed during the May violence? On 20th January, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) revealed the result of its investigation into the April-May 2010 violence in which 89 people were killed due to:
DSI in cooperation with the Office of the Attorney General and the Central Institute of Forensic Science took evidence from witnesses including photographs and video films from the media and the public. After the result of the investigation was disclosed, on 23rd January, the Red Shirts held another demonstration at the Ratchaprasong Intersection, and then marched to the Democracy Monument. It was a second demonstration in the month and caused traffic in the area to grind to a halt. Previously, on 11th January, approximately 300 businessmen, street vendors and employees in Ratchprasong held a protest and called for government intervention. They proposed a tri-partite committee to solve the problem, to designate a special area for demonstration and to ease traffic congestion. They also asked for the right to public assembly to be formalized and for a special show of sympathy from the Red Shirts. The President of the Ratchprasong Traders Association stated that during the April-May violence, 2088 shops lost business worth more than 11,200 million Baht, 3 hotels lost business worth 500 million Baht and 30,000 employees were affected. These do not include losses in the tourism industry and damages caused by fire. Cabinet approved 2012 budget On 24th January, the Cabinet approved the 2012 Budget of 2.25 trillion Baht in which State revenue is anticipated at 1.9 trillion with a 0.35 trillion deficit. This deficit is reduced from 0.39 trillion or 0.07 trillion lower than in 2011. Budgets are expected to balance in the next 5 years. Public expenditure of 2.25 trillion Baht is increased by 0.18 trillion or 8.7 percent from the previous year. This is made up of regular expenditure of 1.82 trillion Baht, an increase of 0.158 trillion Baht or 9.6 percent. There will be no payment into treasury reserves in 2012 because this item had already been allocated in the 2011 Annexed Budget Bill. Nine gifts to the lower paid On 9th January, the Prime Minister announced during his weekly television program, Thailand Confident with Prime Minister Abhisit that the government is planning on what is analogous to 9 gifts to the lower paid by implementing the Pracha Wiwat Welfare Scheme, part of the Reform Thailand Policy. Three urgent major issues will be particularly focused on: the non-mainstream economy, the cost of living and the safety of the person and property. The nine gifts are:
Cambodian Court sentenced Bangkok MP On 21st January, a Cambodian Court sentenced Bangkok MP, Panich Vikitsreth, and four other Thais to suspended terms of nine-month imprisonment and fines of one million riels (about 10,000 Baht) each. They were free to return to Thailand after having spent a month in prison. MP Panich, Samdin Lertbutr, Tainae Mungmajon, Naruemol Chitvarattana and Kojpollathorn Chusanasevi were arrested in a disputed zone along the Thai-Cambodian border on 29th December 2010 on charges of trespassing into Cambodia. The five gave testimonies that they had no intention to trespass; they did not know it was a restricted area because they could not read Cambodian language signs. Mr. Panich also said he did not take photographs or video images of the area because he had only a mobile telephone with him. Later, on 1st February, the Court sentenced the remaining two Thais who were arrested with the others, a yellow-shirt activist Veera Somkwamkid and his secretary Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, to immediate terms of 8 and 6-year imprisonment and fines of 1.8 and 1.2 million riels respectively. Both were charged with spying, which they denied. Veera saying that his video camera was for recording his mission and insisted that he was arrested on Thai land. Insurgents attacked army unit in Narathiwat On 19th January at 8pm, 40 men armed with military weapons attacked an army outpost in Ban Marue Botok Narathiwat’s Rangae district. They killed four soldiers--including an army company commander--and wounded thirteen. Buildings including the armory were torched and weapons taken. After the attack, troops and helicopters combed the Budo Mountain to locate the attackers. They found traces of blood along a mountain trail. Senate increased police salary The Senate passed its first reading of the Police Draft Bill with 110 to 1 and 1 abstention and unanimously approved the Police Salary Draft Bill with 109 votes. The Bills will be considered further by two committees, Justice and Police and will be deliberated within 3 days. The Bills raise the maximum salary for non-commissioned police officers from 22,500 to 33,450 baht per month to help them cope with increased costs and to equal police’s pay to military pay. Upon enactment, the new salaries will be retroactive to 1st October 2010. Democrat received most political party donation The Department of Political Party Affairs and Referendum of the Office of the Election Commission disclosed that political party donation in 2010 totaled 83,909,297 Baht. These can spilt amongst the following parties:
Thai politics failed According to the Suan Dusit Poll, conducted by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University in January 2011 amongst 4,225 people nationwide, Thai politics was given 4.74 out of 10 points. The team set 25 indices including Government’s administration, Opposition Party, living standard, and media’s role, the average score was below the median line. Economy rose 8.1% in 2010 The Fiscal Policy Office announced that in 2010, Thai economy increased beyond expectation. In the 4th quarter of 2010, GDP increased by 4.5 percent up from the expected 3.5 giving an annual increase of 8.1 percent up from the expected 7.8. It is forecast that GDP will increase by 4-5 percent in 2011. However, economic growth depends on external factors such as international trade, the price of oil and inflation rate, the last of which is expected at not more than 3 percent. Social Security Fund made huge investment gain According to the Social Security Office, investment returns on the Social Security Fund in 2010, amount to 33,750 million Baht, derived from:
This is a gain of 26.71 percent for the year. In 2009 returns were 26,772 million baht. Average returns in all previous years were 7.54 percent. As for 2011, 70% of the the 1500 billion Baht portfolio will be in high security government and state enterprises’ bonds, and 10 percent in shares with good underlying value. The Board of the Social Security Office is currently approving this Investment Plan. The Social Security Fund total of 789,181 million Baht is divided into:
One year old to get ID card On 26th January, the House of Representatives voted 240 to 106 with 1 abstention and 7 no-votes to pass the Identification Card Bill. Its purpose is to provide children ages between 1 and 14 with national ID cards on a voluntary basis. Representatives from the Department of Provincial Administration explained that ID Smart Cards could be used to obtain public health services and as student ID cards to access places where there is an age limit. Out of the total of 64 million ID cards required for all Thai nationals, 12 million have already been issued since 2004. The Department of Administration of the Ministry of Interior has also issued the next lot of 26 million to the public, but these do not conform to the Ministry of ICT specifications, therefore amending ministerial regulations are required to validate them. The ICT Ministry, responsible for ID card production, has commissioned a private enterprise to produce the last lot 26 million of which 9 have been produced and another 17 are ready for production. In the meantime, the Ministry of Interior is issuing temporary yellow forms to all citizens needing new IDs. Currently, the State Council is considering the necessary amending ministerial regulations. Better lease protection for agricultural tenants Mr. Chavalit Chookajorn, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation and Acting President of the Agricultural Land Problem-solving Committee, said that the Committee agreed that the Agricultural Land Act of B.E. 2524 (1981) should be amended to protect agricultural tenants on 2 points:
The Office of Agricultural Economics conducted a survey amongst 1,000 farmers in 16 provinces, and found out that prices for leases have risen sharply because landlords can easily revoke lease agreements and re-let at much higher prices. State Enterprises to get subsidy for providing pubic services On 24th January, the Cabinet approved the Office of the Prime minister Regulation to subsidize costs of public services being provided by State Enterprises. Funds for the subsidy will come from the Public Service Obligation (PSO) Fund. Under current regulations, the PSO Fund is subsidizing only the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, the State Railway of Thailand and the Metropolitan Waterworks. In 2010, the three received a total of 4,650 million Baht and they are now waiting for the Cabinet approval for 1,251 million, 2,285 million and 382 million respectively for 2011. |
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