Major Thailand-India dispute over rice corruption Bangkok newspaper exclusively claims the official opposition Move Forward Party is deeply into communism. The U.S. election for president is 246 days from today, which is the start of week Number 207 of the Coronavirus Emergency.
India boots Thai trade diplomat Pimchanok Vonkorpon Pitfield left New Delhi yesterday after India protested against her remarks and accusations of major big-time corruption. This seems perilously close to the India-Canada 'incident' but without the murder. So far.
Pimchanok accused India of siphoning forty percent (40%) of rice it bought or took from farmers for the local market. India protested that the Thai envoy's charges were 'innaccurate,' factually incorrent -- and then boycotted a meeting with Thai embassy officials aimed at clearing up the allegations. An Indian trade official in Abu Dhabi said that New Delhi 'requested that Pimchanok (inside in photo below) report back to her superiors in Bangkok' following the highly disputatious 13th WTO ministerial conference aka MC13. And she flew out immediately.
Thai version of the story... Thailand recalled Pimchanok, and replaced her with a new WTO ambassador while she was still in the air from Abu Dhabi. (True). Reuters PHOTO above: Labourers unload rice sacks from a truck at Kakinada Anchorage, a major rice-export port, in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. Economic Times: https://t.ly/tezX0 Also, from Thailand: Thailand recalled Ambassador Pimchanok. https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40036038
China has demanded that the Thai government speed up the Bangkok-Vientiane line  Construction of the 4.4-kilometre Light Rail Transit through Khon Kaen city in the Northeast will start next year.  The city train should be carrying passengers in Khon Kaen by 2027.
Concerned by its rapidly dwindling population rate Thailand drafts a law to re-allow child surrogacy  But the bill, even if it is passed, will apply only to foreign couples.  They will be allowed to hire Thai women to carry babies for them -- a practice that was completely banned* in 2014. (And advertise)
*A tight 2015 law, allows surrogacy for Thai couple, or for a Thai woman married to a foreigner but unable to get pregnant for three years. This must be controlled by a government committee. Likely IVF costs: https://www.selectivf.com/surrogacy-cost-in-thailand/ At present, Thailand's birth rate was below 500,000 in 2023 and is expected to decline further in 2024. That is while the number of deaths exceeds 800,000 annually. This demographic change has led to a declining population and an increasingly ageing society, which poses challenges for the country's development. Khao Sod (Fresh News) https://shorturl.at/cfhRS
Sunday columnist extraordinaire makes a solid point Remember when cops and private dicks and even Sherlock Holmes caught bad guys and they didn't have mobile phones?
Celluloid sleuths more fun in the old days
 Agatha Christie's ace detective Hercule Poirot seemed to do okay without a cellphone. He kept all the info he needed in his noggin and let his "grey matter" sort everything out.  Sherlock Holmes relied on his observational skills and powers of reasoning. However he did have some technical help from a magnifying glass.  Inspector Clouseau as played by Peter Sellers was another sleuth who pre-dated cellphone days although probably the less said about his deductive powers the better. https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2520680/
This opinion piece from the frequently sensational Thai Enquirer online newspaper was singled out by our Fishwrap reader Dr. Paul Carter. For good reason. The Oped claims that even Move Forward Party members in parliament show signs of going communist.
Move Forward will lose support advocating for Marxism
Quick Backgrounder: 'Move Forward' aka MFP is the (entirely) legal and progressive Move Forward Party. The party won the general election last year but then was screwed out of the chance to form a government, with Pita as prime minister. Opinion and stories like the above will undoubtedly be used in the next anti-MFP round, to try to disqualify the party and all of its members. Active communism has been banned in Thailand for decades. Any attempt to revive and support communist will be strongly opposed.
Clearing up (some of) the confusion A United Nations team finds many people injured in Thursday’s attack on Palestinians awaiting food in Gaza City had gunfire wounds.Click to embiggen
'JOURNALISM' THIS! is CNN The always insightful Mark Tapson explains it for you: Â The new and fast-spreading meme-label "Christian nationalism" is the new Progressive dog-whistle for "scary American patriots." The problem here is that only dogs can hear dog whistles. Powerlineblog: https://t.ly/fIOS-
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