Thai Economy and Spirits Are Sagging

[Mid]

Thai Economy and Spirits Are Sagging
THOMAS FULLER
NOV. 29, 2015


Chinese tourists at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. The wealthy parts of the city are still jammed with Thais and tourists.
Credit Giulio Di Sturco for The New York Times

BANGKOK ThailandA market in the Thonburi area of Bangkok. Many fruit and vegetable vendors say their customers are not in the mood to spend anymore.
Credit Giulio Di Sturco for The New York Times

By no means is Thailand lifeless.

The wealthy parts of Bangkok, including the main shopping and business districts, are still jammed, with Thais and tourists.

The well-heeled and well-entrenched elites are insulated from the downturn and on some nights still fill restaurants with laughter and cheer.

But gone is the notion of a Teflon ThailandT-shirts promoting "Bike for Dad," a cycling trip in December to mark the 88th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Credit Giulio Di Sturco for The New York Times apprehensions about the looming successionAround the Khlong San area of Bangkok, many businesses can no longer afford rent and have closed.
Credit Giulio Di Sturco for The New York Times

[Texpat]

China Princess in the first pic ^ is putting the sole of her foot on the revered Grand Palace. I'm surprised Prah Isara isn't calling for her head on a pike. The insults keep coming -- fast and furious!

[Mid]

Thailand printer censors International New York Times article on sagging economy
1 December 2015

The International New York Times says its printer in Thailand removed an article on the moribund state of the kingdom's economy, forcing the edition to carry blank spaces including on the cover.

It was the second time in 10 weeks that the paper has said its local printer declined to run an article, in a country where media freedoms have been increasingly curtailed since last year's military takeover.

The newspaper's edition on Tuesday was supposed to run a report headlined Thai Economy And Spirits Are Sagging and exploring the junta's inability to jump-start the flagging economy.

It also touched briefly on succession concerns surrounding 87-year-old King Bhumibol, the world's longest serving monarch who is revered but ailing.

Instead chunks of the front page and page six were blank and carried the sentence: "The article in this space was removed by our printer in Thailand. The International New York Times and its editorial staff had no role in its removal."

Eastern Printing PCL, the paper's Thai printer, did not comment on why it pulled the piece when contacted.

The article was published online, however, and accessible in Thailand.

The monarchy is shielded by one of the world's toughest lese majeste laws and prosecutions have surged since the military coup.

The media routinely self-censors when reporting on the monarchy for fear of falling foul of the broadly-worded law, which carries up to 15 years in jail for each count of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent.

On September 22, Eastern Printing failed to publish the entire newspaper because the Asia edition featured a detailed front-page article on the health of King Bhumibol, a hugely controversial topic in Thailand.

The latest censored piece centred on the stuttering economy.

Thailand has one of the lowest growth rates in South-East Asia. The country is blighted by high household debt, low consumer confidence and disappointing exports.

Since toppling a democratically elected government in May 2014, Thailand's generals have stamped down on critical media.

In 2005 King Bhumibol said in a landmark speech that even he was not above public criticism, but critics maintain that such intentions have not been implemented.

Earlier this month the International New York Times said it would cease printing in Thailand altogether by the end of the year, citing rising production costs.

radioaustralia.net.au

[Mid]

Front page article went missing from Intl New York Times sold in ThailandThai spirits sagging with the economy(Left) The normal 1st December 2015 Issue of the Internation New York Times. (Rigt) the same paper sold in Thailand.
The ruling is the heaviest jail term ever recorded for a lese majeste case.

Freedom of the press in Thailand has also spiralled down under the military regime who could invoke Section 44 of the Interim Charter, which gives the authorities absolute power to maintain national security, to silence journalists and crush political dissidence.

In late September, a prominent journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk was detained by the military at the army base outside Bangkok over his twitter comments criticising the military regime.

prachatai.com

[Texpat]

Truth avoidance is strong.

At least everybody is happy.

[Mid]

Matthew Tempest


The New York Times' headquarters in Manhattan.
[SamChills/Flickr]

Press-freedom watchdog Index on Censorship International New York TimesThai Economy and Spirits SaggingA 'blitzkrieg against freely-reported news'
International New York Times>>Read: 'Zero chance' of Thailand FTA under junta, Commission official says

[Mid]

DEC. 7, 2015

To the Editor:
Thai Economy Is Sagging, and So Are Thai SpiritsFitch Ratings last month

[Texpat]

Not bad for a third world pisspot.
Where does the good ambassador send his kids to school?
For that matter, where does the Crown Prince send his kids to school?

Not ****ing Thailand. That's for god-damned sure.

[peterplonker]

Tex you will be sentenced to eternal damnation for saying that.
The ambassador probably has good reasons for sending his kids OS for their schooling.

[Mid]

Correction: December 17, 2015

The Memo From Thailand article on Nov. 30, about a widespread feeling of malaise in the country, using information from the Thai national police department, misstated the percentage increase in crime in Thailand during the fiscal year that ended in September.

The increase in property crime from the previous fiscal year was 10.5 percent, not 63 percent, and the increase in violent crime was 8.6 percent, not 17 percent.

(The police say they changed their methodology for reporting such crimes between 2014 and 2015; the new figures take account of that change.)

nytimes.com