Bid to ease Thai share volatility

One of the most recent issues that I had talked about in my previous blog was the increases volatility in the Thai government following the news that the Thai king Bhumibol was extremely sick in the hospital. This news was of course not true but it ended up doing a significant amount of damage to the Thai economy. Now the government is taking action and there have been several meetings between the financial ministers and his other officials from the stock exchange. The two reporters who were the very first to give out news that Bhumibol was extremely ill have been arrested and there is a chance that many more arrests are to follow. Most people support this action by government officials, but some insist that the country is taking away their right to free speech.
I think that this was a very good decision by the government because the Thai government is very unstable at the moment and they need to take initiative and make sure that nothing like this happens again. Although some Thais may think that their rights are being taken away, this is something that must be regulated because of the major downturn it cause in the Thai economy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8337511.stm

Leaders of 16 Asian nations meets in Thailand

This weeks news article does not have to do only with Thailand but in a historical meeting of 16 Asian countries in Thailand. These countries met to discuss ways of increasing economic growth in their countries, and not serve as countries that merely aid Western countries in producing goods and services. The countries including Thailand, India, and China, focused on strengthening central markets, and liberalize regional trade. There goal is to no longer have to rely on the West to purchase their products. Others results of the conference was the launch of Southeast Asia's first human rights watchdog,improved disaster management, and talks on military ruled Myanmar (heavily criticized for its human rights violations). The hopes of the 16 Asian countries is to eventually take down all trade barriers and overcome the current economic crisis, and several natural disasters in the region.

I think that the idea of these 16 Asian countries getting together and thinking of a new plan to better their economic conditions is great. Although their progress will probably be very slow, and will probably take a lot of effort from all the nations, it will be worth it once they can compare themselves economically to the western countries they are so dependent on right now. I also think that coming together is especially a good idea for these Asian countries with all the recent natural disasters that have been hitting their countries within the last year.

source
http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_13637996?nclick_check=1

Muslim Insurgents Confound Military in Thailand

My article this weeks continues to talk about the rising violence levels in Thailand within the past few months, and the anger of the Thai citizens over having to deal with this violence in their own homes. There are extraordinary numbers of citizens that carry around guns with themselves,and many of them find themselves hating the soldiers that patrol their streets because they represent the fear that they have to live with. As the years go by the insurgents causing all the violence are getting stronger and a lot smarter as well. They also hold many connection with powerful terrorist groups including Al Queada. Although many citizens say they are not scared many of them, inlcuding an army doctor do not walk in public without a gun of there own and a bullet proof vest on. The current goal of many of the soldiers is to once again get on the good side of the Malay Thais, they can often be seen handing out vitamin C to Thai children while patrolling the streets.

I think that insurgent violence in Thailand is very unfortunate, especially for the Thai citizens who are trying to live in those areas. It is sad that many of them live in constant fear and that they feel the need to walk around with their own protection because they can't always trust the soldiers to help them. I think that part of the problem in Thailand is that they do not have the stable government that they need in order to fight the insurgents. Especailly with all the military governments taking over, they are not doign what is necessary to help the people.

Thai Markets Tumble on Worries Over King

For the last 26 days the highly revered 81 year old king of Thailand has been in the hospital recovering from a fever, and fatigue. There have already been multiple statements that the king is doing fine and the only reason he is still in the hospital is to regain his strength. However there has still been widespread panic over the kings health and this has caused a tumble in the Thai stock market. Investors are dumping Thai assets in a panic over the kings health resulting in the Thai currency hitting a two-week low. The head of Thailand's stock exchange had issued multiple statements encouraging investors not to panic and advising them to trade very cautiously during this time. The king's illness has also had an effect on a majority of the Thai population. Buddhist Thai's especially revered the king and thought of him almost like a divine being, and many of them have been camping outside his hospital and praying daily for his speedy recovery.

I picked this article mainly because I thought it was very interesting what an effect the kings ordinary illness is having on the Thai people, and their economy. He is so highly revered that the whole country is affected when he only has a fever. I also chose this article because it shows the instability of the Thai economy, and the Thai currency, because it is so dramatically affected when something so minor occurs in the country.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/15/world/international-us-thailand-king.html?scp=3&sq=Thailand&st=nyt

Thais protest peacefully against military government

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/19/thailand.protests/index.html?iref=newssearch


Thailand's past is full of violent attempts to take over the current government, however the last coup by a military group was one of the few bloodless ones. The people of Thailand were especially upset by the change in government because Thaskin, the former prime minister, was very loved for all the help he tried to give the people. A group of supporters decided to protest peacefully against this new government, and sat in a group in red colored t-shirts in front of the Government house. On the other hand there are equally violent Thais who broke through barricades to attack villagers over right to a village area on the border of Thailand and Cambodia. It is reported that they used catapults and sticks to fight each other.

I picked this article this week because it shows two sides of a very notoriously violent country. Although Thailand has had a past of extremely deadly and frequent coups the Thai people have started heading toward a more peaceful path. By peacefully rebelling, the Thaskin supporters got their point across to the military government without having to shed any blood.The article also show that opposite end of the spectrum with Thais fighting with catapults and stones over a temple area.

Thailand's long battle with HIV/Aids

article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8273486.stm

One of the main problems that remains in Thailand is the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. Finally the country is trying to move ahead and find vaccines against the terrible disease. Many villagers are taking part in an experiments where they are given the vaccine and some are given a placebo vaccine. In many case the people that are offering themselves up to be tested, get AIDS. However the government had been very kind and is offering these people fully payed for treatments against the disease. Out of all the people that were experimented on only 2 have died so far. The government has also taken initiative in informing people of changes that they could make that would decrease their chances of getting AIDS.

I think that the Thai government is showing a lot of responsibility in this situation and that they are realizing that they have to slow down the rate at which this disease is spreading in their country. More that the government I think the villagers are showing the best character, because they are willing to risk getting AIDS just for sake of future generations and so that someone may find out how to battle AIDS.

Thailand's misguided rice policy

Although many of us do not think about it, the growing rice is actually a very complicated process that involves back breaking work. Rice is actually one of Thailand’s major exports; however, most of the farmers that actually grow the rice are living in poverty. Many of them are in debt because of the volatile nature of the rains in Thailand ad because of the lack of irrigation that they need to grow their rice. On top of this is the shady government policy called the rice mortgage scheme. Originally created to help out the poor farmers, this policy is supposed to help farmers ride out price volatility by allowing them to sell their rice to the government at a guaranteed price. However, this policy turned out only helping the rich farmers that had irrigation. Everyone else could not produce enough rice to have a surplus to sell to the government. It is suspected that this policy is heavily corrupted and that many government officials have ties with it and are benefited by its existence. Finally not trusting the government anymore, many of the farmers have taken in into their hands to fix this issue.

Being an Indian, rice is an important part of my everyday diet; however, I have never really thought about that rice had ended up on my plate. The story of these poor farmers is definitely not something that comes up in the news that often, but it is an important one. Because they have no voice with the government they are struggling everyday to grow there rice, and make a profit for themselves. The recent coups in the government are probably not helping their situation, and they are often overlooked because of the larger, much more successful rice producers that overshadow them.

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8130187.stm>