my apology to khun Elizabeth Fitzgerald and New Mandala for using this post to inform readers of another LM case, just happening.
Last night (early this morning) around 2 a.m., Police from the Chokchai 4 stattion has arrested Surachai Sae Dan, leader of a Red Shirt group, called “Daeng Sayam” (Red Siam) at his home, on the charge of LM. The arrest was quite unusual, as there was no prior summoning paper (in usual circumstances, police would issue summoning papers to accused person twice, before issuing an arrest warrant, if that person didn’t show up to report).
The case stems from a speech Surachai gave at an indoor gathering of Red Shirts in December. During that speech, Surachai read a poem, purported to be written by the late PM Samak Sunthornwet (which had been circulated widely on the net). So far the police had denied bail.
Only recently . . . “The microlending movement that was supposed to help lift millions of people in India out of poverty has in recent weeks fallen into chaos.
Urged on by local government officials and politicians, thousands of borrowers have simply stopped paying lenders, even though they have the money. The government has begun ratcheting up restrictions, fearing that borrowers are being buried by usurious interest rates. In some cases, officials have even arrested lending agents for allegedly harassing borrowers.
Local politicians, meanwhile, have blamed dozens of suicides on microlenders and are urging borrowers not to pay back what they owe . . .”
I think Chula follow the Japanese system more closely in this case, doesn’t mean that Chula is on par with Todai. Chula is recruiting smart people no doubt because they are very tough to get in. However, after they get it, whether they actually any better education than other university such as Khon Kaen or Song Klar is debatable. Many of the teacher are part-time with little office hour for students. Some fleshly graduated bachelor degree holder were allow to teach (very rare in US).
So my conclusion, are students from Chula smart and resourceful? Yes, I’m sure they are, but does Chula offered any better education comparing to other university in the kingdom? I don’t think so. I’ve been working with many Chula graduate and I have to say they are very resourceful. Yet, they lack initiative (not all, but most) not very assertive, and still rather immature (again, not all of them but most)
Kangaroo law! This law is now a world’s law. Those who disobey this law will be prosecuted and must face jail term up to 18 years. I wonder whether Thailand has enough jail to put all the prisoners.
I’m not sure what you mean. I am pursuing a post-graduate degree at an “international university of true international standing” and there is at least one Chula graduate here. The admissions process is quite rigorous and I assure you they wouldn’t be here unless both their credentials and the school from which they were issued were up to snuff. They may not be the world’s greatest but nor are they the world’s worst.
I have always enjoyed NotTheNation – has it been up almost 4 years already? At least they state “For entertainment purposes only”, which makes them more honest than The Nation…:) It is remarkable that NotTheNation is quite impartial, too.
On Kasit, perhaps there is no deeper explanation to his behaviour more than his politician’s instincts. Personally I find it disgusting when he says Suvarnabhumi takeover was “good food and music”. Damage done, now another damage by PAD is being done on the frontier.
I’m not given to praising the Thai elite, but some of these comments here strike me as unduly harsh.
It is well-known that some education systems – eg. the British and Japanese (especially the Japanese) – put hugely intense pressure on high school students if they want to get into the best universities.
But once they get there – pressure lessens considerably (especially in the cases of “Todai” and Waseda) – until all-important final exams. The emphasis is on producing an elite which can highly perform under very extreme pressure – like medical doctors are required to be able to, almost everywhere.
Chula seems to follow this pattern. It’s in contrast to the pattern of consistent, but not necessarily all-at-once pressure, which characterizes a lot of Australian and North American Universities.
[…] for the birthday do, had a poem on the Australian National University Asia-:Pacific website, New Mandala, which Michael never told me until to stumbled on it today, viz: Happy birthday, Lim Kit Siang MP […]
Thanks for pointing that out. The fault is most likely mine. Outstanding loans should be 8 million Baht.
That would mean they have about 3 million Baht in cash to pay for operating expenses (mainly salaries), to be able issue new loans, and to make sure that members can withdraw money from their saving accounts.
Your skepticism is by no doubt justified. Measured by sustainability, most village funds have been a failure (as far as I know). Either loans have not been paid back and the funds have diminished. In other cases they have fallen on their success. With too much cash in hand, managers have simply emptied the coffer, and ran away with money.
I don’t think that there are any cheating in this particular case though. You can read more about it here
“… usually village/rural loans/funds are prone to gross abuse and mismanagement.”
That is simply not true. Village level banks, funds and a wide range of micro finance systems have been extremely successful, many with much lower default rates than banks.
It does seem odd that the fund is question would take a loan from a bank when deposits exceed loans. However, at the same time, no bank in the world would make a loan to a fund with no assets (or loan pipeline) at 4.85%, so there is more to the story.
It could be a credit line that the fund has not drawn down. However, listed Thai corporates can’t borrow at anywhere near 5%, so this would have to be government backed in some way.
Pose an interesting question, but hve lept to another unsupportable conclusion.
Perhaps the clearest evidence is the fact that any international university of true international atanding, rather than Thai (aka fake) standing, will not even recognise a Chula or any other degree for further study. That says how highly they rank Thai universities…
Many thanks to NM regular Doug for his help and advice in producing a PDF version of The devils Discus retaining all the hyperlinks. It can be found here:
Christoffer L I am puzzled by the accounts you cited for the the 1,000-member Village Fun.
You said the value of the fund is currently at Baht 11.5 million funded mainly from Baht 7.0 million accumulated deposits from members plus Baht 3.0 loan from a commercial bank; from which approximately Baht 5.0 million are in loans outstanding to 300 members.
The Baht 7.0 million funding from members deposits should have been adequate to cover the Baht 5.0 million loans outstanding. What could have been the reason for the Baht 3.0 million commercial loans which appear redundant . . . . unless there are/were huge leakages or holes in the accounts and/or gross mismanagement of loans still undisclosed. Something smells . . . and usually village/rural loans/funds are prone to gross abuse and mismanagement.
A great report – and excellent news that, at long last, there will be a serious, specifically Isaarn political blog, in English.
Dangerous territory though.
A great reformer? Where is he leadership for the so called ‘reformer’ to repeal those anti-democratic laws in free media, fighting corruption, respecting separation of powers, Petronas answerable to Parliament, the independence of judiciary, MACC and other state institutions, reforming election commission, restoring local govt. elections, restoring the truth of the constitution, etc.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Suda Rangkupan and Drama, New Mandala. New Mandala said: Justice on Trial: Darunee Charnchoengsilpakul and the Thai Constitutional Court: On 9 February 2011, the Appeal … http://bit.ly/hLFtJg […]
Let me add some more information regarding the village fund I visited. We are planning to write a case study that I can share later.
The village fund has about 1,000 members.
The value of the fund is currently 11.5 million baht.
– 1 million baht are from the initial setup.
– An additional 100,000 baht was received from the government 2 years later.
– In 2007 the military installed government was giving another 400,000 baht to each village.
– 7 million baht are deposits from members.
– 3 million baht is a loan taken from a commercial bank at 4,85% interest rate.
Interest rate on loans are set at 1% per month of total loan amount. “AAA” rated members (about 100) pay .75%.
Interest rate on deposits are 5% annually.
“AAA” members can borrow up to 50,000 Baht. “C” members maximum 5,000 baht.
Currently they have 300 outstanding loans (approx. 5 million baht). Out of these, 20 are being late with their payments.
In one of my very early posts on New Mandala (on 19 September 2006!) I gave a brief sketch of one village fund in Chiang Mai province that I was familiar with.
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Justice on Trial: Darunee Charnchoengsilpakul and the Thai Constitutional Court
my apology to khun Elizabeth Fitzgerald and New Mandala for using this post to inform readers of another LM case, just happening.
Last night (early this morning) around 2 a.m., Police from the Chokchai 4 stattion has arrested Surachai Sae Dan, leader of a Red Shirt group, called “Daeng Sayam” (Red Siam) at his home, on the charge of LM. The arrest was quite unusual, as there was no prior summoning paper (in usual circumstances, police would issue summoning papers to accused person twice, before issuing an arrest warrant, if that person didn’t show up to report).
The case stems from a speech Surachai gave at an indoor gathering of Red Shirts in December. During that speech, Surachai read a poem, purported to be written by the late PM Samak Sunthornwet (which had been circulated widely on the net). So far the police had denied bail.
See report of the arrest here (in Thai):
http://www.manager.co.th/Crime/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9540000023212
and the video clips of Surachat at the police stattion here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYHvMPMv45U&feature=player_embedded
and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFGyD9T0aaw&feature=player_embedded
and here (for facebook membership):
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=184646814905826
Preparing the vote-buying bogeyman
Only recently . . . “The microlending movement that was supposed to help lift millions of people in India out of poverty has in recent weeks fallen into chaos.
Urged on by local government officials and politicians, thousands of borrowers have simply stopped paying lenders, even though they have the money. The government has begun ratcheting up restrictions, fearing that borrowers are being buried by usurious interest rates. In some cases, officials have even arrested lending agents for allegedly harassing borrowers.
Local politicians, meanwhile, have blamed dozens of suicides on microlenders and are urging borrowers not to pay back what they owe . . .”
Read more about India’s major crisis in Microlending at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304316404575580663294846100.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
University rankings from Chula’s perspective
I think Chula follow the Japanese system more closely in this case, doesn’t mean that Chula is on par with Todai. Chula is recruiting smart people no doubt because they are very tough to get in. However, after they get it, whether they actually any better education than other university such as Khon Kaen or Song Klar is debatable. Many of the teacher are part-time with little office hour for students. Some fleshly graduated bachelor degree holder were allow to teach (very rare in US).
So my conclusion, are students from Chula smart and resourceful? Yes, I’m sure they are, but does Chula offered any better education comparing to other university in the kingdom? I don’t think so. I’ve been working with many Chula graduate and I have to say they are very resourceful. Yet, they lack initiative (not all, but most) not very assertive, and still rather immature (again, not all of them but most)
Long arm of Thailand’s Computer Crimes Act
Kangaroo law! This law is now a world’s law. Those who disobey this law will be prosecuted and must face jail term up to 18 years. I wonder whether Thailand has enough jail to put all the prisoners.
University rankings from Chula’s perspective
Edward Moulton,
I’m not sure what you mean. I am pursuing a post-graduate degree at an “international university of true international standing” and there is at least one Chula graduate here. The admissions process is quite rigorous and I assure you they wouldn’t be here unless both their credentials and the school from which they were issued were up to snuff. They may not be the world’s greatest but nor are they the world’s worst.
KB
University rankings from Chula’s perspective
Many Chula students are very much informed. And most of them are not actually hi-so nokia 1 obsessed. S0meone should give them a voice.
Not The Nation on Kasit Piromya
I have always enjoyed NotTheNation – has it been up almost 4 years already? At least they state “For entertainment purposes only”, which makes them more honest than The Nation…:) It is remarkable that NotTheNation is quite impartial, too.
On Kasit, perhaps there is no deeper explanation to his behaviour more than his politician’s instincts. Personally I find it disgusting when he says Suvarnabhumi takeover was “good food and music”. Damage done, now another damage by PAD is being done on the frontier.
University rankings from Chula’s perspective
I’m not given to praising the Thai elite, but some of these comments here strike me as unduly harsh.
It is well-known that some education systems – eg. the British and Japanese (especially the Japanese) – put hugely intense pressure on high school students if they want to get into the best universities.
But once they get there – pressure lessens considerably (especially in the cases of “Todai” and Waseda) – until all-important final exams. The emphasis is on producing an elite which can highly perform under very extreme pressure – like medical doctors are required to be able to, almost everywhere.
Chula seems to follow this pattern. It’s in contrast to the pattern of consistent, but not necessarily all-at-once pressure, which characterizes a lot of Australian and North American Universities.
Happy birthday, Lim Kit Siang MP
[…] for the birthday do, had a poem on the Australian National University Asia-:Pacific website, New Mandala, which Michael never told me until to stumbled on it today, viz: Happy birthday, Lim Kit Siang MP […]
Preparing the vote-buying bogeyman
Vichai – 48
Thanks for pointing that out. The fault is most likely mine. Outstanding loans should be 8 million Baht.
That would mean they have about 3 million Baht in cash to pay for operating expenses (mainly salaries), to be able issue new loans, and to make sure that members can withdraw money from their saving accounts.
Your skepticism is by no doubt justified. Measured by sustainability, most village funds have been a failure (as far as I know). Either loans have not been paid back and the funds have diminished. In other cases they have fallen on their success. With too much cash in hand, managers have simply emptied the coffer, and ran away with money.
I don’t think that there are any cheating in this particular case though. You can read more about it here
Preparing the vote-buying bogeyman
“… usually village/rural loans/funds are prone to gross abuse and mismanagement.”
That is simply not true. Village level banks, funds and a wide range of micro finance systems have been extremely successful, many with much lower default rates than banks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village_Banking
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance
It does seem odd that the fund is question would take a loan from a bank when deposits exceed loans. However, at the same time, no bank in the world would make a loan to a fund with no assets (or loan pipeline) at 4.85%, so there is more to the story.
It could be a credit line that the fund has not drawn down. However, listed Thai corporates can’t borrow at anywhere near 5%, so this would have to be government backed in some way.
Pose an interesting question, but hve lept to another unsupportable conclusion.
University rankings from Chula’s perspective
True, I have seen also Mahidol producing good results. Good things to say about Mahidol graduates. 🙂
University rankings from Chula’s perspective
Perhaps the clearest evidence is the fact that any international university of true international atanding, rather than Thai (aka fake) standing, will not even recognise a Chula or any other degree for further study. That says how highly they rank Thai universities…
The Devil’s Discus – in Thai
Many thanks to NM regular Doug for his help and advice in producing a PDF version of The devils Discus retaining all the hyperlinks. It can be found here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/jujat4
password: discus
Steve
Preparing the vote-buying bogeyman
Christoffer L I am puzzled by the accounts you cited for the the 1,000-member Village Fun.
You said the value of the fund is currently at Baht 11.5 million funded mainly from Baht 7.0 million accumulated deposits from members plus Baht 3.0 loan from a commercial bank; from which approximately Baht 5.0 million are in loans outstanding to 300 members.
The Baht 7.0 million funding from members deposits should have been adequate to cover the Baht 5.0 million loans outstanding. What could have been the reason for the Baht 3.0 million commercial loans which appear redundant . . . . unless there are/were huge leakages or holes in the accounts and/or gross mismanagement of loans still undisclosed. Something smells . . . and usually village/rural loans/funds are prone to gross abuse and mismanagement.
Strong showing at red shirt fundraiser in Khon Kaen
A great report – and excellent news that, at long last, there will be a serious, specifically Isaarn political blog, in English.
Dangerous territory though.
Najib hailed as a great reformer by Greg Sheridan
A great reformer? Where is he leadership for the so called ‘reformer’ to repeal those anti-democratic laws in free media, fighting corruption, respecting separation of powers, Petronas answerable to Parliament, the independence of judiciary, MACC and other state institutions, reforming election commission, restoring local govt. elections, restoring the truth of the constitution, etc.
Justice on Trial: Darunee Charnchoengsilpakul and the Thai Constitutional Court
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Suda Rangkupan and Drama, New Mandala. New Mandala said: Justice on Trial: Darunee Charnchoengsilpakul and the Thai Constitutional Court: On 9 February 2011, the Appeal … http://bit.ly/hLFtJg […]
Preparing the vote-buying bogeyman
Let me add some more information regarding the village fund I visited. We are planning to write a case study that I can share later.
The village fund has about 1,000 members.
The value of the fund is currently 11.5 million baht.
– 1 million baht are from the initial setup.
– An additional 100,000 baht was received from the government 2 years later.
– In 2007 the military installed government was giving another 400,000 baht to each village.
– 7 million baht are deposits from members.
– 3 million baht is a loan taken from a commercial bank at 4,85% interest rate.
Interest rate on loans are set at 1% per month of total loan amount. “AAA” rated members (about 100) pay .75%.
Interest rate on deposits are 5% annually.
“AAA” members can borrow up to 50,000 Baht. “C” members maximum 5,000 baht.
Currently they have 300 outstanding loans (approx. 5 million baht). Out of these, 20 are being late with their payments.
Preparing the vote-buying bogeyman
In one of my very early posts on New Mandala (on 19 September 2006!) I gave a brief sketch of one village fund in Chiang Mai province that I was familiar with.