Wasn’t Kasit one of the “terrorist group” leaders who occupied and shut down the Bangkok International Airport and held about 300,000 foreign visitors to Thailand “hostage” without being able to return to their home countries for about 2 weeks, and caused about 10 billion USD damage to the Thai economy as a result?
I wonder if that has any impact on his role vis-a-vis the various diplomats who are stationed in Bangkok?
“… presence in and around the protest areas and … association with the protesters were being construed as giving legitimacy to people acting illegally to bring down the government by violent means.”
Would this also apply to a career politician who addresses a crowd illegally occupying an international airport, and goes on to be appointed Foreign Minister? What’s sauce for the goose, Minister Kasit…
It needs to be remembered that there are issues of seasonality involved in what it being regarded here as the agricultural sector. What this data probably does not capture is the non-farm income from other employment by people identified as agriculturalists, and thus can’t be taken as an absolute indicator of plight or surplus of farm families in general.
This is not to be taken as an apology for the predatory behavior of the middle men who buy from the farmers at prices that in no way correspond to the value of the finished goods exported or sold domestically.
The second graph clearly shows that the industrial development in the Philippines has been hopelessly stalled for a while, and the massive numbers of Philippino maids in Singapore and Hong Kong is the ample proof of it.
But Malaysia? One possible explanation is that the rate of agricultural development is same as the rate of industrial development as in the success of SMR (Standard Malaysia Rubber) and palm oil?
Indonesia and Thailand both appear to be on the same path of unbalanced growth of development, but more prominent in Thailand because of more rapid development in the Thai manufacturing sector. But Indonesia seems to be catching up recently due to the political stability there under the current regime.
Thanks for the graphs, Andrew. They made me understand more about these four countries. It will be clearly demonstrative if you can add Australia as a reference line for the example of balanced development.
“The raise of productivity in agriculture in the recent years might also be caused by the fact that food prices has been rising drastically for some years.”
This is a useful statement, but we must be cautious in assuming that rising food prices results in increased income for farmers. It does however, result in increased income for marketers. Nonetheless, FAO Asia Pacific, actually based in Bangkok, claims that food prices only began to raise in May 2007.
Taksin may be convicted, but one doesn’t have to look far to see why he has left such an impact. Adding that the current democratic government has cut budgets for Subdistrict Authority Organisations (SAO) and further centralised power to Bangkok, it becomes even easier to understand. I recently visited an SAO in Chiang Rai which has seen its budget cut by about 20% under the new government.
Like prometheus, I also feel that additional data regarding demographic changes in employment for the period would be helpful. If large numbers of agricultural workers have left the land to work in industry, there would be significant forces affecting productivity in both sectors. Perhaps fewer people were trying to scratch a living from the same area of land and were therefore more productive per worker, and higher proportion of people were employed in low skilled less productive industrial work and were therefore less so?
So Bannok, just to get it straight, he’s either a Red Shirt using a pistol for self-defence (while moving towards the action under cover of the cars — interesting attitude to self-defence), or he’s a police officer, in which case he’s not defending himself but looking to shoot someone?
I suggest you should compare workforce in Agriculture sector to industrial sector, since a change in labour force might reflect in increasing of income per worker.
It is a trend in developing country that worker migrate from Agriculture sector to Industrial sector . Ultimately, worker in Agriculture sector will close to 10% of total worker in developed country. Thailand is still far from that ratio we’ve got a long way to go compared to Malaysia.
Tench :”It’s got a mechanism that stops you from firing first?”
Yeah, He could be such a genius guy to use pistol against M16, MP5, rifle What would happen to him if he fire first!!!
In addition, it is not clear that he is one of the Redshirts, some say he is a police officer (look at his pants) who was operating secret mission and then again anyone can wear red.
I’m satisfied with Rick’s explanation of “small and dwinding auto suppliers”.
I’m not sure that the line should be drawn between “indigenous” companies and foreign ones, though. It shouldn’t matter much as long as most of the staff, especially engineers, are local.
Thailand is not South Korea, I doubt Thais ever wanted to emulate that model and chase world or regional leadership in innovation and ingenuity.
Let the Japs invent things, like hybrids, Thailand is the first Asian country outside of Japan to build them.
I am not an economist, but I guess that the first graph has something to do with the tendency for income elasticity of demand to be higher for manufactured goods than for agricultural goods. Basically it means that when consumers’ income rises they will spend a higher proportion of their raised income on manufactured goods, while the quantity demanded of agricultural goods remain stable. Price elasticity of demand might also be influental. This may favour the industry.
The crisis then probably caused a lower productivity for manufactures since the demand was lowered due to the crisis being regional. Also the drop of value of the baht may have caused less income for their exports since it became cheap to import from Thailand. And ofcourse bankrupt industries may have had a major influence.
The raise of productivity in agriculture in the recent years might also be caused by the fact that food prices has been rising drastically for some years. But I’m not sure when the prices started to rise, so this need to be investigated further.
I’m not an expert on Thai economy or economy at all so someone with a clearer vision should probably try to give a better analysis.
To get this clearer, please use “Google Map” or “http://map.longdo.com” to see where the incident took place. I used to live around Phaholyothin Soi 79 so it’s familiar where is where.
If you look at the video clip, the Men in Black were hiding behind the bush near PTT gas station (on Longdo map, it’s Jet (taken over by PTT). There were two groups of red shirt, one from Ratchaprasong led by Kwanchai, (from the south direction), the army blocked them at the intersection (imagine triangular shape, the incident took place at the left side). Another redshirt group was from Pathumtani (about 200-500 people) from the north direction. So the army was in the middle. However the army dispersed the second group away to Zeer Rangsit (there is an overbridge there). PTT gas station was then taken by army.
The Ratchaprasong redshirt was at the entrance of Air Force headquater, say, around 500 meters from the PTT gas station where army standing.
TPBS tv reported after the rain stopped, that the rapid unit riding on motorcycles just passed by its building (Shinawatra 3), I saw the live report from its tower cam showing the line of motorcycle unit on Toll Way.
This unit got off the Toll way at Don Muang Domestic Exit, then rode about 300 meters toward the army unit. So you can hear some redshirt shouting in Spring News Video, because it’s not far from the Ratchaprasong redshirt. Then, the shot fire began as you can see from my links above comment.
Those Men in Black, I was told it’s the SWAT unit led by either Pol. Maj Kamronwit Thoopkrachang, (the one who locked Arisman (one of redshirt leader) on the chopper last year that he threantened to clash the helicopter).
So how the Men In Black were companied by a man wearing red (in Aljazera video)? That tells me that there’s some agents in their undercover operation among the red.
First, I’d like to say that I enjoy seeing a website discussing these topics without resorting the usual and prolific calls of hysteria for a complete massacre.
But one thing that I think is missing from this discussion is the need for agricultural land reform. Th majority of the Res Shirts have earned their living by subsistence farming, who now see their city countrymen developing at a much faster pace. These are the ones who can stay at Rajprasong for months, who have seen their income shrink, not just in relative terms.
While the industrial and technological sectors may see further disparities in the future, they are not the backbone of the current demonstrations.
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What Kasit said to the diplomats
Wasn’t Kasit one of the “terrorist group” leaders who occupied and shut down the Bangkok International Airport and held about 300,000 foreign visitors to Thailand “hostage” without being able to return to their home countries for about 2 weeks, and caused about 10 billion USD damage to the Thai economy as a result?
I wonder if that has any impact on his role vis-a-vis the various diplomats who are stationed in Bangkok?
What Kasit said to the diplomats
Next time, before spreading of any information, make sure you ask for Thai govt’s approval.
You are warned!!!
Street fighting in Bangkok
See more photo
http://www.prachataiboard.com/webboard/id/41660
What Kasit said to the diplomats
“… presence in and around the protest areas and … association with the protesters were being construed as giving legitimacy to people acting illegally to bring down the government by violent means.”
Would this also apply to a career politician who addresses a crowd illegally occupying an international airport, and goes on to be appointed Foreign Minister? What’s sauce for the goose, Minister Kasit…
PAD’s last day at Government House
[…] […]
“Thailand want р╕вр╕╕р╕Ър╕кр╕ар╕▓”: Red signs in English
[…] […]
Suthep threatens arrests
Thanks, Somsak, for clarification.
Any other parts of the map you would like to refute?
Here’s the complete translation, albeit a crude one.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ONLV5OHZ8OY/S9q6YPRv66I/AAAAAAAAABc/I99n_aZcm-I/conspiracy.jpg
Jack-Queen-… was a cover of Voice of Thaksin in this April issue.
http://2bangkok.com/10/RedPublications1004a.shtml
I don’t know what exactly “dinosaur with blue diamond” part refers to.
Thailand’s disparity between agriculture and industry
It needs to be remembered that there are issues of seasonality involved in what it being regarded here as the agricultural sector. What this data probably does not capture is the non-farm income from other employment by people identified as agriculturalists, and thus can’t be taken as an absolute indicator of plight or surplus of farm families in general.
This is not to be taken as an apology for the predatory behavior of the middle men who buy from the farmers at prices that in no way correspond to the value of the finished goods exported or sold domestically.
Thailand’s disparity between agriculture and industry
The second graph clearly shows that the industrial development in the Philippines has been hopelessly stalled for a while, and the massive numbers of Philippino maids in Singapore and Hong Kong is the ample proof of it.
But Malaysia? One possible explanation is that the rate of agricultural development is same as the rate of industrial development as in the success of SMR (Standard Malaysia Rubber) and palm oil?
Indonesia and Thailand both appear to be on the same path of unbalanced growth of development, but more prominent in Thailand because of more rapid development in the Thai manufacturing sector. But Indonesia seems to be catching up recently due to the political stability there under the current regime.
Thanks for the graphs, Andrew. They made me understand more about these four countries. It will be clearly demonstrative if you can add Australia as a reference line for the example of balanced development.
Thailand’s disparity between agriculture and industry
“The raise of productivity in agriculture in the recent years might also be caused by the fact that food prices has been rising drastically for some years.”
This is a useful statement, but we must be cautious in assuming that rising food prices results in increased income for farmers. It does however, result in increased income for marketers. Nonetheless, FAO Asia Pacific, actually based in Bangkok, claims that food prices only began to raise in May 2007.
Check out this similar post on the BP to see how incomes actually increased under Taksin: http://asiancorrespondent.com/bangkok-pundit-blog/did-thaksin-close-the-gap-between-rich-and-poor
Taksin may be convicted, but one doesn’t have to look far to see why he has left such an impact. Adding that the current democratic government has cut budgets for Subdistrict Authority Organisations (SAO) and further centralised power to Bangkok, it becomes even easier to understand. I recently visited an SAO in Chiang Rai which has seen its budget cut by about 20% under the new government.
Thailand’s disparity between agriculture and industry
Like prometheus, I also feel that additional data regarding demographic changes in employment for the period would be helpful. If large numbers of agricultural workers have left the land to work in industry, there would be significant forces affecting productivity in both sectors. Perhaps fewer people were trying to scratch a living from the same area of land and were therefore more productive per worker, and higher proportion of people were employed in low skilled less productive industrial work and were therefore less so?
Street fighting in Bangkok
So Bannok, just to get it straight, he’s either a Red Shirt using a pistol for self-defence (while moving towards the action under cover of the cars — interesting attitude to self-defence), or he’s a police officer, in which case he’s not defending himself but looking to shoot someone?
Nice.
Thailand’s disparity between agriculture and industry
Hi Prometheus – what you have suggested is exactly what I have done. The graphs are dealing with GDP per worker.
Thailand’s disparity between agriculture and industry
I suggest you should compare workforce in Agriculture sector to industrial sector, since a change in labour force might reflect in increasing of income per worker.
It is a trend in developing country that worker migrate from Agriculture sector to Industrial sector . Ultimately, worker in Agriculture sector will close to 10% of total worker in developed country. Thailand is still far from that ratio we’ve got a long way to go compared to Malaysia.
Street fighting in Bangkok
Tench :”It’s got a mechanism that stops you from firing first?”
Yeah, He could be such a genius guy to use pistol against M16, MP5, rifle What would happen to him if he fire first!!!
In addition, it is not clear that he is one of the Redshirts, some say he is a police officer (look at his pants) who was operating secret mission and then again anyone can wear red.
Economic strategy and the roots of Thai political turmoil
I’m satisfied with Rick’s explanation of “small and dwinding auto suppliers”.
I’m not sure that the line should be drawn between “indigenous” companies and foreign ones, though. It shouldn’t matter much as long as most of the staff, especially engineers, are local.
Thailand is not South Korea, I doubt Thais ever wanted to emulate that model and chase world or regional leadership in innovation and ingenuity.
Let the Japs invent things, like hybrids, Thailand is the first Asian country outside of Japan to build them.
Interview with Justin Wintle
[…] […]
Thailand’s disparity between agriculture and industry
I am not an economist, but I guess that the first graph has something to do with the tendency for income elasticity of demand to be higher for manufactured goods than for agricultural goods. Basically it means that when consumers’ income rises they will spend a higher proportion of their raised income on manufactured goods, while the quantity demanded of agricultural goods remain stable. Price elasticity of demand might also be influental. This may favour the industry.
The crisis then probably caused a lower productivity for manufactures since the demand was lowered due to the crisis being regional. Also the drop of value of the baht may have caused less income for their exports since it became cheap to import from Thailand. And ofcourse bankrupt industries may have had a major influence.
The raise of productivity in agriculture in the recent years might also be caused by the fact that food prices has been rising drastically for some years. But I’m not sure when the prices started to rise, so this need to be investigated further.
I’m not an expert on Thai economy or economy at all so someone with a clearer vision should probably try to give a better analysis.
Street fighting in Bangkok
Additional info:
To get this clearer, please use “Google Map” or “http://map.longdo.com” to see where the incident took place. I used to live around Phaholyothin Soi 79 so it’s familiar where is where.
If you look at the video clip, the Men in Black were hiding behind the bush near PTT gas station (on Longdo map, it’s Jet (taken over by PTT). There were two groups of red shirt, one from Ratchaprasong led by Kwanchai, (from the south direction), the army blocked them at the intersection (imagine triangular shape, the incident took place at the left side). Another redshirt group was from Pathumtani (about 200-500 people) from the north direction. So the army was in the middle. However the army dispersed the second group away to Zeer Rangsit (there is an overbridge there). PTT gas station was then taken by army.
The Ratchaprasong redshirt was at the entrance of Air Force headquater, say, around 500 meters from the PTT gas station where army standing.
TPBS tv reported after the rain stopped, that the rapid unit riding on motorcycles just passed by its building (Shinawatra 3), I saw the live report from its tower cam showing the line of motorcycle unit on Toll Way.
This unit got off the Toll way at Don Muang Domestic Exit, then rode about 300 meters toward the army unit. So you can hear some redshirt shouting in Spring News Video, because it’s not far from the Ratchaprasong redshirt. Then, the shot fire began as you can see from my links above comment.
Those Men in Black, I was told it’s the SWAT unit led by either Pol. Maj Kamronwit Thoopkrachang, (the one who locked Arisman (one of redshirt leader) on the chopper last year that he threantened to clash the helicopter).
So how the Men In Black were companied by a man wearing red (in Aljazera video)? That tells me that there’s some agents in their undercover operation among the red.
Well, this needs proof.
Economic strategy and the roots of Thai political turmoil
First, I’d like to say that I enjoy seeing a website discussing these topics without resorting the usual and prolific calls of hysteria for a complete massacre.
But one thing that I think is missing from this discussion is the need for agricultural land reform. Th majority of the Res Shirts have earned their living by subsistence farming, who now see their city countrymen developing at a much faster pace. These are the ones who can stay at Rajprasong for months, who have seen their income shrink, not just in relative terms.
While the industrial and technological sectors may see further disparities in the future, they are not the backbone of the current demonstrations.