Damaged books get big chill

Respected writer Suchart Sawatsi needs a deep-freeze chamber to rescue his collection of rare books that were damaged by the flood which ravaged his home in Pathum Thani.

At the peak of the flooding, about 80% of all the printed materials kept at his house were submerged in flood water, many of which include rare books, magazines and newspapers.

But even publications that were saved from being submerged by floodwater have mould growing on them.

According to German experts, who were flown in by the Goethe Institute last week, the books can still be rescued and brought back to good condition. 

But they immediately have to be cleaned and kept in a deep-freeze chamber at minus 10C, or at -20C for best results.

The books, however, can be kept for the next several years before being preserved in the freeze-drying process, with help from the Goethe Institute and Bangkok Art and Culture Centre

Tax breaks for flooded factories

The Board of Investment will certainly offer corporate income tax exemption to flood-hit manufacturers, Industry Minister Wannarat Channukul said on Wednesday.

The board of directors of the BoI will meet before the end of the year to consider the extent of the tax exemption, he said. The meeting will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong.

Mr Wannarat said that measures to help the flooded factories will definitely be in place soon because the government wants to restore the confidence of investors and encourage more investment.

Previously, the BoI had approved an exemption of import tax on imported machinery and raw materials for flooded manufacturers, he said.

He said the flooded Saharat Nakhon, Bang Pa In and Bang Wa (Hi-Tech) industrial estates, Rojana and Factory Land industrial zones, Nava Nakhon and Bang Kadi were now dried out.

At least 115 manufacturers based in these industrial sites had already restarted production lines. More plants would come online early next year and all factories were expected to be operating again in the second quarter of next year.

The meeting of BoI board last month decided not to approve investment promotion measures to help rehabilitate the flooded plants because it wanted the BoI and Revenue Department to come up details on how 

many manufacturers were affected and how much tax revenue the government would lose if additional privileges to be offered for investors, according to Mr Wannarat.

Parks ride new wave after flood closures Post-deluge rehab for Safari, Dream World

Two leisure park operators have kicked off their post-flood rehabilitation along with attractive marketing campaigns aimed at persuading visitors to return.

Litti Kewkacha, an executive vice-president of Safari World Plc, allocated 50 million baht to renovate the 250-rai zoo and leisure park after the floods forced it to close for a month.

Most of the money will be used to raise up the zoo grounds by up to 1.5 metres to guard it from future flooding.

Minor renovation work will be done on its marine park, with new signs, decorations, games and small attractions planned.

Some small repairs have already been carried out, but the major work is still going on.

Safari World reopened on Dec 1, and visitor numbers are 30 % of pre-crisis levels, mainly foreign tourists.

"The renovations will help us celebrate our 25th anniversary next year," said Mr Litti.

Safari World plans to increase the frequency of its roadshows to Europe, the Middle East and India.

Revenue of 480-530 million baht is expected for the zoo and leisure park this year, missing earlier projections by 100-150 million baht.

Meanwhile, Amusement Creation Co, the operator of Dream World in Pathum Thani's Rangsit area, will resume operations early next month with several measures aimed at getting back up to speed.

Amphol Suthiphein, the deputy managing director, said a 30-million-baht renovation of the amusement park's landscaping, parking area and some parts of its office building will be carried out after more than two months of inundation.

Billboard advertising will be used in front of the park and in Bangkok's Din Daeng district. Letters will be sent to foreign and local tour agents informing them of Dream World's planned Jan 1 reopening.

And roadshows will be sent abroad next year to lure back foreign tourists, particularly from China, Russia, India and the Middle East.

"We think our efforts will see group tours returning around mid-January," said Mr Amphol.

Dream World's amusement equipment experienced very little damage from the floods, as they were installed on high ground.

However, the park will suffer an estimated loss of 150 million baht from its forced closure since Oct 21.

"We're confident the tourism industry will continue to grow next year and that any effects from the flooding will be short-lived," said Mr Amphol.

He said his experience shows that tourist numbers always return to normal in Thailand once a major crisis has ended.

For example, tourism improved more than many people expected in the first half of this year despite the political violence of recent times.

Flood toll: 708 dead, 3 missing

The accumulated nationwide flood toll is now 708 deaths with three people missing, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported on Wednesday.

A total of 3,652 villages in 80 districts of nine provinces in the upper part of the country - Bangkok, Ang Thong, Ayutthaya, Lop Buri, Suphan Buri, Nakhon Pathom, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi and Samut Sakhon - are still sufferring from the flood, which has caused 698 deaths and three people are still missing.

In the South, flooding has hit 2,057 villages in 65 districts of eight provinces - Phatthalung, Trang, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Narathiwat, Songkhla, Yala and Pattani - causing damage to 118,358 rai of farmland, seven monasteries and mosques, 30 schools, 10 government offices, 783 roads, 113 bridges, 19 weirs and 1,068 fish ponds.

Ten people are confirmed dead (one in Nakhon Si Thammarat, two each in Phatthalung, Songkhla and Yala, and three in Narathiwat).

After the flood: Government Assistance

The severe flooding this year has had a widespread impact. Many people and businesses have suffered. In order to support victims and enable them to achieve a speedy recovery, there are a number of tax relief measures available, 

some of which provide relief to victims while others help the donors. Some are existing measures introduced as a result of past disasters while a few qualify as special relief created for the current floods.

First some key tax relief measures provided by the Revenue Department.

For victims:

Personal income tax (PIT) and corporate income tax (CIT) exemption on compensation received from the government.

- PIT and CIT exemption on cash or property received from donations (other than government) not exceeding the value of the damages incurred.

- PIT exemption on rent, professional income, income from contract work, whereby the contractor provides essential materials, and commercial income equal to the amount of damages the individual victim has registered with the authorities.

- CIT exemption on insurance compensation in excess of the net book value of the damaged assets.

- The tax filing period for all taxes for business operators in affected areas is extended to Dec 30.

For donors:

- Individuals can take deductions for cash donated through an intermediary agency, a public charity or a governmental agency. However the Revenue Code caps this deduction at 10% of the assessable income after all allowances and deductions.

- Corporations can take a deduction for cash or property donated through an intermediary agency, a public charity or a governmental agency capped at 2% of net profit.

Key tax relief measures provided by the Board of Investment:

- Import duty exemption on machinery to replace damaged machinery.

While these measures will provide a level of relief to both victims and donors, some are asking whether this much assistance is sufficient. The government has to weigh how much tax breaks it can realistically offer. To obtain a better perspective on this, let's take a look at the recent earthquake in Japan for guidance.

The Japanese government offered these measures:

PIT

- Extension of loss carry forward _ normally losses from a disaster can be treated as a tax deduction for the year and carried forward for three years. A special measure was introduced to extend the period of carry forward by two more years.

Extension of loss carry back _ normally PIT would be exempted/reduced in the year in which the disaster occurred. This measure allowed the reduction for the prior year (the earthquake occurred four days before the 2010 PIT filing deadline).

Increase of donation cap _ normally donations can be treated as a deduction from PIT with a cap of 40% of income. This increased the cap to 80% to encourage donations.

CIT

Extension of loss carry back _ normally losses can be carried back for only one year (a corporation can claim a tax refund by using the loss to offset against the profit of the prior year). This measure allowed the loss to be carried back for two years.

Withholding tax (WHT) refund _ normally WHT would not be refunded at the half-year filing. This measure allowed victims to request a WHT refund to help with their cash flow.

Special depreciation _ a special depreciation rate can be applied to assets that were purchased to replace those damaged during the disaster.

These measures were only aimed at lessening the victims' burden. Japan is now considering additional tax incentives for the recovery period (medium and long-term) for the benefit of both individuals and corporations.

Looking at the Japanese experience, it is clear that Thailand should consider the provision of further tax relief in addition to the normal measures. 

This is not to say that Thailand should, for example, raise the donation cap to 80% for individual donors as Japan did. 

Nevertheless, Thailand should consider raising the cap as well as allowing taxpayers to claim a refund of WHT prior to filing the CIT return at year-end as this flood is one of the greatest disasters to hit Thailand in many years.

Thailand should consider this an opportunity: by trading short-term revenue loss for longer-term goodwill, it can emerge stronger in the region to compete for future foreign investments.

Social media finds voice in crisis

Mainstream media's failure to adequately provide the information that flood victims wanted to know paved the way for strong emergence of reporting in social media sphere during the crisis, a seminar was told.

"Roo Su Flood" (Know, Fight Flood), which contained popular flood information in animated form posted on Youtube, and the 

"Chao Charan Ruam Jai Choy Namtoum" (Charan People Fighting Flood) Facebook pages were among the most viewed pages during the floods.

Both social media groups were a big hit due to their new approach to managing information, said Yingcheep Atchanont, iLaw (Internet for People's Laws Project) officer.

The Charan People page was created by two young flood victims _ Nanthinee Niphandwongkorn, a newly-graduated law student from Kasetsart University, and Samaporn Rattanawaraha, a science student from King Mongkut University.

Ms Samaporn said that since mainstream media was unable to provide adequate information round-ups about the Thon Buri area, she decided to initiate the information-sharing page on Facebook.

Ms Nanthinee explained the website was not just useful for young online users, but the information was also shared with their parents during the floods.

Thawatchai Saengthammachai, a social-minded advertising entrepreneur who created the Roo Su Flood videos said he and his friends decided to provide select information in graphic form to make it easy to 

disseminate and to serve as an alternative to mainstream media which seemed to be irrelevant and mistrusted due to their business, if not political, bent.

Mr Thawatchai said during the short life of the Roo Su Flood project, some corporations, including real estate, dog food, mobile phone, insurance, and automobile firms, wanted to buy advertising. But in the end, the group decided to keep their web page strictly advertising free.

Both web masters said they would return to their normal lives now the floods have receded, but if another emergency requires rapid response in the future, they would quickly return to the fore. 

The best way to deal with the influx of information was to educate netizens rather than regulate social media.

Chutchai Tawandharong, chief executive officer of Spring News, a 24-hour satellite TV station, said social media can be nicely melded into traditional media reporting, but the core standards of a strong newsroom need to stay put.

Pichate Yingkiattikun, a member of Thai Netizen Network, an alliance of computer users monitoring the government's internet policy, said flood-related social media became a stage for colour-coded conflicts and some of the netizens were not exercising accountability by verifying information before posting it.

Meanwhile, Arthit Suriyawongkul, Thai Netizen Network coordinator, said a survey of 1,700 internet users conducted from September to October found web surfers are more open-minded than non-internet users on issues such as censoring or blocking websites.

The survey conducted by the My Computer Law project, a campaigner for justice and fair regulations of computer users, showed that 63% of respondents did not agree with blocking porn websites but it would be okay to have some censoring to keep children from viewing the material, Mr Arthit said. 

A majority of respondents said the government should be most strident in censoring defamation content, followed by threats to national security and social values.

B2.5m raised for flood relief efforts

John Daly sings a song at a charity auction on Tuesday night.

Major winners Darren Clarke and Charl Schwartzel were the main contributors in a charity auction held in conjunction with this week's Asian Tour season-ending Thailand Golf Championship as nearly 2.5 million baht were raised for flood relief on Tuesday night.

The stars on parade at Amata Spring Country Club in Chon Buri, including world No.3 Lee Westwood, Ryo Ishikawa, Sergio Garcia, Thongchai Jaidee, John Daly and Simon Dyson, donated personal golf items which were auctioned off during a dinner in Bangkok.

Schwartzel's autographed Masters pin flag and putter raised the highest amount of one million baht while Clarke's autographed British Open pin flag went to the highest bid of 300,000 baht. 

The Northern Irishman then pledged another 300,000 baht from his foundation towards relief efforts.

Daly, who crooned the crowd with an impromptu song, donated two of his signature psychedelic pants at 200,000 baht while Thongchai's autographed driver and caps went for 150,000 baht.

Westwood's golf shirt was auctioned at 100,000 baht while the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Dyson, Garcia, Michael Thompson, Soren Hansen and Charley Hoffman also donated items towards the good cause.

Clarke, who won his first Major title at the British Open in July, said: "It's fantastic that we've managed to raise a lot of money towards a worthy cause. We're lucky to be able to play golf for a living and it is good to help whenever we can."

Schwartzel was also delighted to play a part towards the charitable cause where floods had affected parts of Thailand recently.

"Any time I can help towards a good cause, I'll try my best to help. I gave a couple of items and I'm happy to do it," said the South African.

Ishikawa added: "We had the same problem in Japan with the earthquake and tsunami and I was really touched with the help we got. 

In return, I'm proud to be a part of this effort to help in Thailand. All the players feel the same and I hope the country recovers soon.

Organisers of the Thailand Golf Championship will also donate all ticket sales proceeds towards flood relief through the Energy Ministry.

Suthep defends crackdown on red shirts

Former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban has defended his handling of the crackdown on red shirt protesters in April and May last year, saying he acted within the law.

Mr Suthep said all of his orders were issued lawfully as there was the emergency decree to support his actions and the operations of security forces. The troops performed their duties based on his orders.

The former deputy prime minister, who was in charge of the Center for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation set up to quell the protests which led to 92 deaths, said all his orders were written down and he always held meetings with relevant agencies before issuing them.

He was speaking before giving testimony for the second time yesterday to a city police team investigating the dispersal of the protesters. He was invited to give a statement about what happened on May 14, 16 and 19 last year.

Mr Suthep arrived at the Metropolitan Police headquarters at 2pm with more documentary evidence for investigators.

He accused his political rivals of trying to distort facts about the government forces' crackdown on the red shirts. 

He accused some people in power of being involved in last year's political violence and said they had tried to use their authority to take action against him.

He said he was unperturbed by their actions as Thailand was a democratic country where people must strictly adhere to the law and have faith in the judicial system.

Army chief to stay in post: Yingluck

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has confirmed that army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha will not be transferred.

"Since I assumed the premiership, I have never interfered in military affairs. Gen Prayuth is still performing his duty [as army chief]," Ms Yingluck said when asked by reporters if she wanted to retain him as army commander-in-chief.

The prime minister yesterday visited the Internal Security Operations Command and the army. She was warmly greeted by the top brass before chairing the Isoc meeting as director of the agency and was briefed about its work.

She asked the Isoc to strictly adhere to His Majesty the King's working approach of understanding (khao jai), accessibility (khao thueng), and development (pattana) in carrying out its duties in the far South.

She said she would assign Pol Gen Kowit Wattana, deputy prime minister, to chair the Isoc's board.

Ms Yingluck vowed to foster national reconciliation. She called for cooperation from all of society to help push for reconciliation in a bid to restore peace. She thanked the army for its flood relief work.

During the meeting, Gen Prayuth said the army stands ready to serve the government around the clock.

PM orders tight security over break

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has told authorities to beef up security to ensure peaceful New Year festivities.

She said she issued the order during her visit to the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) and the army headquarters yesterday morning.

"I would like the New Year to be a happy moment for people, so I told agencies not to be lax. If they detect any situation, they must report it right away. I will monitor the situation during the New Year holiday," Ms Yingluck said.

The prime minister wants all security-related agencies to cooperate with one another to prevent incidents around the clock during the New Year period.

Ms Yingluck said she learned from her visit to the Isoc and the army headquarters that they had a command that was capable of comprehensively supervising security affairs.

She said they had satellite-based and intelligence systems in the same command and she wanted them to cooperate with the police and the Interior Ministry to guarantee order over New Year.

Asked to comment about a report that Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung had predicted bombings during the New Year holiday, Ms Yingluck said she did not expect that kind of situation to arise and all agencies were joining forces to prevent anything untoward happening.

Army chief-of-staff Sirichai Ditthakul briefed Ms Yingluck on the structure and achievements of the Isoc. The meeting did not discuss past bombings.

Mr Chalerm yesterday denied saying there would be bombings at 10 locations over the New Year.

He said he had only mentioned the blasts in 2007 to urge the parties concerned to study them and work out security measures to guarantee order during the upcoming New Year celebrations.

"I supervise the police, so I must ensure order. I am not so insane as to say things that would shock people," Mr Chalerm said.

Mr Chalerm said the time bomb found on Ratchadamnoen Avenue in Bangkok on Dec 6 was politically motivated and was not intended to harm anyone.

The bomb had been placed to be easily noticed and a red shirt was in the bag in which the bomb had been carried.

The bomb in an open black bag was placed on a traffic island on the avenue. It was wrapped in tape and had a digital clock, electrical circuits, batteries attached while it contained small pieces of metal and broken glass.

Police used a water jet to destroy the bomb and later found its circuitry was incomplete.

Chutidet murder suspect identified Police believe political rival was behind murder

Police have identified the prime suspect in the murder of the close aide of a former Democrat Party election candidate as a rival in local political circles who had personal conflicts with the victim, a source on the police team investigating the case said Wednesday.

Police believe the suspect hired a team of hitmen to murder Chutidet Suwannakerd, 38, at the carpark at Kosum Ruamjai market in Don Muang district on Saturday, the police source said.

Chutidet, who used to be a close aide of Karun Hosakul, a Bangkok Pheu Thai MP, defected to work for Tankhun Jitt-itsara, the Democrat Party candidate for Don Muang district in the July 3 general election.

Mr Karun has denied any involvement in the murder of his former aide.

Preliminary results of the police investigation indicate the murder was a consequence of conflicts between Chutidet and his rival in local politics that arose as they competed to help flood victims, the source said.

The two men's quarrels over control of taxi motorcycle services in the district could also be a motive for Chutidet's murder, the police source said.

"The suspected mastermind of the murder was a rival local politician who is a close aide of a politician in the national political circle," the source said. "However, the motive for the killing was not political conflict, but simmering personal conflicts."

Investigators have found conclusive evidence of who was behind the murder, but some crucial evidence still is missing, the same source said.

By next week, the police should be able to seek a warrant for the arrest of the suspected mastermind.

Meanwhile, another police team is hot on the trail of the suspected gunman, a key link in the police's quest to nail the suspected mastermind, the source said.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung yesterday insisted he would not be tempted to protect the culprits in this murder case even if they really are linked to people in the government.

Pol Maj Gen Damrongsak Kittipraphas, chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau's Division 2, said police had narrowed down the killing motives. 

However, he said, police have yet to question possible suspects as the investigators still were gathering the evidence required to implicate any suspect.

As for the wife and daughter of Chutidet as well as Mr Tankhun, several police units from the Don Muang police station have been sent out to ensure their security as police hunt down the killers.

Porntip Rojanasunan, head of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, said Chutidet's family members would meet her today to seek help from the institute for a second-opinion autopsy.

She said Mr Tankhun had consulted with her about the police possibly conducting a questionable autopsy.

Khunying Porntip said Mr Tankhun had informed her that Chutidet's family was unable to gain access to the autopsy results although they had every right to access them.

Social media finds voice in crisis

Mainstream media's failure to adequately provide the information that flood victims wanted to know paved the way for strong emergence of reporting in social media sphere during the crisis, a seminar was told.

"Roo Su Flood" (Know, Fight Flood), which contained popular flood information in animated form posted on Youtube, and the "Chao Charan Ruam Jai Choy Namtoum" (Charan People Fighting Flood) Facebook pages were among the most viewed pages during the floods.

Both social media groups were a big hit due to their new approach to managing information, said Yingcheep Atchanont, iLaw (Internet for People's Laws Project) officer.

The Charan People page was created by two young flood victims _ Nanthinee Niphandwongkorn, a newly-graduated law student from Kasetsart University, and Samaporn Rattanawaraha, a science student from King Mongkut University.

Ms Samaporn said that since mainstream media was unable to provide adequate information round-ups about the Thon Buri area, she decided to initiate the information-sharing page on Facebook.

Ms Nanthinee explained the website was not just useful for young online users, but the information was also shared with their parents during the floods.

Thawatchai Saengthammachai, a social-minded advertising entrepreneur who created the Roo Su Flood videos said he and his friends decided to provide select information in graphic form to make it easy to disseminate and to serve as an alternative to mainstream media which seemed to be irrelevant and mistrusted due to their business, if not political, bent.

Mr Thawatchai said during the short life of the Roo Su Flood project, some corporations, including real estate, dog food, mobile phone, insurance, and automobile firms, wanted to buy advertising. 

But in the end, the group decided to keep their web page strictly advertising free.

Both web masters said they would return to their normal lives now the floods have receded, but if another emergency requires rapid response in the future, they would quickly return to the fore. 

The best way to deal with the influx of information was to educate netizens rather than regulate social media.

Chutchai Tawandharong, chief executive officer of Spring News, a 24-hour satellite TV station, said social media can be nicely melded into traditional media reporting, but the core standards of a strong newsroom need to stay put.

Pichate Yingkiattikun, a member of Thai Netizen Network, an alliance of computer users monitoring the government's internet policy, said flood-related social media became a stage for colour-coded conflicts and some of the netizens were not exercising accountability by verifying information before posting it.

Meanwhile, Arthit Suriyawongkul, Thai Netizen Network coordinator, said a survey of 1,700 internet users conducted from September to October found web surfers are more open-minded than non-internet users on issues such as censoring or blocking websites.

The survey conducted by the My Computer Law project, a campaigner for justice and fair regulations of computer users, showed that 63% of respondents did not agree with blocking porn websites but it would be okay to have some censoring to keep children from viewing the material, 

Mr Arthit said. A majority of respondents said the government should be most strident in censoring defamation content, followed by threats to national security and social values.

Web censor system hits protest firewall Chalerm tries to defend lese majeste detector

The government yesterday calmed fears civil rights would be threatened if it adopts a tighter monitoring system to counter anti-monarchy messages on the internet.

The proposed procurement of "a lawful interception (LI) system", estimated at 400 million baht, was unveiled yesterday during a press briefing by a government panel to crack down on lese majeste on the internet.

The panel was headed by Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung.

Pol Col Siripong Timula, deputy commander of Technology Crime Suppression Division, assured that the LI system would not be used extensively, but would be allowed by a court order.

"To curb anxiety, I'd like to stress that the system must be applied under the law, which means it must be approved by a court. So there is no need to fear violations of rights," he said.

Unintended consequences: How social media filled the flood gap

Mr Chalerm said Wednesday the procurement of the LI system was proof that the government and his committee were taking the issue seriously.

He said police and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology would have to integrate their work. The proposed procurement was approved in principle by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, he said.

Mr Chalerm said he believes the LI system was worth the money.

The plan drew criticism from Democrat MP for Songkhla Sirichoke Sopha who lambasted the ICT ministry for failing to enforce the Computer Crime Act and block unlawful or inappropriate content.

"The problem is not with the tool, but the ICT Ministry," he said. "The people are more or less monitoring websites and reporting them to the authorities. It is possible that those who are involved in such activity are supporters of Pheu Thai."

He also called on Mr Chalerm and ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap to conduct more research into networking security.

Warin Thiamcharas, adviser to the Senate committee on human rights and consumer protection, voiced disagreement to the proposed procurement of the LI system.

He said that a clear policy and political will are effective enough in cracking down on inappropriate websites.

However, Mr Warin said that using the device to intercept communications deemed offensive to the monarchy was not illegal.

"It is allowed by the Computer Crimes Act's Section 29. It is illegal to post such content on the Internet," he said.

Meanwhile, the Lawyers Council of Thailand yesterday called for the establishment of a special unit to monitor and take action against internet content deemed insulting to the monarchy.

In its petition, the council said that the task required close cooperation between the police force and the ICT Ministry.

The council also said wrongdoers should be separated into two groups: those with an intent to topple the monarchy and those who act with ignorance.

The former should be prosecuted according to law while the latter encouraged to have a better understanding.

The petition was lodged with the ICT Ministry, the Justice Ministry and the police force.

A team of officials from the Department of Special Investigation yesterday discussed with public prosecutors the issue of speeding up lese majeste cases, a DSI source said.

The meeting was held because there was apparently no progress in the past year. Of 33 cases, only half were completed.

The source said that to decide if the suspects would be indicted the investigators would determine if the charges had legal merit and when and where the alleged offences were committed.

The source said the team reportedly agreed to follow the Truth for Reconciliation Commission's recommendation in promoting national reconciliation in pursuing the cases.