Is the NGV Bus Project a Form of Exploitation?

The purpose of the NGV bus rental project of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) is to reduce the operational losses of the BMTA, which have presently accumulated to more than 70 billion baht in total. The Minister of Transport also claims that steeply increasing diesel fuel prices will aggravate BMTA’s losses, to the tune of 140 billion baht in the next ten years. However, according to the Minister, replacing diesel buses with NGV buses will lower costs, and reduce accumulated losses for BMTA by 50 percent in the next ten years.

Bangkok: A Doughnut City

From his new home on Srinakarin Road bought five years ago, Somsak must drive his daughter to university in Samyan on a daily basis. He then continues to drive to his office on Soi Asoke. The oil price rise made it difficult for him to decide to sell his childhood home. He sometimes grieves that over the previous decade Bangkok has not had the same feel about it that it once had in the past.

It’s Thai’s time for logistics system development

Logistics is defined according to the Council of Logistics Management as "a process involved with planning, operating, and controlling an organization, included the management of information and related money transactions in order to have them moved, gathered, collected, and distributed as products, raw materials, parts, and services having the purpose to gain most efficiency and effectiveness using customer satisfaction as the main focus."

Don't "sell the family rice paddy," try contract farming

Thai people are strongly patriotic. Thus, selling the family rice paddy to foreigners is almost unthinkable and would inevitably trigger much social controversy. Former Prime Minister Thaksin’s rumoured invitation to Middle Eastern leaders to view Thailand’s rice industry therefore became the talk of the town, spawning bitter newspaper protests of national betrayal.

Contract farming rather than “selling the family rice paddy”

It is no exaggeration to say that the Thai people are a patriotic race. Thus, the thought of selling the family rice paddy to foreigners is an almost unthinkable notion, even though this is a neutral economic transaction. Inevitably such deals trigger much social controversy and high emotions.

Residential areas … A big-city problem

Shelter is one of the four basic requirements for living, an important necessity especially in a big city such as Bangkok. Having a secure place to live ensures human life security. It would be very difficult if we had to live with the uncertainty of different accommodation arrangements day by day.

Bangkok, a World Heritage City

According to Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and Sport, his proposal to develop old cities to be World Heritage sites is good policy. To me, it is also a very interesting idea. Currently, only five places in Thailand are registered as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, (UNESCO). This is far fewer in number than the many architectural, cultural, and national resource sites found altogether in Thailand.