The cost of living is soaring in Thailand. To deal with this development the Thai government has come up with an unusual and controversial plan. The ministry’s committee on goods and services prices set up a list of 43 different consumer product groups, which are to be under price control.
An investigation on prices of consumer products in Thailand was undertaken on the 15.05.2012
Even though many countries with a free market economy in the world subsidy certain product groups, such as food and agricultural products, this governmental action plan takes it to another level. For many observers that show’s resemblance to a socialistic political model in which the government is taking huge influence on the economy. Others also doubt the government’s farsightedness on economic topics in general and blame the increase of the minimum wage to 300 baht a day as a reason for the boosted cost of products. As well the increase of energy costs is a reason for rising prices, however, whatever the reasons for higher prices are the way to lower them is questionable.
Within these 43 product groups are for example school uniforms and cooked food. Especially around the cooked food price control a hot discussion has started. According to the Bangkok Post a subcommittee has been set up to control the cost of cooked meals, with tougher punitive measures against profiteering. In an initial proposal from the committee a price structure as follows is envisaged (for your reference: 1Euro = ca. 40 baht). For rice topped with an omelette to cost 15-20 baht, a plate of khao kaeng (rice with one side dish) should sell at 20-30 baht, a plate of rice with two side dishes should retail at 25-35 baht, a bowl of noodles with pork, chicken or fish balls should cost 25-35 baht. Those found guilty of charging exorbitant prices will face a fine of up to 400,000 baht (ca. 10000 Euro) and/or a seven-year jail term under the law on prices of goods and services. Read the rest of this entry »
Happy homosexual family with their adopted daughter
The smile in their faces can only mean one thing, they are a happy family. Thailand is well known for being a family oriented country. It is even one of the first countries to celebrate Family Day. However, there is a little part of the society that is not permitted to form a family in Thailand; homosexuals. It is curious that a society that widely accepts homosexuality and katoeys bans same-sex marriage
Attempts to legalize same sex marriage in Thailand have been in vain. The latest attempt was in 2011.The National Human Rights Commission; a governmental body has proposed a draft to legalize same-sex marriage during the APF Annual Meeting and Biennial Conference. Despite of the positive projection by NHRC, the desired outcomes have not been accomplished.
The societal reasons for not accepting same sex marriage are unclear to me. In most societies, religion plays the most important role in condemning homosexuality; however this is not the case in Buddhism. Thailand believes in the Theravada Buddhism which has five Precepts. One of these is to not engage in any sexual misconduct. Sexual misconduct is understood under the principles of its universality, its consequences, its intentions and with a utilitarian principle. Homosexuality does not contradict any of these Precepts. Being homosexual does not go against the religious beliefs. Read the rest of this entry »
Asia - a fascinating continent facing the climate change
For many people, including myself, Asia is one of the most fascinating continents. Almost 60% of the world’s population lives here and the continent is the biggest on earth. Since it has such an exceptional size, amounting to more than 44 billion square kilometers, it offers a wide variety of climate zones, from rain forest to desert. Unfortunately, due to its great dimensions, it is also the continent most threatened by climate change (Asian Development Bank, 2012). Even though the climate of the world has changed throughout history, the climate change is different today. The climate change of nowadays is created by us –humans- and is not a natural change as it has been before.
According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Asian metropolises are especially endangered. Generally, people settle close to the rivers and oceans, as these areas provide perfect access to the sea, and therefore to trade. These regions, for instance Dhaka in Bangladesh or Jakarta in Indonesia, have a higher population than the rule areas and will therefore be more affected by the climate change than other areas. Both cities are located close to the water and offer only minor protection to the inhabitants. Additionally, most of the manufacturing industry is concentrated in these regions and therefore the production of greenhouse gases is significantly higher than elsewhere. Read the rest of this entry »
Despite China’s efforts to open up its economy, it seems China continues to be an authoritarian one-party state that enforces strict measures on freedom of expression, press freedom and suppresses human rights defenders. According the Human Rights Watch’s world report of China, the government continued in 2011 to violate domestic and international legal guarantees of freedom of press and expression by restricting bloggers, journalists, and an estimated more than 500 million internet users.
Lately multiple issues have risen to the surface, as the matters no longer concern only internal affairs. An example is the situation of the blind legal activist Chen Guangchen which led to a disputed story between the US and China. (More info on this here – (Marian’s Blog concerning Chen Guangchen link)). This as China has before imprisoned dissidents, for instance when Liu Xiaobo, a now Nobel Peace Prize winner, was incarcerated as a political prisoner in 2009. This too, evoked an international response as, among others, the U.S. Department of State called for Liu’s release. And more recently, on Monday the 7th of May, as Al Jazeera English’s correspondent in China, Melissa Chan was refused to renew her press credentials and visa by Chinese authorities. Leading to the close of the Chinese news section by Al Jazeera English.
Al Jazeera English, as stated on its official website, is a globally oriented media service. AJE has the mission, “to empower the voiceless, rather than empower the pulpit, to tell the news with an alternative voice, putting the human back at the centre of the news agenda”, according to former director general of the Al Jazeera Network, Wadah Khanfar. In addition, the director of news, Salah Negm said in response to China’s action, “Just as China news services cover the world freely we would expect that same freedom in China for any Al-Jazeera journalist.” Read the rest of this entry »
The case of one man, Chen Guangcheng, is shaking the diplomatic relationship of the two global superpowers USA and China. The subject of Human Rights, which is looming between the two nations since long, is now again in the spotlight. This happens for both governments at a point of time were they needed it the least. The two countries just held their annual high-level “strategic and economic dialogue”, a two-day event which began in Beijing on May 3rd and involved on the American side the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. The tough topics of the event, like a possibly imminent nuclear test by North Korea and global economic rebalancing, were not made easier by Mr. Chen’s case.
Chen Guangcheng, political activist and matter of diplomatic issues between the US and China, at US Embassy, May 1st, 2012.
Especially from the Chinese side anger of America’s involvement in this case was expressed. A foreign ministry spokesman accused the Americans of interfering in China’s internal affairs and demanded an apology. He said the embassy’s behavior had been “utterly unacceptable” and called on America to “deal with” those responsible, apparently meaning diplomats who had helped Mr. Chen. That China is reacting in such a manner to such incidents is no news. For example on a visit of the Dalai Lama to President Obama last year the Chinese reaction was expressed by a written statement of Ma Zhaoxu, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, as follows: “Such an act has grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs, hurt the feelings of Chinese people and damaged Sino-American relations,”. Read the rest of this entry »
As the issue has been brought up in my previous blog, (India; one of the big boys), the current topic will further question the issue of military expenditure.
An illustration suggesting that military spending negatively affects the economy.
Victor Davis Hanson, writer for the National Review, has stated that in times of economic crisis, there are two general rules of budgetary reform, first, to scale back expenditures rather than raise taxes, and, second, to look at defence for some of the deepest cuts. The question is when nations decide not to reduce but further increase military spending during an economic crisis, what will be the impact on economic growth and development or other economic areas such as international debt and corruption?
Could the money invested in to military expenses be better off spent on other priorities? What are and should be the priorities in this time and day? These questions should concern everyone around the world. As the34th US President, Dwight David Eisenhower, former five-star General in the United States Army during World War II, mentioned in 1953, “This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, and the hopes of its children”. Read the rest of this entry »
In this video, Vice President of Strategic Intelligence Rodger Baker examines the recent dispute over oil exploration in the South China Sea. As can be concluded from this, oil and gas resources are the main reason for this territorial argument.
Currently, the position of the US in the South China Sea dispute is uncertain. Vietnam Brunei and Malaysia are claiming territory; however, China and the Philippines are the strongest arguers. The US has been the military partner of the Philippines for over 70 years; however it is highly undesirable for its economy to be part of a military dispute with China. Read the rest of this entry »
Rivers are considered to be the life line of earth and to bring prosperity to the people living next to it. In history river regions, for example the Nile in today’s Egypt, often were the center of civilization and formed economical hubs. However the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) is poorer than the close by regions bordering. This appears odd, but there are logical explanations for it ranging from politics and history to economic issues.
The Mekong often forms the border or crosses countries with a difficult recent history.
The Mekong origins from the Tibetan Plateau, crosses the Chinese provinces Guangxi and Yunnan, forms the borders of Burma and Thailand to Laos, flows through Cambodia and finally enters the South Chinese Sea in Vietnam.
Having a closer look on these countries and regions it’s getting more apparent why they can be considered rather poor. For example China’s West has not seen as much of the industrializing as the East of the country, Myanmar/Burma was for decades on sanctions by the international community with actually just China as the only country to do trade with, Laos is in a difficult geographical position being land-locked and was for long not open for a free market and Cambodia still has to deal with the aftermath of their civil war (Khmer Rouge), which had devastating impact on the people. Additionally borders within the GMS were long closed to formal trade, with hostilities and the Mekong as a natural barrier holding back development along some stretches, border regions remain impoverished.
Next to that all six members of the GMS are rather rural and have a high share of population in rural areas averaging about 70 percent overall. This means that agriculture is important throughout the sub-region which is not bad simply by that, but however the productivity gains are considerably smaller than in the industry and/or the agriculture in Western countries and as basic economics teaches the main factor behind low economic growth is weak productivity gains. So it can be said that human, physical and natural resources are absorbed in low-yielding activities. Read the rest of this entry »
Many people across the entire world donate money to charity. Generally, we give money, thinking that it will make a difference. However, have you ever considered how you would feel if you found out that it did not make a difference?
Part of the question is if the aid system has failed. I am not referring to corrupt organizations. I am not thinking about dictators blocking the help. These are issues that are usually talked about by the media. I am thinking about failed aid in countries with stable governments, such as Cambodia. This leads me to a more general question. Does the aid provided by the non-governmental organizations (NGOS) really help on a long-term basis?
For my part, I have to say, the system may not have failed, but at least it is damaged and it is necessary to fix it. The reason, why I think it is malfunctioning is that many organizations only focus on providing the hardware. NGOs like Engineers without Borders, CARE Bangladesh or Promoting Education, emPowering Youth (PEPY) build schools, houses or pipelines for wells. This shows that we approach the problems of the developing countries from a very western point of view. Often we do not consider what is happening on the ground, for example, conflicts between different ethnic groups or a different understanding of time and values. Read the rest of this entry »
The National Population and Talent Division of Singapore has recently published a report showcasing demographic concerns of the country. Singapore is currently facing a low fertility rate and increase in its ageing population. Life expectancy in Singapore is currently one of the highest in the world (82 years). Chart 1 showcases the decrease of fertility rate over the years for different Asian countries.
Despite the efforts made by the government to increase the fertility rate, Singapore has faced a population decline of 23.16% over 2000-2011.Not only Singapore is facing this problem. One other example is Canada that has been working on recruiting immigrants over many years to leverage this issue. Read the rest of this entry »
Lately multiple issues have risen to the surface, as the matters no longer concern only internal affairs. An example is the situation of the blind legal activist Chen Guangchen which led to a disputed story between the US and China. (More info on this here – (Marian’s Blog concerning Chen Guangchen link)). This as China has before imprisoned dissidents, for instance when Liu Xiaobo, a now Nobel Peace Prize winner, was incarcerated as a political prisoner in 2009. This too, evoked an international response as, among others, the U.S. Department of State called for Liu’s release. And more recently, on Monday the 7th of May, as Al Jazeera English’s correspondent in China, Melissa Chan was refused to renew her press credentials and visa by Chinese authorities. Leading to the close of the Chinese news section by Al Jazeera English.
