As we say, people, they don't live only on rices, but freedom is very important element for human being to live in dignity and in equality
Published on Jan 28, 2014
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เรื่องเด่นเย็นนี้ 27 มกราคม 2557 ตอน 6. เจาะข่าวเด่น การเมืองหลังการเลือกตั้งล่วงหน้า
Click on the link to get more news and video from original source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/TPC-Power-plans-three-plants-in-Laos-and-here-30225223.html
Erich Parpart
The Nation January 27, 2014 1:00 am
Thai Polycons, a full-service construction company, has budgeted Bt4.2 billion to Bt4.5 billion to built three power plants in Laos as part of its plan to expand its energy business domestically and abroad.
Company president Chainarong Chanpalangsri told The Nation that its power-plant business under the name TPC Power Holding Company was in the process of expanding its production capacity in Laos.
“We are waiting to make a power purchase agreement with the Laotian government for two of our projects and as soon as the paperwork is done, we will begin the construction work,” he said.
The company has three projects in Laos. A memorandum of understanding has been signed for two of them, in Sainyabuli (Xayaburi) and Phongsaly provinces, and a power purchase agreement is being processed. An MoU is yet to be signed for third project in Oudomxay province.
TPC Power expects to produce at least 80 megawatts of electricity in Laos once construction of the three projects is completed. The construction in Sainyabuli and Phongsaly is expected to start next year.
In Thailand, TPC Power is now producing 9.9MW at its plant in Nakhon Si Thammarat and it has started to generate revenue for the company already, since it has sold Bt190 million worth of electricity, Chainarong said.
As part of the expansion, TPC Power plans to use the money it earns as power producer to build three more plants in Nakhon Sawan, Samut Sakhon, and Nakhon Si Thammarat for the first phase of its plan. Projects in Nakhon Sawan and Samut Sakhon have been approved and were granted a factory establishment licence and the first phase of construction is in progress, while the project in Nakhon Si Thammarat province is still awaiting government approval.
Chainarong estimated the construction cost for Phase 1 at Bt2.1 billion to Bt2.4 billion, depending on land price. He said it should be ready to commercialise by the third quarter next year. All up, the plants in Phase 1, when completed, should be able to produce 40MW of electricity per year, he said.
For the second phase of the company’s production-expansion plan, TPC Power is looking into the possibility of building three more power plants in the South of Thailand.
Apart from expanding its production capacity, TPC Power is preparing to register with the Stock Exchange of Thailand in the second or third quarter.
Laos, Hmong Human Rights Advocate Honored With Medal of the Order of Australia
Washington, D.C., and Canberra, Australia, January 26, 2014,
Center for Public Policy Analysis
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Human rights and humanitarian advocate Kay Danes, who suffered imprisonment and torture in Laos at the hands of communist officials, is being honored today on Australia Day with the prestigious Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). She is one of Australia’s 2014 OAM recipients for service to the community through social justice and human rights.
For over a decade, Mrs. Danes has repeatedly traveled to Washington, D.C., on official invitation, to speak in the U.S. Congress about human rights violations in Laos and the plight of the Lao and Hmong people, including imprisoned political and religious dissidents. She has testified about the status of refugees facing forced repatriation, foreign prisoners tortured in Laos, religious persecution, and three Hmong-Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota, still imprisoned and missing in Laos, including Mr. Hakit Yang. Mr. Congshineng Yang, and Mr. Trillion Yunhaison,
“Kay Danes had provided critical and important research, evidence and testimony to the U.S. Congress, government policymakers and the Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), over the years, regarding ongoing human rights and religious freedom violations in Laos, Vietnam and elsewhere in Southeast Asia,” said Philip Smith, Executive Director of the CPPA. http://www.centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
“This vital information, and Mrs. Danes’ courage to give voice to the voiceless, has been invaluable in helping to understand the hidden reality of the situation under the communist regimes in Laos and Vietnam, especially in light of the recent abduction of civic activist and Magsaysay Award winner Sombath Somphone by Lao security forces in Vientiane, and the international outcry for his release,” Smith commented.
Smith continued: “Joining with many U.S.-based non-governmental organizations, including Lao and Hmong-American human rights and refugee groups, and victims’ families, we wish to sincerely congratulate Mrs. Kay Danes for being honored today with the Medal of the Order of Australia by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the government and people of Australia. We are very happy for Kay Danes as well as her husband Kerry Danes and family, especially after the horrific human rights abuses they both suffered and witnessed in Laos during their terrible imprisonment and abuse by the Lao government.”
“Among other important humanitarian efforts, Kay Danes also provided crucial evidence and testimony about the Lao government’s recent and unfettered role in human rights abuses, torture, extra-judicial abductions and killings as well as its role in the forced repatriation of Hmong refugees and the brutal persecution of Lao student dissidents and religious believers, especially minority Christians,” Smith observed.
“The Medal of the Order of Australia is the principal and most prestigious means of recognizing outstanding members of the community at a national level and nominations are encouraged from all members of the Australian public,” states the Australian Honours Secretariat of the Australian government.
“I am grateful to be a recipient of this award and hope that the human rights conversation continues to strengthen throughout the world,” said Mrs. Danes. “Human rights are the foundation of civil societies and set the guidelines on how we ought to act towards one another.”
Danes states further: “My long-standing relationship with the Centre for Public Policy Analysis and in particular, with Mr. Philip Smith, has very much played an important part of this award to which I am recognized today. Together, and with other humanitarians and U.S. Government officials, we hope to secure greater human rights freedoms for the thousands of those still oppressed by totalitarian regimes.”
Queensland’s Bayside Bulletin and The Redland Times (Fairfax Media Limited – Australia) helped to announce the news of the award today and cited Danes’ “…passion for social justice.”
“The Lao and Hmong community are very pleased and also grateful to Kay Danes, and her husband Kerry Danes, for their important human rights and humanitarian work,” said Sheng Xiong, of St. Paul, Minnesota, whose husband was also imprisoned and tortured in Phonthong Prison along with other Hmong-Americans.
“We want to thank Kay Danes for helping to bring awareness about terrible human rights violations in Laos and the suffering in the prisons, detention centers and refugee camps of Laos, including Phonthong prison; We commend Australia’s government, and Queen Elizabeth II, for awarding the Medal of the Order of Australia to Mrs. Danes,” said Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the United League for Democracy in Laos (ULDL).
Two Lao-American members of the ULDL from St. Paul, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, who participated in public policy events with Kay Danes in Washington, D.C., disappeared last year in Savannakhet Province, Laos and are feared dead in an incident involving Lao security and military forces. Three Lao-Americans were traveling together during the incident including Souli Kongmalavong, Mr. Bounma Phannhotha and Mr. Bounthie Insixiengmai.
Kay Danes has authored several books on human rights violations in Laos and the plight of foreign prisoners unjustly abused, tortured and killed abroad including: Standing Ground and Families Behind Bars. Philip Smith was asked to write the preface and Foreword to her most recent book, Standing Ground (2009, New Holland Publishers Australia).
According to the Australian government, the Order of Australia also serves to define, encourage and reinforce community standards, national aspirations and ideals by acknowledging actions and achievement and thereby identifying role models. The award was established by the Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth nations, Elizabeth II. HM Queen Elizabeth II is the Sovereign Head of the Order.
###
Contact:
Maria Gomez, Jade Her or Philip Smith
Tele (202)543-1444
info@centerforpublicpolicyanalysis.org
Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA)
2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC USA
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Related:
Scoop.co.nz Jan 28 05:11pm
The Huffington Post | By Suzy Strutner Posted: 01/26/2014 8:21 am EST | Updated: 01/26/2014 8:59 am EST
Click on the link to get more news and video from original source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/26/thailand-protest_n_4653562.html
Now is not the ideal time to be in Thailand.
On Tuesday, Thai officials declared a state of emergency in Bangkok due to political protests that have been going on since November. The U.S. State Department has issued a travel alert too, warning citizens to avoid “large gatherings” in the greater Bangkok area.
The demonstrations in Thailand have been mostly non-violent thus far, as people have marched and rallied in a call for their prime minister to step down. But last week bombs went off at two separate protests in Bangkok, resulting in one death and dozens of injuries.
Things could calm down after Thailand’s political elections, scheduled to take place on February 2. But given the current state of things, nobody knows if the elections will happen for certain or if they’ll truly stop the protest frenzy.
The State Department’s travel alert expires February 14.
If you’ve got a trip to Thailand booked for the meantime, follow these tips to stay safe during your visit.
Happy Thai travels!
Click on the link to get more news and video from original source: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/seanthomas/100256601/does-turmoil-in-thailand-signal-the-failure-of-global-democracy/
By Sean Thomas World Last updated: January 26th, 2014
Anti-government protestors rally in Bangkok (Photo: Reuters)
There was a distinct atmosphere in Bangkok’s seamy-yet-bohemian red light district, Soi Cowboy, about 10 days ago. Combining a determined frivolity with a decadent languor, plus a desperate, eerie, fin de régime hedonism, it was reminiscent, perhaps, of Paris in June 1940, shortly before the Nazis arrived.
At the end of the road, where the neon lights of the girly bars give way to the whizzing taxis of the Asoke intersection, there was a vast camp of whistling and jeering protestors. These Yellow-shirted protestors were threatening to overthrow the elected Thai government of Yingluck Shinawatra and her “Red shirt” devotees. Chaos surrounds the imminent elections; the country is officially in a state of emergency. But, as Thais like to say, ”mai pen rai”. Who cares. What gives. Let’s try the happy hour at Baccara go-go bar.
And you can see why Thais have – or had – this flippant attitude. Every year seems to bring a conflict between the Reds and the Yellows; and every year it gets harder to work out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.
This is probably because there are no good guys and bad guys. Anyone who tells you the ongoing Thai crisis is like a Peasants’ Revolt, or the French Revolution, and the Reds are the poor and oppressed and the Yellows are the evil bourgeois overlords, is talking total noodles.
To explain as simply as possible: Yes it is true the Reds derive much of their power, and votes, from relatively impoverished northern Thailand. Yet the Reds are led by a cabal of elite Thais, from generals to businessmen, at the apex of which stands exiled ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin is Yingluck’s brother, and their extended family has allegedly made billions from peculiar telecoms deals.
These people are not the Siamese equivalent of Wat Tyler.
Equally, the Yellows, while definitely possessing a more middle-class, Royalist mindset, derive plenty of support from poor people in the south, and they also represent many urban union-members – who suffered under Thaksinite corruption.
In other words it is very complicated, and very tribal, and maybe even a little boring, which is why much of Bangkok likes to ignore the whole thing and hope it goes away, or they hope the beloved royal family – especially the revered, 85-year old King Bumibhol – will intervene and save Thailand from itself, as he has done several times before.
It is, moreover, usually quite easy to ignore the riots and protests, as they happen in distinct and avoidable parts of the city. I personally remember the strife of 2010 when 80 people died in Red-Yellow street fighting. Five blocks away, the main worry of my hotel manager was that, as she tearfully confessed to me, her restaurant had run out of sea bass.
But this time around, as the days of protests have continued, and as the Yellow protests have intensified, a new, more ominous mood has settled on Bangkok. This time, people wonder, increasingly, if nationwide bloodshed will shame the country; this time, ordinary Thais fear that the army will truly seize the streets, and Thailand – southeast Asia’s most stable and prosperous nation – will be a democracy no more (indeed the Yellows have detailed plans to limit the political franchise, i.e. to roll back democracy as we know it).
And I wonder if these doomsayers are right. Because Thailand might just be one symptom of a worldwide phenomenon: a march away from western-style liberal democracy, towards new styles of politics: especially one-party Asian autocracy, with state-directed capitalism.
The reasons are obvious. As a brand, western democracy is damaged. When developing nations look to the democratic West, they see a dwindling and weakened superpower in America. Meanwhile, Europe has economically imploded, and anyway seems determined to abandon national liberties in favour of a feeble, mincing Federation, run, ineffectively, by bankers and bureaucrats.
The contrast with the success of the Chinese/Singaporean model is stark. Autocratic China is still enjoying powerful growth: it will soon surpass America in economic size. Singapore, meanwhile, has gone from equatorial backwater to being maybe the richest city in the world, without ever bothering too much with that annoying, listen-to-the-voters stuff.
So if you were a developing nation – especially in Asia – which political model would you choose? The western democratic model of failing France, enervated Britain and shrinking America? Or the Chinese and Singaporean style of politics, which actually delivers the goods?
We will know the answer soon enough; it may not suit western liberals. In the meantime, let us hope the Thais see sense and spare their lovely country the hideous stain of civil war: God Save King Bumibhol of Siam.
More by Sean Thomas:
The tragedy of London: a world-class city ignorant of the poor
The sadomasochist drug addict politician
Oh no! The West is losing the toilet wars
A Voice for the Laotian Who do not have Voice 