Thailand in the News Week Ending 01/16/10

Bangkok Sinking

Anyone that has been in Bangkok after a decent storm can tell you that it wouldn’t take much to sink Bangkok, but now scientists are warning that large sections of Bangkok might have to be abandoned by the middle of this century unless severe action is taken.

Bangkok’s canal systems were used to move the majority of traffic through the city but that has largely given way to roads that support the estimated 12 million Bangkok residents. According to researchers subsidence and lack of urban planning have resulted in the already low lying city sinking a further 2 cm – 5 cm a year.

Add in the rising sea levels and the coastal erosion along the gulf of Thailand and researchers are saying that Bangkok could be looking at regular flooding reaching the 2 meter mark.

It’s been a problem that authorities have known about for decades but initially sediment compression was seen as the main factor, now research has shown that the crust of the earth is depressing in Bangkok caused by tectonic events that are beyond anyone’s control. Much of today’s problems started in the 1980′s when industry was getting stronger and their need for water saw water being drawn from underground aquifers faster than it could be replaced which causes subsidence.

There have been many solutions offered but researches say it will take more than one solution to fix the problem. Solution’s have ranged from building dikes around Bangkok’s important infrastructure such as Suvarnabhumi Airport to the much more aggressive proposal to build a massive 100km long dike right across the Gulf of Thailand from Hua Hin to Pattaya.

These solutions don’t come without social and economic repercussions for Thailand’s fishing communities and the short term costs for such construction will be tremendous and hard to get the government to back.

Mid century sounds a long way off but it’s not as far into the future as experts would like. One small rain is enough to completely flood Chinatown for a whole day now, as pictured above. I have a feeling the answer won’t come easy for this one and when it does come it will be expensive and not just in terms of money.

Prime Minister Wants Less Reliance on King

Courtesy Getty Images

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said his politically divided nation would be better off if it stopped relying on the widely revered king to intervene in times of difficulty.

This past week when the Prime Minister spoke before the foreign correspondents of Thailand he was quoted as saying:

the country had struggled at times of crisis to solve problems, in which 82-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s role had been critical, crucial, vital.

Now what I’m saying is that it would be better if we can all resolve these issues without having to rely on His Majesty’s interventions, even though they are always within the framework of the constitution. It will take time.

Very interesting. This doesn’t sound like he wants to relieve a burden from the aging King but more like he wants to see the Monarchy give way to government, his government. Correct me if I’m wrong but one of the very real fears of the Thaksin led government was that people saw him trying to gain much more power and it was said by many that Thaksin at some point would seek to exclude the Monarchy from government by whatever means necessary.

Shouldn’t Prime Minister Abhisit’s words be seen as a Lèse majesté violation? Certainly the Prime Ministers own party has used a much less stringent standard when applying the same law to political opponents, journalists and bloggers. I would think seeking to rely less on the Monarchy is surely an insult to said Monarchy.

Abhisit had also said during the meeting that a new advisory board on the Lèse majesté laws would create “clarity” which would see many cases that have been pending with the police and Attorney General cleared.

If Prime Minister Abhisit really want’s to do something for the betterment of all Thai people he would seek to repeal Thailand’s archaic Lèse majesté laws and then there wouldn’t be a need for advisory boards and or the clearing of pending cases.

Five charged over Thai-Saudi jewel mystery

This past week saw a a very old crime come back to life with new charges leveled at Thai police officers involved.

20 years ago an unassuming Thai janitor working in a Saudi palace sought to commit the crime of the century, he did and he was caught soon afterward. The man stole jewelry valued at over 20 million dollars and smuggled it back into Thailand.

The thief was caught and most of the jewelry was recovered and returned to the Saudi’s. Unfortunately this is Thailand and Thailand is known for it’s fake gem scams, the Saudi’s soon found this out when most of the returned jewelry was determined to be fake including one incredibly rare blue diamond.

The years following the heist havee been full of intrgue and assassinations all related to the original crime and the subsequent fallout. Thai-Saudi relations have hit rock bottom costing Thailand billions of dollars in trade as well as a serious loss of face.

This week 5 Thai police officers were charged with murder related to the jewelry heist and the 20 year old case is once again in the news.

For an excellent article of this incredible case so far you might want to check out  Timeline of the Blue Diamond Affair over at Jotman.com

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