[Thailand] Controversial policies may do long-term damage

August 19, 2011
By Thanong Khanthong
The Nation

The Pheu Thai government has introduced several controversial economic policies.

Let me go through them one by one.

1. Most people don't notice that an offshore oil deal is on the cards. Fugitive ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen are now trying to strike an offshore oil deal. The defence minister, the foreign minister and the energy minister have got a mandate to work with Cambodia on offshore oil operations in the Gulf of Thailand. The change of government from Democrat to Pheu Thai has facilitated this business deal. Chevron, the US oil company, is waiting in the wings for this project.

This oil production will take place in the overlapping maritime area as a joint operation between Thailand, Cambodia and the United States. However, offshore oil drilling is now very risky, given the frequent occurence earthquakes and natural disasters. Shell is now trying to control an oil spill in the North Sea. BP created a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a year ago. A court in Ecuador earlier this year fined Chevron US$8 billion for polluting the Amazon region.

The oil giants have bad records in offshore drilling when it comes to safety and care for the environment. Any monetary compensation cannot write off the massive damage being done to the environment. If a huge oil spill were to happen in the Gulf of Thailand, it would spell doom for Pattaya, Hua Hin and other resort areas along our coast. Thailand's tourism industry would basically come to a grinding halt.

Thaksin's adviser unaware of a trip to Cambodia

August 17, 2011
The Nation

Legal adviser Noppadon Pattama on Wednesday admitted he was unaware of his client Thaksin Shinawatra's planned visit to Cambodia, scheduled for Friday to Sunday.

"I don't know anything about the trip," he said.

Noppadon said he was trying to indentify the news source, who reportedly is an insider of Pheu Thai Party.

Pheu Thai MP Pracha Prasobdee said he believed Thaksin would remain in Dubai before making his scheduled visit to Japan on Monday.

Oil deal: Thaksin to visit Cambodia

August 17, 2011
THE NATION

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will visit Cambodia late this week to meet with leaders and investors in Phnom Penh, notably on an oil-and-gas concession in the Gulf of Thailand where claims overlap, a Pheu Thai Party source said yesterday.

Thaksin, who is expected to be in the country for two days from August 19 on Friday and Saturday, will take some foreign investors to meet and play golf with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Defence Minister Tea Banh to make the business deal, the source said.

Many Pheu Thai MPs are preparing to greet Thaksin while he is in Cambodia, the source said.

Thaksin will help negotiate with Cambodia on a plan for joint development of a petroleum venture in the Gulf of Thailand where both countries claim the rights. He wants state-run PTT to have a stake in the oil-and-gas concession or enter a joint venture with Cambodia, the source said.

Lack of transparency in oil deal with Hanoi?

Vietnam – Cambodia oil and gas contract signed

November 13, 2009
Nhan Dan (Hanoi)

Nhan Dan Online – A contract on exploring and exploiting oil and gas in block XV, Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia was signed by Nguyen Vu Truong Son, General Director of the PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Corporation (PVEP) and Sok An, the Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister cum Chairman of the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority (CNPA) on November 12.

Participating the signing ceremony were Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai, Chairman of the Management Board of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group and representatives from relevant ministries and branches.

At the ceremony, Chairman Dinh La Thang said: Block XV situated northeast of Tonle Sap Lake has an area of around 6,900 square kilometres in the mainland of Cambodia. The duration of the contract is 30 years for oil and 35 years for gas and the exploration period is expected to take seven years. 100% of stock of the contract is held by the PVEP. The project is expected to be managed and operated by the PVEP-Mekong, a subsidiary of the PVEP, who is currently running the oil and gas projects in Laos and Myanmar.

This is an event of important significance in the sustainable development of time-honoured and friendly comprehensive co-operative ties between Vietnam and Cambodia and is a breakthrough regarding co-operation in the oil and gas field between the two countries.

After the signing ceremony, the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group presented a US$2 million worth Social Benefit Fund to the Cambodian Government.

Cambodia, South Korea to sign oil, energy agreement

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and South Korean governments will sign an agreement of oil and energy cooperation during the two-day official visiting by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak later this month, an official said here on Monday.

"Both sides will sign the agreement on seeking mines, oil, gas, and energy cooperation to push the economic development in the country," Eang Sophalleth, spokesman for Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen told reporters after the meeting between Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and visiting Shin Jae Hyun, ambassador in charge of cooperation, natural resources and energy affairs to the South Korean President.

Shin's visit is to pave the way for President Lee Myung-bak's visit in Cambodia on October 22-23.

The bilateral cooperation will serve the mutual benefits, Eang said, adding that Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed his hope that it will help speed up the country's economic development.

Shin also expressed his sympathy and condolences to Cambodian victims who suffered from Ketsana storm last week and hoped the Ketsana-hit regions would be restored soon under the Cambodian government's leadership.

South Korea has contributed to building rural infrastructure, irrigation systems, and road restorations in Cambodia and has helped e-government, information technology in Cambodia. Moreover, South Korea also joined to invest in a stock exchange which plans to open next year in Cambodia.

More protests expected in Bangkok

Friday, June 20, 2008
ABC Radio Australia

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is under pressure after a month of persistent street protests, which got a boost this week when Thailand's most powerful unions gave their backing to the rallies.

The opposition Democrat Party has also lodged a motion of no-confidence against the Prime Minister, and there are fears of more protests by farmers and truck drivers over rising energy costs.

Another opposition party, The People's Alliance for Democracy, has called on its supporters to rally on Friday and police are on high alert.

The PAD is angry at the government's handling of the economy, oil deals with Cambodia and negotiation on the Preah Vihear Temple.

Ong-Art Khlampaibul, the spokesman for the Democratic Party, told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program the new government is already a failure.

"We think that the government cannot run the country very well it [doesn't have] enough ability to work, it cannot solve the economic crisis and now we have more," he said.

"It is our nation's problem, it is our people's problem, it's not our political party's or democratic party's problem only."

Despite the protest Mr Ong-Art does not expect another coup.

"I don't think it will end in a coup again of course because we just had one two years ago but personally it is not easy to happen again, and it should not happen again," he said.

He says the Democrats don't want to eject the government, simply to force them to to their job properly.

Self-censoring Thai PM threatens to sue newspapers [over Preah Vihear report]

05/11/2008
Agence France-Presse

BANGKOK -- Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who has a notoriously combative relationship with his country's press, threatened on Sunday to sue two local newspapers.

Speaking on his weekly "Talking Samak Style" television show, the prime minister took two unnamed papers to task over their reporting of disputes over a temple on the Thai-Cambodia border.

Samak, who is known for his gruff, straight-talking style, recently cancelled his twice-weekly press briefings because he said he was worried he would publicly utter "rude words."

In his latest attack on the media, he said the newspapers had accused him of trading claims over the temple -- which is on Cambodian soil but to which Thailand has historically laid claim -- for financial gain over oil deals.

"That is absolutely unacceptable," he told viewers. "Tomorrow (Monday) my lawyer will certainly have a job to do. The only way out is through the court."

Samak did not give any details of the offending newspapers, or specifics of the allegations.

Thailand and Cambodia have historically both laid claim to the Preah Vihear temple, an ancient Hindu site perched on a mountaintop on the Thai-Cambodia border. The World Court in 1962 ruled that the temple belonged to Cambodia.

The United Nations culture organization UNESCO last year decided against granting the temple coveted World Heritage status.

Rumors swirled that Thailand had blocked Cambodia's efforts to have Preah Vihear listed, but Cambodian officials denied this, and Samak has said he will not hamper attempts by Cambodia to try once again to have the site listed.

A former TV chef and self-styled "man of the people", Samak led the People Power Party (PPP) to an election victory last December and often uses his Sunday television show to complain about the Thai media.

When he announced he would no longer give his press briefings, he said that the public believed he used impolite words. "So to solve this problem and so that I do not utter such rude words, I must not talk," he explained.