Two years from the coup : Economic,Social and Politics

 

 

The  National Council for Peace and Order ambitious mission is
 to return happiness to the country through economic,social
 and political reforms.

Economic :

An International Monetary Fund (IMF ),led by Ms Ana Corbacho,

exchanged views with the Bank of Thailand (BOT) the other

 public institution ,private sector and academics concluded that :

The Thai economy recovered in 2015 after a slowdown induced

by political uncertainty ,output grew by 2.8 percent.The recovery

is expected to strengthen moderately and the real GDP growth

projected at 3 percent in 2016 and 3.2 percent in 2017.

(From IMF Staff Completes 2016 Article IV Mission to Thailand)

In my viewpoint ,although the weak global economic outlook has

a negative impact on the Thai economy,but with Thailand 4.0

 model,tax measures,investment privileges,improving

infrastructure and control wage rate to stimulate more investment,

the country can reach the projected GDP.

 

Social :

Before coup,we had street protested which people injured and

killed.The controversy devided people into two groups,PDRC

 and Red-Shirts.After coup with military rule,PDRC had a little

movement and usually support the government while the

 Red-Shirts agitated peaceful of the country.

I think this conflict will still continue but in control of the

government so the next election is very important to the country.

 

Politics :

Before coup,we had corrupted government which huge loss over

 500 billions in rice-pledging scheme and they want to pass

 the Amnesty Bill.These two major points led to street protested

 to beat off the Yingluk government which up with coup to prevent

 more crisis even.

After two years from coup,we have draft charter wait for

referendum on August 7,if it pass we will have the election

 next year.

I hope the majority of Thais people will pass the referendum of

 the draft charter ,but if they vote down it,the NCPO still has full

 authority to pick any charter version to be enforced so that

finally the power will be handed back to the people following

 the election.

 

Sincerely Yours.

DOA hits back over chemical residue claims

Two of the most common quality labels seen in Thailand are for

"certified organic" and Good Agricultural Practice (GAP).

The Department of Agriculture is trying to defend its quality

 controls after lab tests that showed dangerous pesticide residue

 in many samples of vegetables and fruits.

The Department of Agriculture (DOA) insists it has imposed

 strict measures to check on chemical residues in vegetables

 and fruits before granting them Good Agricultural Practice

(GAP) and organic product certifications.

The department made the statement Thursday after a food

 safety survey conducted by the Thai-Pesticide Alert Network

(Thai-Pan) showed that more than half the fruits and

 vegetables awarded the government's "Q mark" for quality were

 found to be highly contaminated with chemical residues.

The GAP certification is given after a chemical safety check is

performed on produce at farms and orchards while the Q mark

 is issued before the produce is sold to consumers.

The Thai-Pan survey was conducted on 138 samples of popular

 fruits and vegetables in greater Bangkok, Chiang Mai and

 Ubon Ratchathani from March 16-18. Samples were sent

to a lab in the United Kingdom for examination using a

 multi-residue pesticide screen method to test for 450 substances.

 The overall results showed 46.6% of samples contained residues

 higher than the accepted safety standard.

Notably, 57% of fruits and vegetables granted the Q mark by

 the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and

 Food Standards (ACFS), were found to have unsafe

 levels of contaminants.

Also, 25% of the products certified as being organic, which

were supposed to be free of chemicals, were found to contain

 chemical residues exceeding accepted standards.

It showed that 100% of red chillies had harmful residues

exceeding standards, followed by basil and long beans (66.7%),

Chinese kale (55.6%), Chinese cabbage (33.3%),

 morning glory (22.2%), and tomatoes and cucumbers (11.1%).

 

However, 100% of non-Chinese cabbage samples were free

of contaminants.

 For fruits, all of the tested oranges and guava were contaminated

 with harmful residues exceeding standards.

 About 71% of dragon fruit, 66% of papayas and

 44% of nam dokmai mangoes had residues.

Watermelons were free of harmful residues.

The survey results later went viral on social media and frightened

 the public. Some say high chemical residue levels in those crops

 can pose health risks and even cause cancer.

 

The DOA said in its statement Thursday that before GAP

 certification is issued, farmers are required to submit information

 about their crops to the department. If the department finds

 contamination in the produce, farmers are given a deadline to

solve the problem.

If they fail to rectify the issue, they will be denied the

  certification.

The department said the Thai-Pan survey, although negative to

the produce certification, helps raise public awareness of

 the issue.

The DOA will also trace back contaminated vegetables and fruits

 found in the Thai-Pan survey to the farmland they originated on.

The DOA also said it has confiscated pesticides which were

 illegally smuggled into the country over the past several years.

Last year, several suspects were arrested and charged with

 possessing methomyl,paclobutrazol and methyl eugenol used for

producing pesticides.

News,General,Bangkok Post,6 May 2016.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/960901/doa-hits-back-over-chemical-residue-claims

 

After reading a food safety survey conducted by the

Thai-Pesticide Alert Network (Thai-Pan) results ,

we (my group friends who have knowledge  how to grow vegetables

 and fruits) are very confused about  the results show for they are

 contrast to the fact of how the fruit gardeners use chemical with

 their prouducts.

 

However ,today,Mr Somchai Channarongkul,Director-General

of the Department of Agriculture (DOA) also said the misleading

results due to the number of the sampling by Thai-Pan which

is too small (138 sample from Thai-Pan compare to 5,000-6,000

 samples from DOA) to represent the results show.

 

Sincerely Yours.