from AFP via Google Despite the sluggish economy, extreme poverty fell in Thailand last yea, according to agovernment think tank. - KaleThe number of people living below the poverty line fell to 5.4 million in 2007, down from 6.1 million the year before, the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) said.Families earning less than 1,443 baht (about 43 dollars) per month for each person in the household are considered below the poverty line in Thailand.The gap between rich and poor also narrowed last year. The richest 20 percent of the population earned 8.6 times as much as the poorest 20 percent, the think tank said.In 2006, the richest Thais earned 9.9 times more than the poorest."The number of poor people has dropped for five consecutive years, from 9.1 million in 2002 to...
Investigate Violence by Pro-Government Groups
Thai authorities should ensure that opposition political rallies are protected from attack by pro-government groups, Human Rights Watch said today....
Civilians Forced Back Into Conflict Zone, More Returns Threatened
Thai security forces should immediately stop forcing Karen refugees and asylum seekers to return to Burma from refugee camps in Thailand, Human Rights Watch said today....
from the AFP via Google BANGKOK (AFP) — Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Tuesday announced a 49 billion baht (1.46 billion dollar) raft of benefits to counter poverty caused by soaring living costs.The anti-poverty scheme will provide tax cuts and free services for six months to Thailand's worst-off, Samak told a news conference broadcast on national television.The measures for the poor include cuts in taxes on fuel, delayed increases in the price of cooking gas, as well as free tap water, free electricity, and free transport in non-air conditioned trains and buses, he said."All the measures will take effect from August 1, except excise taxes cut that will began earlier on July 25," Samak said.Inflation in Thailand hit a 10-year high of 8.9 percent in June, driven by soaring...
Authorities Should Account for Missing Refugees
Thai authorities should end intimidation and forced deportations of Lao Hmong refugees detained in a camp in Petchabun province, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch expressed concern for the well-being of some 1,300 Lao Hmong who escaped from the Huay Nam Khao camp and did not return following a mass protest two weeks ago....
Insurgents Must Cease Targeting Civilians in the South
Leaders of the separatist insurgency in southern Thailand must end the targeting of civilians in their effort to establish an independent state, Human Rights Watch said today....
Commanding Officer Refused to Implicate Abusive Soldiers
The Thai Army should instruct its officers to provide crucial evidence to a court conducting an inquest into the torture and killing of Imam Yapa Koseng, Human Rights Watch said today....
from Voice of America By Luis Ramirez Part of VOA's new Making a Difference series. Each week, VOA introduces a different individual - famous or lesser-known - working to help others.Thousands of people flee Burma each year, escaping poverty, oppression, and civil war.The nearest escape for most is Thailand, where they experience both despair and hope. Burmese refugee, Dr.Cynthia Maung, runs a small, modest public health clinic near the border in Thailand, and is making a difference in her community by providing essential services not available to most residents of the poor region.Mothers line up with children, waiting for immunizations. In another line, couples with newborns wait for documents certifying their children were born in Thailand. The documents take the place of birth...
Respect Rights to Life, Health of Drug Users to Stem Rising HIV Epidemics
The United Nations should ensure that policies to control illicit drugs do not impede access to lifesaving HIV services, a group of public health and rights organizations said today in a joint letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other key UN officials....
from the Thailandian Based on an assessment of the global agriculture scenario, experts have come to the conclusion that genetically modified (GM) crops are not a solution for poverty, hunger or climate change.The final report of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), which was signed by the governments of about 60 countries in April in Johannesburg, suggests that it is necessary to introduce a fundamental change in farming practices to address soaring food prices, hunger, social inequities, and environmental disasters.The report acknowledges that GM crops are highly controversial, reports the Environmental News Network.IAASTD Director Robert Watson said that much more research was needed to prove whether GM crops offer any benefits,...
from IRINCharm Tong does not remember fleeing into Thailand - she was only six years old when her parents took her across the border from Myanmar.Her home in Shan State - Myanmar's largest region - was a conflict zone, with government troops battling rebels of the Shan State Army.Tong was educated in northern Thailand at a Catholic orphanage. She speaks English, Thai, Chinese and Burmese, and now in her mid-20s, runs a school in Thailand that offers counselling, education and support to other migrants.Tong’s story is happier than many of at least a million people who left Myanmar for Thailand."[Migrants] can be deported at any time because they have no documents," said Tong. "It is a difficult life for them - they have to live in hiding.”The Migrant Assistance Programme (MAP), a Thai...
Government Should End Discriminatory Policies and Improve Protection
The suffocation deaths on April 10 of 54 Burmese migrants is a somber wake-up call that should prompt Thai authorities to end discriminatory policies and improve protection for migrants, Human Rights Watch said today....
from the Asian TribuneBy Quintus PereraColombo, Sarath Fernando, Movement for Land and Agrculture Reforms (MONLAR) indicated that they are disputing the views expressed by BOI Chairman on poverty reduction, economic growth and global warming which were discussed at a meeting convened by Foreign Ministry on Global Warming.Fernando says while the indication made by BOI Chairman that it was necessary to think of ending global poverty before they think of controlling global warming has some semblance of validity, the contention of BOI Chairman that to alleviate poverty, economies need industrialization, needs careful thought, as industrialization leads to emissions and as higher economic growth is achieved through increased disparities.Fernando indicated that the example of US having a per...
from the ThaindianBangalore, Mar 29 (ANI): On the final day of his five-day tour of Karnataka, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi said that he was sensitive towards poverty, saying that to fully understand it one has to be poor.“I’m sensitive to poverty. I try and understand poverty. But to fully understand poverty, you have to face poverty,” Rahul Gandhi told a press conference here.It may be recalled that during his entire Orissa and Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi has visited tribals, dalits and people from the poor section of the society to understand the problem of poverty.Talking about the 600 billion rupees farm loan waiver scheme of the Central Government, he said, “We are a country of a billion people with a large number of poor people. We are growing very fast, but we need...
from the Associated press via GoogleBy JOCELYN GECKER BANGKOK, Thailand — Two dozen elite chefs have declined to take part in a dazzling dinner at a Bangkok luxury hotel, fearing controversy over what some critics are characterizing as a poverty tour for the rich.The Lebua hotel, which is organizing the dinner, is no stranger to publicity. Last year, it put on a feast billed as the meal of a lifetime for $25,000 a head. Six top chefs were flown in from Europe to cook the 10-course meal, each plate paired with a rare vintage wine.This year, on April 5, the Lebua is offering another 10-course spread — but this time for free. The twist is that those of the 50 big-spending customers who accept invitations will first be jetted to a village in northern Thailand to spend the afternoon...
Bringing to justice the killers of an imam detained by the military in Thailand’s southern Narathiwat province will be a key test for the Thai authorities, Human Rights Watch said today. Violence is escalating in the south, where the Thai military is fighting a Muslim separatist insurgency that has frequently targeted civilians....
One of the other great things about the camp is that it gave me the opportunity to play with the new Fire Pois which I brought myself when I was back home in New Zealand - with some really good photographers around to take photos!
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On the final day, we presented our Information Management track project. It was decided that our project would look into social networking at the camp, so a questionnaire was prepared and distributed, asking various questions about the number of friendship people had before during and after the camp, and the best activities for making [...]...
from the Thaindian Raipur, March 25 (IANS) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh Tuesday urged the central government to redefine poverty line level so that the ‘real poor’ would get the benefits of the public distribution system (PDS). “What is the rationale of 27 percent people being accepted by the Planning Commission as below the poverty line (BPL) when the prevalence of malnutrition is more than 50 percent”, asked the chief minister while inaugurating a two-day workshop on “Food Security through PDS: Prospects and Challenges”, organised by the state government here.Justice D.P. Wadhwa, chairperson of Central Vigilance Committee (CVC) on PDS, and N.C. Saxena, Commissioner to the Supreme Court in the Right to Food case, also supported reconsidering the poverty line...
Four Years On, Continued Impunity Fuels Cycle of Abuse and More ‘Disappearances’
On the fourth anniversary of the enforced disappearance and presumed murder of prominent Muslim human rights lawyer Somchai Neelappaijit, the new Thai government should ensure that the police officers responsible for this crime are finally brought to justice, Human Rights Watch said today....
from AFPBANGKOK (AFP) — A Bangkok restaurant is treating its biggest spenders to a 300,000-dollar meal prepared by Michelin-starred chefs -- but only after they have jetted to an elephant camp to see how the other half live.Lebua hotels, which last year put on a sumptuous dinner with a 29,000-dollar per head price tag, will on April 5 fly up to 50 of their top clients to Surin province in northeastern Thailand, one of the kingdom's poorest regions.After seeing the dwindling number of pachyderms and the impoverished lives of their handlers, the high-rollers will fly by private jet back to Bangkok where they will feast on lobster, black truffles and Roquefort ice cream.Deepak Ohri, managing director of Lebua hotels and resorts, hopes that the trip will spark an altruistic streak in the...
Forced Repatriations of Hmong to Laos Should End
The Thai government should stop forcibly returning Hmong asylum seekers to Laos without independent monitoring or refugee screening, Human Rights Watch said today....
On the fourth day I ran my session on Database Design. As I was only asked to present this session three days previously, I hadn’t had any spare time to put together anything other than an outline and make rough notes. Fortunately this is a topic which I’ve spent far too much time thinking about, [...]...
I don’t know how people live-blog from conferences and workshops. When I haven’t been in the various sessions, I’m talking interesting people, and when I’m not doing that I’m exhausted. Hence this rest of the posts about the camp are several days late! I have also been trying to get some work sorted out, and [...]...
Day 3 became more interesting, but also further increased my information overload, not only from all the new material which I was being exposed to, but from all the new ideas which it was spawning!
The first session introduced the Visualizing Information for Advocacy booklet, which covered different ways to design information. The booklet was [...]...
According to his supporters, the former PM of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, will return from exile this Thursday. Thaksin has been living in London since the coup in 2006 that deposed him. Thaksin’s wife, Pojaman Shinawatra, returned on January 8th and was immediately arrested on arrival in Bangkok for violations of stock-trading and land sales.
No stranger to controversy, the Shinawatra’s have been accused of dictatorship, theft, treason, nepotism, corruption, and insider trading — just to name a few.
When Thaksin returns on Thursday, he still faces an outstanding indictment on corruption. For the millions of diehard Thaksin fans, this homecoming will be a celebration — a confirmation of the failure of those generals who, in an attempt to ruin his political...
Today was the first day of the Mekong ICT (Information Communication Technology) Camp which I am attending in Thailand. The camp is for people from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, and despite that I am neither from this region, nor working in the region, I felt that Indonesia was close enough, and it sounded [...]...
from the Bangkok Post WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRIThe People's Bank microfinance programme, a key initiative under the Thaksin Shinawatra government, could be revived under the new government with the aim of transforming the branches into ''community microbanks''. The concept has already been floated by advisers to Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee. Under the proposal, the People's Bank programme could be separated from the Government Savings Bank and strengthened significantly to facilitate faster loan growth to low-income residents.The People's Bank was set up to offer small loans of around 10,000 baht to borrowers to help support small business initiatives. Borrowers are obliged to establish deposit accounts to act as guarantees against their loans, a requirement that has helped to...
Authorities Need to Combat Chronic Lack of Oversight, Accountability in Police Work
The recent arrest of a police captain and other anti-drug squad officers on allegations of serious crimes and human rights violations gives the new Thai government an opportunity to show that it can hold abusers to account, Human Rights Watch said today....
from The Bangkok PostBy JOY PHUMAPHI For millions of the world's poorest people, ill-health and disease too often go hand in hand with grinding poverty and blunted national aspirations. In looking for solutions to this troubling state of global health, we can learn a great deal from Thailand. Given that most of the world's development thinking cascades from wealthy OECD countries in the North to countries in the South we need to hear more from Thailand and other countries like Cambodia, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Vietnam, which have achieved breakthroughs in primary healthcare, to export their development experience in a South-South dialogue to show their neighbours in South Asia, Africa and other regions what works, what doesn't, and why. This experience should not stay confined to national...