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News and Views - February 2006
(Source: Undated postcard, circa 1925)
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"Siamese Actors - Love Scene"
- February 4, 2006
BIG
Airplane - February 4, 2006
Thanks to Jack for pointing this out...
The
largest indoor snow park in the world -
February 4, 2006
Thanks to Pas for pointing this out...
German-language
weblog about travelling on trains - February
23, 2006
Siamese Paper
- February 18, 2006
Scan of two pages (1,
2) from Manufacturer
and Builder, Volume 2, Issue 4, April 1870] Page(s) 110-111
detailing Siamese paper making in the late-nineteenth century.
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THAILAND:
FRIENDLY, FUN, AND BECOMING LESS FREE (PART 2)
- February 8, 2005
[Part 2 of the extremely strange ruminations on a trip to Thailand...]
Earlier: Musings on Thailand - February
3, 2005
[Extremely strange ruminations on a trip to Thailand...]
THAILAND:
FRIENDLY, FUN, AND BECOMING LESS FREE - Free Market News,
February 1, 2006
...Seriously, any family would love to be able to take a Thai
gal home and store her away until needed for greeting guests and
providing festiveness at special occasions...
We saw a lot of American men in their fifties hanging around with
these gals too. Perhaps Thailand is not a good place for a man to
go alone, unless he is single and hoping to marry one of these gems---at
least after (Lord willing) converting them to Christianity...
...seeing a dozen different Buddhist temples (most of the older
ones with hundreds of decapitated stone idols) and floating for
three hours up a polluted river (that features scenery not unlike
a river trip from Memphis to Cape Girardeau) is just a waste of
time. Besides, it is discouraging to watch so many people lost in
their sin and worshipping stone statues and gold-overlaid brass
Buddhas twenty feet tall. Some of their Buddha idols are reclining
(chiseled to reflect when the "lord" Buddha had gotten
old and tired)...
A thread on this article is here.
Service
charge now imposed on helpline '1133' -
TNA, February 1, 2006
A service charge is now imposed on one of Thailand's most popular
helplines, 1133, after members of the general public could access
to the service free of charge over the past 40 years.
The service provider, TOT Corporation Public Company Limited (TOT),
began to impose the service charge--Bt3 per minute nationwide--from
February 1...
The
controversial Muhammed cartoons
- Jyllands Posten, February 4, 2006
Also: Mohammed
Image Archive - Depictions of Mohammed Throughout History
Thanks to Don Entz for pointing this out.
Lone
sentinels of the Indian Ocean -
Deccan Herald, February 25, 2006
Dhananjaya Bhat traces the history of lighthouses in
India which are essential for the safety of seafarers even
today. Often people consider lighthouses an anachronism
in the 21st century...
Sino-Thai
gem trade loses its lustre, needs big push -
The Nation, February 26, 2006
After a 90-per-cent drop in gemstone exports to China
since 2000, sales could jump 20 per cent in the next few
years if the industry puts its heart into a strong promotional
campaign, according to the Thai Gems and Jewellery Traders'
Association...
Regional
study ranks Thailand 10th most corrupt in Asia
- IHT, February 27, 2006
A regional survey naming Thailand as the only country in Asia
where corruption has worsened over the past year does not come
as a surprise, anti-corruption advocates said yesterday.
The annual survey by Hong Kong-based think-tank Political and
Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) noted in its report high-level
corruption cases in Thailand, including the recent sale of a Shin
Corp stake by the family of Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra...
Tortrakul also noted the high-profile case of Khunying Jaruvan
Maintaka, who was kept from holding office as auditor general
for nearly 18 months, is an indication of the Thaksin administration's
lack of resolve to deal with corruption.
"Khunying Jaruvan knows many cases that could push the prime
minister out of office," Tortrakul said. "And she has
said publicly that her knowledge of the prime minister's wife's
buying of government land, although unintentionally, is the reason
she was being forced out," Tortrakul said.
"People are aware...of all these corruption allegations,
but it seems the government continues to be able to work to avoid
them."
Hong
Kong's Magic Kingdom struggles to attract Chinese who 'don't understand'
park - WSJ, February 9, 2006
Li Zeng, a fourteen-year-old Chinese tourist, wandered Hong Kong
Disneyland yesterday -- and left after two hours.
Mr. Li isn't that familiar with Mickey Mouse and his companions,
and he and his father didn't take any rides, buy souvenirs, or eat
food. "We don't understand this park," said the teenager,
waiting for his tour bus. "We gave up looking at the map..."
Most mainland Chinese still take vacations through package tours,
and they make up about 50% of the Chinese visitors to the park.
The guides who direct these tours frequently select hotels, restaurants,
shopping stops and even tour destinations based on where they share
in the profits. Because of lucrative deals with tour operators,
one Hong Kong transvestite cabaret brags that its five-times-a-day
$20 show draws more Chinese tourists on a regular basis than Disneyland...
Why
Asian Muslims didn't explode - The New York Times,
February 15, 2006
... For all we share as Muslims, we Southeast Asians don't
really know what it's like to inhabit the cultures or politics
of the Middle East.
Nor is the West a unitary culture. Europe's fervent secularism
reminds me that the nation of the Great Satan, with its crowded
churches and Sunday preachers who fill sports stadiums, is actually
more like my world than Europe is...
Pyinmana
Subject of Seminar in Bangkok -
The Irrawaddy, February 17, 2006
..."Thailand may have more limitations accessing information
about the [Burmese] government because of the Pyinmana move,
particularly because of its hidden location," said Sunait
Chutintaranond, a historian from Chulalongkorn University's
Southeast Asian Studies Centre, and the main speaker at the
seminar. "Besides this, the Thai government should prepare
a military strategy to be ready for any future emergency."
Burma's new capital at Pyinmana is geographically closer to
Thailand than Rangoon---just 210 km (130 miles) from the border
with Thailand's Mae Hong Son province...
US
carmakers warn on Thailand, S. Korea trade talks -
Reuters, February 18, 2006
...The Big Three U.S. automakers are worried about the harm
possible free trade agreements with Thailand and South Korea
could do to their industry in the United States, the head of
the carmakers' trade council said on Friday.
Stephen Collins told a hearing set up by US Senate Democrats
that Japanese automakers had essentially moved their entire
production of pickup trucks from Japan to Thailand.
"This means that when the US sits down with their Thai
counterparts, it is not Thailand alone asking for US automotive
tariffs to be reduced -- it is the Japanese auto industry,"
Collins said...
Coral
reef discovered near Thailand - The
Age, February 21, 2006
A previously unknown and healthy coral reef has been discovered
off the coast of Thailand, a rare piece of good news for the
planet's beleaguered oceans, a top global environmental group
said...
Stronger
future for nuclear power - Physics
Today, February, 2006
Nuclear reactor builders are jostling for business as
energy utilities take another look at nuclear power...
Moscow
stung by U.S. warship gaffe -
BBC, February 23, 2006
Making fun of farangs
- Bangkok Recorder, February 25, 2006
Bangkok Recorder continues its series of funny and
mean-spirited photos here,
here,
and here.
Now
Detroit does not like free trade with Thailand -
Detroit News, February 23, 2006 6:38
...Thailand is unquestionably the best friend the Big
Three have in Asia. Building on this momentum, Thailand
and the United States opened talks on a free trade agreement
in 2004.
But the Big Three backers in Washington want no part of
it. They declare that Thailand is an offshore platform for
Japanese auto makers who want to find a backdoor into the
American market. Shipping trucks from Thailand to America
and not paying the 25 percent import tax would be "very
threatening to the pickup truck industry in the United States,"
Collins said...
Megaprojects
first casualty of snap vote -
Bangkok Post, February 25, 2006
The government's vaunted megaproject programme worth
1.8 trillion baht is the first casualty of yesterday's move
by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to call a snap election.
Rising political uncertainty had already raised doubts about
whether any of the high-profile infrastructure projects,
seen as a major tonic for the economy, would get off the
ground this year...
Bangkok
feels the heat - Travel Industry
Wire, February 20, 2006
Travel Industry Wire Figures released by Cheapflights.co.uk
reveal that bird flu appears to be having an impact on travellers
as they make their 2006 holiday decisions.
January 2006 saw a marked decrease in searches for flight
to Bangkok on Cheapflights.co.uk, causing the city to fall
almost 10 spots from 6th to 14th place.
Holiday destinations benefiting from the Asian health crisis
include New York (1), Tenerife (2), Malaga (3) and Paris (7).
The biggest jump, however, went to Barcelona, which moved
into the top ten from 12th to 8th place...
Foreign
ownership - World's on Mbeki's side -
Financial Mail, February 17, 2006
...In fact, it's easier to list the countries that have
no restrictions on foreigner property ownership: Germany,
France, the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg,
Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay.
All the rest have controls ranging from a total ban on foreign
ownership - by Saudi Arabia and Cambodia - to the recording
of foreign ownership by the US federal government...
Asian
rights watchdog honours dead Thai lawyer -
Reuters, February 19, 2006
An Asian human rights watchdog on Monday honoured a prominent
Thai lawyer who is presumed dead after disappearing nearly
two years ago while representing Muslim suspects in a bloody
separatist insurgency...
Furore
over sea-walking abuses - Tourists kill coral, marine life;
officials urged to bring business under control -
The Nation, February 18, 2006
[The local papers continue their practice of always including
wrong urls. The correct address is talaythai.com.]
... Concern about sea walking arose after a commentary
by a tourist was put on a website called Taleythai.com. The
observer wrote she had witnessed a sea walking guide at Koh
Larn damaging corals and sea animals to entertain tourists.
She said she was shocked by the guide who fed bread to fish
and put them in plastic bags for tourists to take home.
The guide also struck sea urchins, urged tourists to touch
giant clams and hold sea anemones as they posed for photographs...
(Source: Bangkok Traveler's
Guide, June 1969) |
Strange
politics for strange days
- The Nation, February 25, 2006
...1. The silent treatment for all questions...
2. Silencing of the media. Libel and defamation suits
are the best strategy for shutting up critics, not to
mention frightening them...
3. Politicians not being answerable to their conscience.
Instead of serving the public, various politicians today
serve only their "master..."
4. Independent organisations that are not independent...
Groovy Bangkok 1969
Left: Caption for this cover: Beautiful Thai
silk - from silk worms to finished product. Don't they
look just elegant whether worn in either typical Thai
or Western style?
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Airline's
new owner thought to be a front - Bangkok
Post, February 17, 2006
[Mysterious companies led by unknown people have been a staple
of several big deals over the past few years. See also The
Frobisher controversy and Phuket
Pass Project Limited.]
A consumer advocate and opposition MPs suspect the three-day-old
Asia Aviation Co Ltd, new majority owner of Thai AirAsia, of
being a front company after they found only empty office space
at the firm's address...
The office, on the 15th floor of Phahon Yothin Place building,
Phahon Yothin road, was empty with only an ''E.com Internet
Work Co Ltd sign in front of it...
''This only proves that Asia Aviation Co Ltd is a non-existent
company and a nominee for possibly Shin Corp and consequently
Singapore's Temasek Holdings. The Ministry of Commerce is at
fault for letting this slip through its hands,'' said Ms Rosana...
Democrat party list MP Kiat Sitheeamorn, meanwhile, questioned
the legitimacy of Asia Aviation Co Ltd and asked how a company
with only five million baht in registered capital could buy
into a company such as Thai AirAsia, worth more than 200 million
baht...
Mr Kiat also questioned why Mr Sithichai, with his 51% stake
in Asia Aviation Co Ltd and thus a 25% holding in Thai AirAsia,
does not have a seat on the board. Normally someone with a 5%
stake in a company would hold a seat on the board of directors,
which raised the question of who Mr Sithichai actually is...
Traffic
police could face charges of extortion
- The Nation, February 17, 2006
...He urged the public to file complaints of police corruption
at the website www.jaray.police.go.th,
or by calling the hotline 1299, or (02) 205 1148 and (02) 205
1299. The lines are open 24 hours a day.
Somyos also identified 14 places where illegal tolls are allegedly
collected, including Vibhavadi-Rangsit, Rama IV, Kanchanapisek,
Phaholyothin and Rachapreuk roads. Checkpoints have been set up
near areas where minor traffic infractions are common.
For example, for the inbound lanes of Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road,
a checkpoint was set up about 100 metres from the passenger pick-up
spot in front of Jae Leng Plaza.
Rather than directing traffic and helping motorists, officers
at the checkpoint were focused on collecting money from taxi drivers
who picked up passengers outside the authorised zone, he said.
Police at three other checkpoints -- near a police housing compound
on Ratchayothin, the entrance of Din Daeng tollway and in front
of Don Muang Airforce Base -- spend much of their time ticketing
drivers for illegally switching lanes.
Illegal tolls are also allegedly collected at Soi Charan Sanitwong
13, and Tripetch, Ngarmwongwan, Sathorn Nua and Phetburi roads,
as well as at the Surawong and Urupong intersections.
Holidays
declared for June Royal events - TNA, February
8, 2006
Thailand is preparing for an extraordinary burst of celebrations
and ceremonies to mark the 60th anniversary of His Majesty the
King's accesssion to the throne later this year. The government
today has declared June 12-13 as special public holidays for government
and private offices in Bangkok and the surrounding provinces...
Thailand's
drive on fake passports, other forgeries -
The Manila Times, February 4, 2006
...European police consider Thailand a haven for forgery. In
the past two years, Thai police have seized more than 1,400 fake
passports and arrested 17 foreigners for possessing them...
Japan
firm raided in nuke investigation -
AP, February 13, 2006
...Mitutoyo Corp. is suspected of exporting two three-dimensional
measurement machines that can be used for uranium enrichment _ a
technology that can produce nuclear fuel or bombs _ to subsidiaries
of Japanese firms in China and Thailand in 2001, according to a
report carried Sunday by the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's largest daily...
Great
old Thai photos from the Thai Web Museum -
February 13, 2006
Exiled
Tibetans in Dharamsala protest Google's censored China edition
- Boing Boing, February 14, 2006
Bush
recalls the capture of Hambali in Thailand -
Scoop.co.nz, by Richard
S. Ehrlich, February 13, 2006
...Immediately after capturing Hambali in room 601 of the Boonyarak
Apartment block in Ayutthaya, he disappeared under U.S. custody
and has not been publicly seen since -- amid speculation he was
being tortured via a "rendition" to Jordan, or caged for
brutal interrogation by Americans in Guantanamo Bay, or on the U.S.-occupied
Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, or in Bagram, Afghanistan.
..."Hambali planned to carry out bombings in Thailand against
the US and British embassies, nightclubs in Phuket and Pattaya,
and the Israeli check-in counter at Bangkok's Don Muang airport,"
London's Sunday Times reported in October 2003, citing Hambali's
purported "interrogation transcript".
"Hambali and two Al Qaeda assistants also considered attacking
an Israeli restaurant with a Star of David above it, in the [Bangkok]
backpacker area of Khao San Road," the British report said.
The popular restaurant, in a street perpetually jammed with thousands
of tourists and Thais, has since removed its large six-pointed advertisement.
10-digit
phone numbers due in June - All mobile users need to add an '8'
- Bangkok Post, February 14, 2006
... Mobile-phone users will have to add an '8' in the middle
of the existing two-digit prefix, followed by the existing seven-digit
number, in order to make a mobile-to-mobile call. For example,
numbers starting with 01 and 09 will become 081 and 089 respectively...
Fake
passports made here a hit in London - Bangkok
Post, February 13, 2006
...It was difficult for police to catch them because the gangs
printed the fake passports at night in rented publishing houses
in the city. Chinese and Pakistani counterfeit gangs operated
in Bang Rak; Indian, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankans in the Pahurat
area, and Africans (especially Nigerians) in the Nana and Thong
Lo areas.
These gangs used the latest technology to produce passports which
were close to flawless, he said.
Other gangs operating on Khao San road were selling counterfeit
passports for roughly 8,000 baht each to tourists wanting to rent
vehicles and rooms and commit credit card fraud and to illegal
Shan and Karen workers in need of Burmese passports...
Thailand's
anti-flu weapon: Nosy neighbors -
International Herald Tribune, February 13, 2006
[Thanks to Danny for pointing this out.]
Thailand has mobilized about 750,000 volunteers, like Pattama
Wongeak, right, to teach friends to stay on alert for possible
symptoms of avian influenza...
The
beaches of southern Vietnam - About.com,
February 4, 2006
On an island in the Gulf of Thailand about 40 or so miles from
Cambodia's would be resort town of Sihanoukville, some of the
most idyllic and undisturbed beaches on the face of the earth
lie hidden from the sun worshipers of the world by the backwardness
and underdevelopment of rural Vietnam...
FIRE
TRUCKS: Samak admits placing order, still tries to blame Apirak
- Bangkok Post, February 1, 2006
[Contracts for strangely expensive vehicles have been common in
Thai political life. Also, during Samak's governorship there were
a series of deals negotiated by Samak himself with business concerns
such as the ring
road mass transit plan.]
Former Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej has admitted to ordering
176 fire trucks from Austria for use by City Hall and accused
his successor Apirak Kosayodhin of failing to cancel the contract
upon detecting irregularities in the deal. The procurement hit
the headlines after the Thai-language Daily News newspaper reported
on Monday that the price of the trucks, at 6.8 million baht, including
import tariffs, was three-times that of the locally-produced model.
It was also found the trucks were made in Thailand, exported to
Britain, acquired by the Australian firm and then shipped back
to Thailand...
More on Samak: What is being said
on the Samak-Dusit Show?
| Klong Bangrak, circa 1910 -
February 18, 2006 |
(Photo: Postcard, circa 1910) |
Thai
Abstraction: Somyot Hanuntasuk, Somboon Hormtientong, and Thaiwijit
Poengkasemsomboon - Absolutearts.com,
February 15, 2006
Sin Sin Fine Art is pleased to present "Thai Abstraction"
- a group exhibition of three leading talented Thai artists who
have formed close artistic ties with Germany - Somyot Hanuntasuk,
Somboon Hormtientong, and Thaiwijit Poengkasemsomboon. Perhaps
it is due to this strong connection with Germany, their art stand
out among other contemporary Thai artists...
Israeli
Anti-Semitic Cartoon Contest - Drawn, February
16, 2006
Some Isreali cartoonist have decided to have their own anti-semitic
cartoon contest...
Lottery scam email -
February 8, 2006
[A Bangkok-based lottery scam email...]
DATE: 7TH OF FEBRUARY 2006.
FROM: THE DESK OF THE VICE PRESIDENT.
ASIAN PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS ORGANIZATION PRIZE/AWARD
BANGKOK THAILAND.
BATCH: EGS/ 22504002/03: REFERENCE: 15/0018/IPD
ATTENTION: CONGRATULATIONS!
RE: PRIZE/AWARD NOTIFICATION.
...Your name was attached to ticket number 085-12876077-09 with
serial number 51390-0 that drew the lucky numbers of 03-05-12-14-28-38,
which consequently won the lottery in the 5th category. You have
therefore been approved for a lump sum pay of 800,000.00. (EIGHT
HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATE DOLLARS ONLY), in cash credited to
file with REF: N.EGS/3662367114/13. This is from a total cash prize
of 70,020.225.00, shared among the twenty-five international winners
in this category.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Your fund is now deposited with our Bank/Security Company Bangkok
Thailand and insured in your name. Due to mix up of some numbers
and names, we ask that you keep this award from public notice until
your claim has been processed, and the money remitted to your account,
as this is part of our security protocol, to avoid double claiming
and unwarranted taking of advantage of this program by participants,
as has happened in the past...
We hope your lucky name will draw a bigger cash prize in the subsequent
programs. To begin your lottery claims, please contact our Co-ordinator
as follows with your winning informations(Batch No., Serial No.,
Ticket No.,):
NAME: Robert Wood
TEL: (66) 90724282
EMAIL: promocoordinator@asia.com
...An original copy of your lucky winning ticket and your deposit
certificate will be sent to you by Administrative Remittance Operation
Manager of Siam City Bank Bangkok Thailand...
Regime
nervous about US and Thai intentions - The
Irrawaddy, February 7, 2006
A "top secret" document obtained by The Irrawaddy reveals
that Burma's military leaders are fearful of possible attack or
invasion by the US, and closely monitors Thailand, which is one
of the US's most important allies in the region...
The document also says that senior military leaders wanted to counter
Thailand's annual joint military exercises with the US, known as
"Cobra Gold." It adds that Burma will match "Cobra
Gold" with an "Operation Hawk," though it did not
elaborate on the nature of this exercise.
The Thai annual exercise once took place along the Thai-Burmese
border. That exercise was held under the command of former Thai
army chief Gen Surayuth Chulanont, setting off alarm bells in Rangoon...
Scientists
hail discovery of hundreds of new species in remote New Guinea
- The Independent, February 7, 2006
In a jungle camp site, surrounded by giant flowers and unknown
plants, the researchers watched rare bowerbirds perform elaborate
courtship rituals. The surrounding forest was full of strange mammals,
such as tree kangaroos and spiny anteaters, which appeared totally
unafraid, suggesting no previous contact with humans...
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"Please CUT to fit"
- February 9, 2006
Right: Something amusing on The Nation website...
B-2
Spirit at the 2005 Edwards AFB Airshow -
February 9, 2006
Hunting
the Thai hitmen - The Australian,
February 6, 2006
...The latest clean-up follows a long history of blood-splattered
campaigns often referred to as "the killing season",
with candidates hiring mui phuen, or gunmen, to rub out their
competition...
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Thai
record labels target Japan online - AFP, February
4, 2006
Thailand's music industry is cashing in on Japan's booming market
for digital music downloads, using the Internet to introduce new
artists in hopes that Thai pop will be the next big thing...
Good stories from The Irrawaddy
- February, 2006
Soldiers
of Misfortune
Yeni looks at recent developments among Burma’s Student
Army in a report that features an exclusive photo essay by Paddy
O’Hanlon...
The
Rise and Fall of Burma’s Casino Capital
Once the gaming capital of Burma, Shan State’s Mong
La has now fallen on hard times. Clive Parker reports on the city’s
current economic woes and what the future might hold for the former
boom town...
Boom
Town Spectacular
The Shan ethnic minority in Muse enjoys an unprecedented
degree of autonomy. Ampika Jirat looks at the China-Burma border
town where a minority rules...
Jakarta
brings in new media restrictions - The
Irrawaddy, February 6, 2006
...Until now, most of Indonesia's 160 radio and television stations
have regularly broadcast content from major foreign media groups
such as the UK-based BBC, Germany's Deutsche Welle, Voice of America,
Radio Hilversum from the Netherlands and Radio Australia...
The
Glaucoma Hymn - February 1, 2006
Nils points out the bizarre "Glaucoma Hymn" from the
Association Of International Glaucoma Societies:
Glaucoma, Glaucoma, Glaucoma
Constricting vision slowly
Halted by progress of science
Vision of a world united
Beyond all science knowing
After a few moments the hymn begins to play and for some reason
heads pop up in the upper left corner of the banner.
Where Thailand's hybrid truck/canoes
came from - BoingBoing, February 1, 2006
This
BoingBoing post has an interesting comment on where the giant-engined
longtail boats came from:
...It's not well known that those boats originate from a change
in the British government's motor vehicle Construction and Use Regulations
in the late 1960s. What with the new motorway construction programme
well under way, the (largely old) truck fleet had begun to get in
the way. So the then Ministry of Transport introduced a minimum
power-to-weight ratio.
This meant that a ton of trucks with Gardner LX 105hp (mostly) or
Perkins P4 engines suddenly became obsolete. Exporting second-hand
trucks to places that would accept them (essentially, the third
world) was not great business, so they were either scrapped or retrofitted
with more wallop. Hence a mass of very reliable, very user-serviceable
diesel engines going begging.
Some sly fox saw a chance, and went round the country buying the
engines and shipping them to Hong Kong and Singapore for sale to
chandlers. As the engine arrived complete with the reverse box and
the end of a propshaft, they just put in a length of shaft and a
prop. Local boat builders came up with the rest and a new, unmistakable
craft was born.
They still have (even brand-new ones with much later power units,
radar and GPS) the traditional eyes on each side of the bow, a custom
recorded everywhere from the Mediterranean to Japan and back into
pre-classical antiquity.
Odds and ends
- February 3, 2006
* From the Sunday
Mail: Under Thai law, jet skis may only be operated
by people holding a valid Thai sea captain's licence but the regulation
has never been enforced in Phuket.
* And an interesting
comment from the Pattaya Mail about rail transit to
Pattaya.
Committee
agrees to reinstate Jaruvan as auditor-general
- The Nation, February 1, 2006
[Sign of the times: another defeat for the government...]
...The SAC previously assumed that Jaruvan was disqualified
from holding office because the court had ruled against the selection
process leading to her appointment, he said. The verdict did not
address her job status, however.
"Upon re-examining its stand, the SAC cannot find any provisions
in the Constitution or relevant laws to justify the removal of
Jaruvan. Meanwhile, the royal command remains intact as there
is no justification for overruling it or disqualifying Jaruvan,"
he said...
Saxena
could be killed or tortured in Thailand, court told -
Bangkok Post, February 1, 2006
...Lawyer Russ Chamberlain argued that Mr Saxena would be tortured
in Thailand, where human rights were abused and prisoners routinely
beaten, shocked with cattle prods and placed in metal cages, the
Vancouver Sun newspaper reported...
''To be electrocuted in the genital area would shock the conscience
of any fair-minded person, in my respectful submission,'' Mr Chamberlain
told a panel of three judges in Vancouver, British Columbia on
Monday, the report said.
He also said his client would be discriminated against in Thailand
as an Indian foreigner.
"There is some evidence that Indians are on the lowest scale
of people who live in Thailand,'' Mr Chamberlain said...
"There is a risk that Mr Saxena will be killed extra-judicially,''
Mr Chamberlain said. Reading from an affidavit, he said people
would rather see Mr Saxena dead than testify against them in court...
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