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Protesters gather again
to try and prevent
go-ahead on LPG station
Mayor says no grounds for stoppage as project is completely lawful
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Protesters gathered at the site of the proposed Permsaptawee Gas Service
Company liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage station on September 18 to
block construction works, maintaining their objection that the project is
located too near to a local community and a school, and that it could pose a
danger.
The residents of Moo 2 in Naklua Sub-district had originally protested
against the building of the LPG station, to be located on Sukhumvit Road
opposite the Banglamung District Office, in June.
At that time city hall had submitted a letter to the Chonburi Province
Administration asking for advice and information, and had subsequently
arranged a public discussion meeting between officials, representatives of
the Provincial Energy Office in Region 3, representatives of the project
owner, and local residents.
During the latest protest, more than 300 people gathered on both sides of
the road, causing a major traffic holdup and requiring more than 100 police
and volunteer officers to control the situation.
Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn and a number of officers invited two of the
group leaders to attend an arbitration meeting at the multipurpose building
at Pattaya School No 2.
Niran said that residents had already submitted an objection in writing to
Pattaya City Hall when the project commenced. Pattaya City had taken out an
order for the provisional suspension of construction, and rechecked the
rules and regulations. It was found the project had obtained legal
permission, and hadn’t infringed upon official regulations. Therefore,
construction continued.
Chonburi provincial administration was consulted, and a meeting was
organized to provide information. Regarding any order to cancel the project,
this cannot be done because there are no infringements of the law and
permission has already been granted. Operational safety is the only factor
now, and the station will be closely monitored when it comes into use.
Building an LPG station in this locality is not contradictory to city
planning regulations, said Niran. The station is situated over 50 meters
away from any other fuel storage facilities, and over 60 meters away from
official offices, schools and the community. It has a fire protection wall
and an underground storage tank. There is a fire alarm and fire fighting
equipment corresponding to the rules, so it is considered as being a safe
station in all respects.
Niran said that regarding operational safety, the Energy Office is obliged
to monitor every aspect of operations and to advise residents. The owner of
the facility also has to provide comprehensive insurance for people in the
surrounding area.
The protestors continued to show their distrust of the project but said the
station owner must now provide in writing confirmation that he would be
responsible for all aspects relating to construction and safety. The protest
gathering was then disbanded.
World’s biggest
firework will explode this weekend over Pattaya Bay
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
The world’s biggest firework will light up the sky over Pattaya Bay on
Sunday September 30 as part of the celebrations to mark the 80th birthday of
His Majesty the King.
The fireworks display will also commemorate the 120th anniversary of
Thai-Japanese relations.
Pattaya City Chief Clerk Wuttipol Charoenphol and a representative of Thai
Mikaza Co Ltd announced the fireworks display at a council meeting on
September 21. The event is being organized in cooperation with Ripley’s
World of Entertainment, the Thailand Fireworks Club, and a feature film
production company from Japan.
The display will take place Bali Hai Pier in South Pattaya on September 30.
Wuttipol said that 120 smaller fireworks would be part of the display, but
that the centerpiece would be the world’s largest firework, measuring 125 cm
in diameter. This rocket will be buried in the ground for stability and will
soar 800 meters or more into the sky above the bay before it explodes. The
event will be recorded by Japanese television for later broadcasting.
Council members expressed concern over safety, saying there has been too
little time given for full support measures. The organizers, however, say
that all safety standards are being observed.
Jomtien trees cut back to improve CCTV coverage
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Trees that are obscuring the sightlines of CCTV cameras and causing dark
areas that block night surveillance in the Jomtien Beach area are being
substantially trimmed back under a budget of almost 1 million baht.
 Workers
trim the trees along Jomtien Beach to enhance CCTV coverage and to allow
streetlights to better illuminate the area.
Pattaya City Council hastened to approve the budget as the increased use of
CCTV has become a crucial security issue for city hall and the police.
Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh led council members of Zone 4 to observe the
trimming that began on September 6 under a budget of 970,000 baht. Ronakit
said that big trees such as sea almonds, pines and coconut trees along a
3.5-kilometer stretch were being cut back, as they were hampering the work
of the 35 CCTV cameras that are in the vicinity.
Rungtawan Co Ltd has been hired to complete the project in a 45-day period,
to ensure the cameras are effective by the time the high season is underway.
A survey was carried out before work began, and there are plans to improve
the landscape later by planting palm trees to enhance the beach ambience.
Mrs Somsri Boonjit, a sunbed concessionaire at Jomtien Beach said she was
afraid that the cutting back of so much foliage would make the seafront more
vulnerable to strong sea breezes, which could deter tourists from relaxing
on the beach. She did, however, agree that this area had been particularly
dark at night because the trees obscured the streetlights, and that the
security of visitors was the first priority.
Police sweep vagabonds from streets
Narisa Nitikarn
Vagabonds and beggars have been rounded up and removed from Pattaya City
following many complaints by visitors who were being pestered by them.
 Police
close in on an illegal residence on Soi 13 in Jomtien.
The concerted move by the Social Welfare Division, Pattaya Public Health and
Environmental Department, Pattaya Police Station, the Pattaya Volunteer
Police and Pattaya City Municipality Police was made on September 12.
Angsana Thungsap, security officer for children and youngsters at the Social
Welfare Division said that Jomtien Beach in particular had become a problem
area and that many complaints had been received from Thai and foreign
tourists concerning the soliciting for contributions.
Police arrested 19 vagabonds on September 12 in five locations, namely
Jomtien Soi 5, Jomtien Soi 13, Soi Watbunkanchanaram, Klaikiang Chounrak
Inn, and behind Wat Taihi. Most were from the Northeast and had settled down
in Jomtien to collect money from tourists, said Angsana. No drugs or illegal
aliens were found, however.
City hall has contacted the Department of Social Welfare and Human Security
to transfer the arrested vagabonds to Nontaburi residences intended mainly
for poor, homeless and abandoned people.
200 jobs on offer for disabled
Vimolrat Singnikorn
More than 200 job opportunities for disabled people were on offer from 22
different businesses on September 11, when Chonburi Governor Pracha Taerat
presided over the opening of a campaign to make more places available for
the handicapped.
The employment division of the Labor Department of Chonburi and the
Redemptorist Job Center jointly organized the campaign, which was
inaugurated at the Job Center.
In addition to announcing the availability of at least 200 jobs, the
campaign is urging official departments, private organizations and small
businesses to be aware of the benefits of hiring disabled people.
Panm Rod-Iam, a social development officer with the Social and Human
Stability Development Department in Chonburi said that according to the
Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons Act BE 2534, private companies with more
than 200 employees are required to employ disabled people at a ratio of
200:1. In the event of any company not following this Act, a fine can be
imposed.
Panm said that industrial organizations have recently come round to
understanding that disabled people can be as skilled and productive as
anyone else.
Mrs Orathai Kancharinpak, head of labor protection at the Chonburi Labor
Office said that facilities to support disabled workers are necessary, such
as bathrooms or disabled sidewalks, but that need not be a deterrent and
many of the larger organizations are installing such facilities.
Apart from being the main office to inform and find jobs for the disabled
people, the Chonburi Labor Office also encourages independent occupations.
Some of the disabled people wish to be independent rather than go to work at
a company.
The Provincial Labor Office itself has a new policy, effective from next
year, of employing at least one disabled person in every branch throughout
the country.
Army to construct final stage of new railway road
25 million baht of the new
budget will go towards additional roadworks on the second stage of the
project to protect the gouged-out shoulder on the east side of the railway.
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
City hall has signed a further contract with the Army to construct the final
stage of the new road being built alongside the railway line.
The 450 million baht contract represents the third stage of this project,
which is due to be completed early next year.
Lt Gen Kraisiri Buranasiri, director of the military engineering division of
the Royal Thai Army and Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn signed the memorandum
of agreement on September 17.
The third stage of the project is divided into four parts, namely a water
drainage and flood prevention system costing 300 million baht, a 115-million
baht access road on the west side of the railway, 25 million baht for
additional roadworks on the second stage of the project to protect the
gouged-out shoulder on the east side of the railway, and 2.5 million baht
for an office for the State Railways of Thailand to replace the old office
on the east side of the railway.
Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn said construction of this road alongside the
railway started in August 2006 with a budget for the 2005-2006 year of 340
million baht. This was to construct a Ferro-concrete road with two traffic
lanes, 10 meters wide in both directions along the railway from the
Krathinglai Junction to Soi Huayyai. The distance is more than 16
kilometers. The first and second stages had been completed within 365
construction days.
The third stage is a connection between Soi Chaiyapruek 2 to the west of
Huayyai Sub-district, and includes resolving the water erosion problem on
the east side and the construction of three buildings for the railway
authority. The Army had once again been contracted due to the satisfactory
work carried out on the first two stages.
Flooding had proved to be a major aspect of the project because part of the
route of the road is through high ground. Water drainage and a support
pipeline will be laid to drain off water from the east side so it will not
flow back to Pattaya City. Four pumping stations will also be constructed to
transfer rainwater to the Naklua Canal on Soi Nongyai.
Stage three will require approximately 300 days of construction, and will
have its official opening at the same time as the other two stages of the
project in the early part of 2008.
Garbage bins placed outside 24-hour stores to
reduce litter problem
City hall has asked owners of
nighttime food shops and vendors not to throw their garbage into the streets
and other public areas.
Vimolrat Singnikorn
An additional 100 garbage bins have been sited in front of convenience
stores throughout Pattaya City to help keep the streets free of litter.
Pattaya Public Health and Environment Department director Mrs Wannaporn
Jamjumrus chaired a meeting at Pattaya City Hall on September 17 to brief
officials on the placing of the bins outside of 24-hour stores.
Officials were also asked to request stores to post notices supplied by city
hall to the effect that litter offenders were liable to a fine not exceeding
500 baht.
Wannaporn said that nighttime customers of the convenience stores were
particularly undisciplined when it came to dropping garbage onto the
streets.
It was decided that the signs should be left in place for one week before
any attempt would be made to warn offenders and issue fines.
City hall is also concerned about food shops and vendors who are open at
night and who throw their garbage into the streets and other public areas,
and they are also coming under surveillance in order to risk the incidence
of litter and the possible spread of disease.
Two Korean women injured in speedboat collision
Rescue workers tend to the two
injured women on Pattaya Beach.
Theerarak Suthatiwong
Two Korean women were badly injured during the morning of September 16 when
a Koh Larn taxi speedboat collided with the banana boat in which they were
traveling, throwing the women into the water.
Pattaya Police Station was notified at 11 a.m. that a collision had taken
place off Tawaen Beach and that a sea rescue boat had already brought the
injured females to the mainland shore at Pattaya Beach Soi 5.
Officers went to the beach with Sawang Boriboon Foundation rescue workers
and a physician and a nurse from Bangkok Pattaya Hospital.
The injured women were identified as Miss Lee Jung Hee, age 23, and Miss
Shin Na Ri, 25. Both are students at a university in Korea. They were
wearing swimming suits and were unconscious, bruised and choking. The rescue
team administered first aid before transferring them to Bangkok Hospital
Pattaya. Miss Lee had internal injuries and was given an X-ray. Miss Shin
had broken teeth and ribs, and needed a nasal CPAP. She underwent urgent
surgery.
Uthai Champala, a 29-year-old speedboat driver from Nongkai, stated that he
was taking Chinese tourists from Pattaya to Tawaen Beach. A boat pulling a
banana boat appeared in the path of his speedboat, and he had no time to
take evasive action. His speedboat hit the middle of the banana boat and the
women were knocked into the water. Uthai contacted the Pattaya Sea Rescue
Office.
Kang Jongu, a 21-year-old tour group leader, said that he had come from
Korea with a total of six people, including the two injured women. They were
staying at the Ambassador Hotel. They hired a boat going from Pattaya to Koh
Larn, landing at Tawaen Beach. The two women were the only ones of the group
to hire the banana boat, while the others remained on the beach. The
speedboat had appeared and collided with the banana boat.
Police went to the hospital and waited for the two women to regain
consciousness, when they were questioned and costs for damages were agreed
upon. The speedboat driver has been charged with dangerous driving causing
injury.
Garage mechanic copied keys and stole pickup truck
Boonlua Chatree
Police have warned Pattaya car owners to be wary when leaving their vehicles
with a garage because of the possibility that their keys might be duplicated
and later used to steal the car.
 Auto
theft victim Pornchai Wannarod points to Morakot Yothasri, the man who had
duplicated his keys and stolen his pickup.
Pol Col Sarayuth Sa-Nguanpokhai, superintendent of Banglamung Police Station
and who also personally heads the division that investigates automobile
theft within the station’s area of authority, received a report on September
18 from Pornchai Wannarod, who is a resident beside an illegal garage in
Takhiantia Sub-district, saying that his bronze Isuzu Dragon Eyes pickup had
been stolen.
Officers arriving at the scene questioned 32-year-old Pornchai who said he
had parked his truck in front of the garage. He believed that the thief was
a mechanic who had engaged him in conversation about the truck and its
engine, and who had taken the car keys to test the vehicle. The keys had
been given back to Pornchai, but when he came back from work the pickup was
missing.
Banglamung police believed the truck might have been driven into the Laem
Chabang area, and they contacted Pol Col Supatee Boonkrong, superintendent
of Laem Chabang Police Station and asked him to alert his patrol officers.
The Isuzu was soon found, parked in front of the Sakda row houses in
Tungsukla Sub-district.
The thief was also quickly found. He was identified as Morakot Yothasri, 30,
a native of Udon Thani Province. He confessed that he had reproduced the
pickup key when the owner of the vehicle had left it to be repaired. Morakot
has been charged with theft.
Mr Jimmy sought as tobacco
smuggling plan goes up in smoke
Boonlua Chatree
Police are looking for a British man known only as “Mr Jimmy” following a
raid on a furniture factory that uncovered 3 million baht worth of smuggled
tobacco.
Police armed with a warrant from Pattaya Provincial Court raided the
premises of the Chang Ma furniture factory in Soi Nongketnoi 4, Nongplalai,
in the early evening of September 20.
Investigations had led the police to believe that Mr Jimmy had commissioned
Chang Ma to build a number of wooden cabinets that were to be used for the
concealment of smuggled tobacco. The cabinets were to be loaded into a
container that was due to be sent to Laem Chabang Port on September 22 for
onward export.
More than 1,000 packages of Golden Virginia tobacco were found on the
premises, most of it packed into 20 cabinets. The tobacco had originated
from England, and was worth an estimated 3 million baht.
There was, however, no sign of the factory owner or of Mr Jimmy, and police
investigations continue. The tobacco was confiscated and sent initially to
Banglamung Police Station.
Norwegian charged with drug use
Boonlua Chatree
A Norwegian man was arrested during the afternoon of September 18 and
charged with using drugs and also with overstaying on his visa.
Police investigations having revealed that the man was a suspected drug
user, officers went to his apartment on Pratamnak Road. He was identified as
Erik Moe, age 42. In his room were 30 sets of needles, pressure monitoring
equipment, and one zip lock plastic bag. His passport revealed that his
Thailand entry visa had expired. Officers escorted him to Pattaya Police
Station.
Moe didn’t reveal the location where he was purchasing drugs, but a urine
test showed violet positive for methamphetamines. He was charged with
consumption of Class 1 drugs (methamphetamines) and Class 2 drugs (cocaine).
Moe was also charged with overstaying his visa. Police said he would be
deported.
German man charged with
propositioning 15-year-old girl
Boonlua Chatree
A German man has been arrested after police received a report that he had
propositioned a 15-year-old girl in front of Royal Garden Plaza on Beach
Road and offered her 300 baht to come with him to his room.
 Hans
Peter Geissler (2nd right) was arrested for allegedly propositioning an
underage girl outside the Royal Garden Plaza.
Police obtained a warrant from Pattaya Provincial Court, and on September 19
he was seen again in front of Royal Garden Plaza, where he was arrested and
taken to Pattaya Police Station.
He was identified as Hans Peter Geissler, a German citizen who had lived in
Pattaya since the end of last year. Geissler said he was a former DJ at a
pub in Germany and allegedly that he had traveled to Thailand many times
with the purpose of having sex with young girls.
Police have charged him with separating a minor over 15 years of age but
less than 18 years of age, who was willing, from her parents or guardians
for obscene acts.
Construction of new hospital will begin early next year
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Designs for the new Pattaya Hospital are more than 90 percent complete, and
the building will definitely be completed by 2010, says Deputy Mayor Verawat
Khakhay.
 The
designs for Pattaya’s new hospital are more than 90% complete.
Light and Space Co Ltd are drafting the plans for the hospital, which will
be built at the Pattaya Public Health Center, and the foundation stone will
be laid early next year. Verawat said that bidding would be opened to
contractors at the beginning of 2008.
The hospital building will have a 6,788 sq m usage area and will be a
five-story block. The first and second floors will have consulting rooms and
operating theaters, while the third floor will have wards for men and women.
A special care unit will be located on the fourth floor along with wards for
82 beds, while the fifth floor would be used as a conference room and for
physical therapy.
A 10-story carpark is to be constructed for people visiting the Pattaya
Public Health Center and the Pattaya Hospital, the maximum capacity being
150 cars.
“Construction of the hospital is being undertaken with a budget of 135
million baht, the first installment of 76 million baht having already
arrived,” said Verawat.
Volunteers sought
for AIDS vaccine project
Doctors and local government
officials gather to discuss an AIDS vaccine project.
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
Pattaya City in cooperation with a research team from the Armed Forces
Research Institute of Medical Sciences is seeking 500 volunteers from those
considered to be at risk of contracting HIV in a bid to develop an AIDS
vaccine.
Deputy clerk to the city Apichart Puetpan presided over the meeting on
September 13 at Pattaya City Hall to present the research plan, along with
personnel from the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences and
Pattaya City Health Service Department.
Dr Theera Worathanarat, a member of the Armed Forces team, said that
volunteers from high-risk groups and aged between 18 and 50 years were being
sought. The team hopes to recruit 250 male prostitutes and 250 female
prostitutes.
Applicants are drawn from those who indulge regularly in vaginal or anal
sex, have been diagnosed with a sexual disease within the past six months,
and who have a Thai identity card and agree to sign onto the project for a
specified period of time.
Because there is no vaccine that protects people against AIDS and AIDS is an
incurable disease, the research project is being performed to develop,
educate and test the vaccines in high-risk groups.
Dr Theera said the team hopes to have the 500 volunteers signed up and
prepared within the next three to six months and that the project would run
over a one-year period.
Governor declares crackdown on secondhand shops
in bid to reduce thieving
‘If thieves cannot sell stolen goods they will
not steal’ says Pracha
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Chonburi Governor Pracha Taerat has declared a crackdown on the
secondhand shops along the 331 Bypass Road in an attempt to reduce the
incidence of local burglaries and petty thieving.
 Governor
Pracha Taerat plans to crack down on secondhand shops in a bid to reduce
thieving.
Pracha on September 19 issued a directive to village leaders and headmen to
help deal directly with the problem on the basis that making the fencing of
stolen goods more difficult would deter thieves from stealing.
Community leaders would also keep a watch on those they felt were vulnerable
to committing theft because of financial problems or the inability to find
legitimate work.
During an address to begin the campaign, Pracha said this mobilizing of the
community was part of the provincial government’s policy on increasing the
safety of tourists.
Eradication of poverty was also a provincial policy, and the provincial
government and the Chonburi Red Cross used this occasion to distribute 200
parcels of essential goods free to the underprivileged.
Pracha said that Banglamung District was especially vulnerable to theft
because of the large number of migrants who arrive looking for work.
“Not all of them are able to find a job,” he said. “Therefore, they survive
by performing illegal activities such as stealing, which creates problems
for society. Therefore the local people must look after these people so they
don’t wind up in wrongful careers.”
Pracha said that officers would be maintaining a constant watch on the
secondhand shops and the recycling shops along the 331 Bypass Road, which is
“a route for thieves”.
“Many of these shops buy stolen goods, and are often open at night. Local
government officers such as village headsmen and village leaders are being
asked, where possible, to organize patrols to search these shops.
“If there are no buyers for stolen goods, then there will be no thieves,
because the thieves won’t know where they can sell their stolen goods.”
Five lucky winners ride
away on Fino motorcycles
(From left:) Pattaya City
Chief Clerk Wuttipol Charoenpol, Wipaphan Samranrad, Deputy Mayor Verawat
Khakhay, Saranya Aim-Od, Likhit Therdsathirasak, Siriwan Butsri, a
representative from A.I. Solution Co., Ltd., and Siriporn Suesakul (back
row).
Sawittree Namwiwatsuk
Five lucky people who attended the Commart Pattaya 2007 exhibition have each
taken possession of a Fino motorcycle, the first prize in a competition held
by the show’s organizers.
Commart Pattaya was held from September 5 to 9 at the PEACH conference
center at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort. Amongst the promotions at the event
was one in which buyers who made purchases at the exhibition of 1,000 baht
and up received coupons to compete for five Yamaha Fino motorbikes.
Show organizers AR Information and Publication Co Ltd held a ceremony at
Pattaya City Hall on September 19 to announce the winners of the
200,000-baht Finos. They were Siriwan Butsri from Saraburi, Saranya Aim-Od
from Chonburi, Siriporn Suesakul from Bangkok, AI Solution Co Ltd from
Bangkok and Wipaphan Samranrad from Chonburi.
Presenting the prizes were Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay, Pattaya City Chief
Clerk Wuttipol Charoenpol, and Likhit Therdsathirasak, chief advisor to
Advance Group Research Co Ltd.
Winner Siriwan Butsri said that she was happy and excited when she was
informed over the phone she would be receiving a Fino. She never thought
that she would receive a prize, because she sent only one coupon after
buying a USB device at the exhibition.
Pattaya prepares for the ‘Smiles for our Father’ concert in honor of HM the King’s 80th Birthday
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
A meeting was held at city hall early this month where TITV television
station proposed to organize the ‘Smiles for our Father’ concert and
celebrations in Pattaya to commemorate His Majesty the King’s 80th birthday,
which falls on December 5 this year.
 Mayor
Niran Wattanasartsathorn says he whole-heartedly supports the ‘Smiles for
our Father’ concert in honour of HM the King.
The project will be jointly organized by TITV, the Phra Dabos Foundation of
the Thai Red Cross Society and the Ministry of Labor and will be held from
September through to December.
During this period, citizens are encouraged to honor His Majesty the King,
sharing their love and care with the less fortunate especially those who are
suffering from the HIV/AIDS virus. The populace is also encouraged to donate
blood to the Thai Red Cross Society.
The festivities correspond with concerts, which are to be held concurrently
in the provinces of Nakorn Sawan, Surat Thani, Udon Thani and Chonburi.
Pattaya will host the concert on October 5, around the Bali Hai festival
square in South Pattaya.
The fair grounds will have dozens of stalls selling OTOP (One Tambon One
Product) products including merchandise from the Wednesday Club of the Red
Cross Society. The Labor Ministry will provide job placement services
throughout the duration of the program.
All proceeds will benefit the Phra Dabos Foundation.
Many big names in the entertainment industry have been invited to perform at
the grand concert, which is expected to draw very large crowds to Pattaya.
For this reason Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn said that special
preparations will have to be made to control the flow of traffic and the
influx of tens of thousands of people. But he did encourage people from
surrounding areas and from all walks of life to come to the celebrations in
honor of our beloved King.
PM speaks on five strategies for developing ‘sufficiency economy’
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
The National Economic and Social Advisory Council organized a conference at
Ambassador City in Jomtien over the period September 13 to 15 to discuss new
economic policies for the nation.
 Prime
Minister Surayud Chulanont said that to eliminate poverty, the welfare of
the poor has to be the concern of any government administration.
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont formally opened the conference and
delivered a keynote speech on government economic and social policy.
Five strategies for the development of the country were discussed during the
conference, covering adjustment of the economic infrastructure to make the
nation more competitive, conservation of the environment, management of
natural resources, development of human skills, and the promotion of more
socially responsible policies.
The prime minister said that to eliminate poverty, the welfare of the poor
had to be the concern of any government administration because in the past
the poor had suffered through the ineffectiveness of government welfare
policy.
Adjustments had to be made to the economic structure of the country so that
worker skills were developed to international standards and human rights
were protected. National governments had in the past mostly given priority
to economic development above social development, which was totally
different to what the present government was trying to do. The present
administration was attempting to place social development at the forefront
of national development.
Prime Minister Surayud said that he had held talks with the NESAC regarding
the concept of social development that the present government wanted to
develop as an ongoing system for the next government. He said that the
unfairness in society had to be eliminated, and that Thai people in the
future had to enjoy a level of living and a way of life that brought them
security and personal fulfillment. This, said the prime minister, was
following His Majesty the King’s concept of a sufficiency economy.
Amongst the speakers at the conference were Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Social Development and Human Security Paiboon Wattanasiridhrama;
Minister of Finance Dr Charlong Susangkarn; and Dr Worapol Sokatiyanurak,
vice president of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council.
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