Former Pheu Thai MP Sumet Rithakhani lost the PAO race by 110,974 to 214,429 votes to former PAO head Chan Phuangphet, an independent candidate, according to the unofficial results released yesterday.

Mr Sumet resigned from his position as MP to run in the local election, but failed to make enough of an impression on the people of the province, a red shirt stronghold.

On Saturday, Pheu Thai candidate Somchai Rangsiwatanasak lost by 24,119 to 27,981 votes to Democrat Kiatisak Songsaeng, who will replace Mr Sumet as Constituency 5 MP in Pathum Thani’s Lam Luk Ka district.

BP: We are fortunate that we actually have a poll on the PAO race, but before looking at the poll, let’s have a look at the 2011 election for the 6 Pathum Thani constituencies for MPs (PT won all 6 seats in 2011):

Source: Sanook - the above figures should be viewed as ‘not final’ and don’t include ‘no vote’s and spoilt ballots.

BP: The Democrat candidate in Constituency 5 in 2011 received 38.1% which was the best Democrat performance in terms of % in Pathum Thani. Then again, it was the equal best performance for Puea Thai. BP should also note that the Democrat Candidate who won the recent by-election was also the candidate who contested and came 2nd in 2011.

In the 2011 general election,  52% of all Pathum Thani voters gave their party vote to PT vs 31% to the Democrats. For PT, Pathum Thani was PT’s 31st best province in terms of the % of voters who voted for a party whereas it was the Democrat’s 44th best province – note this data is calculated by BP from data released by the EC per province from this PDF.

Also, in the 2007 general election, PPP, the predecessor to PT, won 4 out of the 6 seats (Chart Thai won the other 2) although the Democrats were not far behind in 3 seats (multi-member constituencies then and in 3 MP Constituency 2, the Democrats finished 4-6 with the 4th placed Democrat getting 75k votes to 3rd placed PPP candidate getting 80k votes).

In conclusion, BP thinks you can characterize Pathum Thani as a province which has been moving more towards the pro-Thaksin party over time, but the margins of victory are not as high as actual Puea Thai strongholds in many provinces in the North and the Northeast.

Suan Dusit surveyed 1,061 people between April 23-24, 2012 in regards to the PAO election result.

1. Reason that Puea Thai lost the PAO election? (“สาเหตุ”  ที่พรรคเพื่อไทย แพ้การเลือกตั้ง นายกอบจ)

BP: Obviously, the key demographic is Pathum Thani as a whole (they all voted in the PAO race). Those in Pathum Thani Constituency 5 are included and while they are not asked specifically about the by-election result, BP is of the view that the actions of the PT PAO candidate (who was the MP in Constituency 5 before resigning) influenced the vote in the Constituency 5 by-election.

Two things: those in Constituency 5 more see the result as being more that the winner helped during the floods as opposed to the PT candidate [who was the MP at the time] doing a bad job (59% vs 27%); whereas those throughout Pathum Thani as a whole think it is more that the PT candidate did a bad job than the winner did a good job (48% vs 35%).  So what you can draw from this is that the non-PT PAO winner (province-wide vote) did a better job in the eyes of those in Constituency 5 whereas overall Pathum Thani voters think the PT candidate did a bad job and this is the major reason he lost.

One wonders why PT and the candidate were not aware of the strong feelings against the candidate that led him to resign as MP in Constituency 5 to contest a province-wide election. A very bad decision……

On how to judge the views of those in Bangkok? They are expressing an opinion – as they didn’t vote in the election – on why they think the person lost.

2. Will losing this election affect the popularity of Puea Thai? (การแพ้การเลือกตั้งครั้งนี้มีผลกระทบต่อคะแนนนิยมของพรรคเพื่อไทยหรือไม่?)

BP: To be honest, it is the actions of PT MPs and Ministers and also candidates that probably have more of a bearing on the popularity of PT than just the result on its own. Hence, BP thinks you should view the question as how has the actions of PT has affected their popularity. “No affect” is fairly clear, but “an affect” doesn’t necessarily mean won’t vote for PT. It does depend on performance (a pity the Qs weren’t phrased on who voted for in 2011 and who they would vote for now….) so underperforming MPs will be vulnerable.

Obviously, the low turn-out (which was just under half that of the  75% at the 2011 general election) was a factor. The Democrat winner in Constituency 5 actually received less votes in 2012 than in 2011. BP thinks the low turn-out was also partly because voters who normally vote PT didn’t bother to go to vote as they were unhappy with candidate and/or party (i.e they haven’t switched to the Democrats, they just won’t vote).

3.  What to do in order to build confidence/be confident to the people? (ทำอย่างไร? พรรคเพื่อไทยจึงจะสร้างความเชื่อมั่น /มั่นใจ ให้กับประชาชน)

BP: Overall, for the PAO vote, this is more difficult to calculate what it means nationally – the winner was an independent (supported by BJT???) – aside from PT needing a new candidate. The margin of victory is so high that it may not matter who they replace the candidate with and it will more turn on the winner’s performance.

For Constituency 5, the margin of victory of 3k votes can change at the new election. Nonetheless, for those PT MPs in the Central Regions they will need to look carefully at their own performance. Many central provinces were not traditional strongholds for the pro-Thaksin parties and the reason for Puea Thai’s increase in the vote was their strong performance in the the Central Regions – see here and here.

The Bangkok Post on another local election loss:

The ruling Pheu Thai Party suffered another election defeat when its candidates in the Udon Thani Municipality race lost to their rivals yesterday.

…

Unofficial election results indicated that candidates from the Nakhon Makkheng team, led by independent candidate Itthipon Triwattanasuwan, had beaten candidates from the Nakhon Udon team, who were backed by Pheu Thai.

Mr Itthipon was re-elected Udon Thani mayor with 27,914 votes, well ahead of Sompol Sripattiwong, who had 18,787 votes. Mr Sompol, head of Nakhon Udon team, was chosen by Pheu Thai to contest the race.

Mr Itthipon’s team swept all 24 municipal councillors’ seats.

BP: Udon Thai is solidly Puea Thai. PPP won all 10 seats in 2007. In the 2011 general election, Puea Thai won 82% of the party vote (3rd best province) and easily won all 9 seats. From this perspective, it seems like a bad loss. Then again, the candidate who won, was the incumbent so despite the dominance of Puea Thai he must have been doing something right…

At this time, it appears that Puea Thai are losing elections left, right, and center, but in Tak Province in the North they unexpectedly won. The Bangkok Post:

A candidate supported by the Pheu Thai Party and red shirts beat a rival with backing from the Democrat Party in the election for president of the provincial administration organisation (PAO) of Tak province - a victory which many believe could lead to Pheu Thai winning more local and national-level elections in the future.

Unofficial results of yesterday’s PAO election showed Nathawut Thaweekuakulkij of the Palang Tak Group, with support from the Pheu Thai Party, beat Chingchai Korprapakij, the three-time Tak PAO president, by 101,177 to 84,880.

….

In a recent election for Tak mayor, Anont, another son of Mr Nathawut, defeated Somchart Phetprasert to take the post from him.

BP: Tak is solidly Democrat country. In the 2007 general election, the Democrats won all 3 seats in the 3 MP Constituency 1 winning 142,068, 124,845, and 112,607 votes respectively. The top PPP candidate won only 43,240 votes. In the 2011 general election, they also won all 3 seats convincingly. For the party vote at the 2011 election, Puea Thai won only 29% of the party vote in Tak (their 59th best province); the Democrats won 58% (their 17th best province). Then again, this is a local election and it could be more to do with the candidates…..

It seems that voters don’t mind throwing out incumbents even for those from the dominant party in the province OR not voting for candidates from the dominant political party in the province.

A better guide on the popularity of parties will be seen from the selection of constitutional drafters which will be held later this year. One person will be elected in each province and various candidates will be (unofficially ?) supported by the major political parties.

btw, you also have a by-election in Chiang Mai on June 2 and well a loss there would be embarrassing for Puea Thai….

We all know that Elon Musk is considered to be the real-life Tony Stark from Iron Man.

But Frenchman Emile Leray gives Musk a run for his money.

Why? Leray turned his broken down car into a working motorcycle to escape the desert of northwest Africa—with only the contents of a simple toolbox and hacksaw.

In the movie, Stark had a welder, a hefty supply of equipment, and an assistant to help him construct his Mark I Ironman suit.

It took Leray a total of 12 days to build a working motorcycle from his broken down Citroen 2CV.

What would you have done if you were placed in his predicament?

And who do you think deserves the ‘real life Tony Stark’ title?

[via Chameau D’acier]
TAXI Daily News

In earlier news, Aung San Suu Kyi has also a plan visiting Geneva to speak to an international labor conference on June 14. In addition, Suu Kyi will give a speech in Oslo next month to accept the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in 1991, the Nobel Committee said on 21 May as stated by The Telegaph news.

“She will give the lecture on June 16 at 1:00pm (1100 GMT) at the Oslo city hall,” committee spokesman Sigrid Langebrekke told AFP, adding that Suu Kyi should arrive in the Norwegian capital on June 15.

Burma’s Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi (2 May 2012). Photo / AP

She will also spend a week in Britain from June 18, where she lived and studied, during which she will deliver a speech to both houses of parliament.

Last month, the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Suu Kyi turned down to be present at re-opening of Burma’s parliamentary session on 23 April due to a row over the oath of office for members of parliament. The NLD’s Chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi was together with 42 parliamentarians, elected from her National League for Democracy (NLD) party in April by-elections. The NLD’s MPs want to take an oath using the word “respect”, rather than the wording of “safeguard” the constitution, which they state is undemocratic.

But later, Aung San Suu Kyi made a courageous verdict to take oath in the parliament on 2 May. It is an optimistic moment for many citizens who wait for the emergence of democratic system in their country. Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party pronounced to attend parliament by taking an oath to protect the constitution even though there is a dissimilar opinion about choice of words.

Suu Kyi and her group took oath in front of lower house speaker Shwe Mann on 2 May. The 66-year-old Burma’s Nobel laureate stood to read the parliamentary oath in harmony with 33 other members of her National League for Democracy party who were elected to the lower house in April by-election.

According to Suu Kyi, it was not backing down on the issue. In doing politics, there may be an issue of give and take, she told reporters in Yangon, on 30 April. She said that it was not an act of giving up but it could say showing respects to the desire of the people.

In 1988, she had returned to home temporarily to look after her ailing mother. But, she was unexpectedly caught up in the country’s democracy protest. Her risky choice to travel outside the country follows a year of exterior change in Burma after just about a quarter century of her return trip to her dying mother.

She turned down to leave the country during under house-arrest occasions. She even refused to visit her dying husband Michael Aris, a British citizen. During her free periods, fearing of not being permitted to return to Burma, she abandoned to go oversea trips. Michael Aris passed away with prostate cancer in 1999.

Although she has said previously that she would make Norway her first stop, Suu Kyi has to adjust her foreign trips starting with ‘World economic forum on East Asia 2012’ in Bangkok.

According to a Reuters News, Suu Kyi had accepted an invitation to be present at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Bangkok next week, referring an official of her party. The NLD spokesman Nyan Win said Suu Kyi would head to neighboring Thailand on Monday (28 May).

The 66-year-old Nobel laureate had been under house-arrest for much of the last twenty year confined in her lakeside residence by previous military junta run by Sen. Gen. Than Shwe. Now, President Thein Sein quasi-civilian government has issued a passport to Burma’s Nobel laureate. As a result, she is up to travel out of the country for the first time in 24 years.

Enjoying an incredible location by Phewa Lake it also is home to three of the ten highest mountains in the world. Understandably then it’s a major trekking base for those heading out into the ranges of the Himalayas or wanting a quiet breathing space by the shores of the lake where the main hotels and restaurants cluster.

Tourist operators have made good use of the beautiful surrounds and paragliding, mountain biking, rafting and other active pursuits are all offered with a jaw-dropping backdrop of stunning views.

There are plenty of attractions near the town. Boats can be rented and taken out on Phewa Lake, there are two hilltops from which to enjoy the mountain panoramas (Sarangkot and the World Peace Pagoda), there’s the Gurkha Museum featuring a history of the famed soldiers, the nearby Devi Falls and plenty of shops to browse.

Boats on a misty morning by Phewa Lake.

Terraced hillsides around Pokhara.

A woman planting corn near Pokhara.

Horses riding in the main street of Pokhara.

Soldier at the Gurkha Museum

A local woman with her children.

Phewa Lake as seen from Sarangkot.

Paragliders landing by Phewa Lake.

The Annapurna range from Sarangkot.

Local children pouring over a map of the Pokhara region.

All images by Joanne Lane, www.visitedplanet.com

Travel Wire Asia

A poster designed by students encouraging people not to drop litter

As part of Woodstock’s commitment to give back to the local Himalayan community, the school’s Care and Restoration of the Environment (CARE) programme allows students to get involved in a wide range of community projects.

Earlier this semester a group of us from Grade 4 in the junior school went to the popular pilgrimage spot at the Sirkhanda Devi Temple near Dhanaulti to clear litter.

We arrived at the temple and  headed up the steep path armed with garbage bags and plastic gloves. The sky was blue and the mountains were robed in their greenest finery. The view down to the river valley below spread out before us in all of its splendour.

But sadly the view along the path was less than attractive. Everywhere we looked we were struck by garbage scattered here and there; kukure packets, chips, fruit boxes, plastic bottles, tin cans, paper plates, and discarded clothing and shoes. What a contrast to the amazing view the other direction. How could we possibly pick it all up?

The answer was one piece at a time! We began the tedious task of picking up all of this rubbish and putting it into big black garbage bags. We started with great enthusiasm but our backs soon began to ache and we wondered why people couldn’t be bothered to take their garbage home. At a local teashop we stopped for a cool drink and had a chat with the tea shop owner about the amazing amount of garbage around his shop.

Back at school we had made several posters with advice written on them about being sure not to litter. We taped all sorts of garbage onto it with the hope of attracting people’s attention as they walked by.

Many people we met on the path were impressed with our efforts; one old lady began picking up garbage helping us to fill our bag. We plodded on leaving a trail of filled garbage bags and posters.

At the top the view of the snows was spectacular. Finding a spot with a good view of the valley below we ate our lunch and marvelled at the huge amount of garbage we had managed to collect. Checking around us for anything we might have accidentally dropped, we headed back to the temple gate where the last of our big garbage bags lay.

The path looked so much cleaner now with no litter along the sides of the road. We stopped to admire our posters along the way, proud of the number of people our message would reach. We sent up a little prayer that people would take us seriously and help us with our cause.

At the bottom we thanked two horsemen who carried the garbage down and piled the bags into the taxi. On the long drive back to Mussoorie we contemplated all that had happened. How can we help the garbage problem? It suddenly brought to life all that we had studied about reducing the amount of garbage we use, re-using any garbage we can for something else and recycling as much as possible. Above all we vowed never to throw our trash carelessly on the ground again.

Sue Rollins is a Grade 4 teacher in the junior school at Woodstock.

Grade 5 students with the bags of litter they collected

A study has found that among adults living in Seoul, women are less satisfied with their marriages than are men.

The Seoul city government has placed on its homepage the results of a study titled “Hopeful Seoul Social Index” (희망 서울 생활지표). The study found that 73.4% of the male respondents were satisfied with their wives, but only 64.9% of wives were satisfied with their husbands.

The rate of spousal satisfaction was 8.5% higher for husbands than wives, while the dissatisfaction rate was 4.1% lower.

Also, 44.7% of husbands and 41.7% of wives said that “in our relationship we share values in how we live our lives.”

14.2% of husbands and 16.6% of wives said that they do not, however, showing at least a slight difference between husbands’ and wives’ perceptions.

Older couples were somewhat less likely to perceive that they share common values, and the gender gap in that perception increased.

The study was conducted as part of the Seoul Survey to collect data on how Seoul citizens feel about their lives.

The study was placed online at http://socialindex.seoul.go.kr on the 22nd.

Respondents were surveyed on 15 topics with 300 questions.

Protesters hold candles during a candlelight vigil in downtown Yangon, Tuesday. Pic: AP.

The protests in Yangon follow similar demonstrations in Burma’s second-biggest city, Mandalay, and serve as a reminder that recent moves toward political reform and reconciliation have not quashed social discontent in the Southeast Asian country.

About 100 people marched and held a candlelight vigil Wednesday night in downtown Yangon, about double the number on the previous night. The number of onlookers increased as well, from several hundred on Tuesday to more than 1,000 on Wednesday, as dozens of police stood watch.

“We are here to express our wishes to the government,” said Aung Myint, 35, who stood with fellow protesters near Sule Pagoda, a downtown landmark. “We are not affiliated with any political movement but it is purely a peaceful protest against the electricity shortage that the country suffers.”

Until last year, Burma was led by a military junta that crushed any signs of dissent, fearing they could evolve into a broader challenge to authority.

In 2007, small-scale protests snowballed into a general revolt led by Buddhist monks that was quashed by the use of armed forces.

But reforms by the new government have won international praise and prompted the United States last week to ease sanctions, including a ban on U.S. investment in Burma.

Power cut protests in Mandalay, a traditional center of dissent, began Sunday and have continued. A similar protest was held in Monywa, another city in north-central Burma.

Burma has suffered from power shortages for more than a decade. It has plentiful natural gas supplies, but a poor power distribution infrastructure, which has lagged even more as the economy has grown.

The government on Tuesday appealed for understanding, with the Electric Power Ministry issuing a statement in all three state-run newspapers under the headline, “Plea to the Public.”

It explained that rationing was being applied to cope with greater demand and decreased supply during the hot summer months. It also blamed ethnic Kachin rebels for blowing up several electricity pylons in northern Burma several days ago, reducing power supplies in several areas.

You can read in-depth analysis on this story from Francis Wade here… Burma: Speaking truth to power(cuts)

Reasons being cited for the rupee’s fall are euro zone crisis, widening current account deficit and of course the lack of reforms. Inflation isn’t coming down and as for governance, it is as if there is a vacuum up there, except for yesterday. Indian government raised the price of petrol by Rs. 7.5 (US$0.13), or roughly 10%.

The reason for this drastic move is the fall of rupee and the mounting losses of the oil companies, which are bleeding every day. As per the calculations, the oil companies are bleeding Rs. 21 crore rupees every hour because of oil subsidies.

Oil subsidies include petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG. Together they cost Rs. 138, 541 crores in subsidies from the government. 58% of the total subsidy losses came from diesel for the fiscal year 2011-12.

But if he didn’t have to subsidise the OMCs, he could have brought down the fiscal deficit by an equal amount and his fiscal deficit would be just around 3.75 percent, not 5.1 percent. The markets would be salivating at this turnaround, and foreign money would be flooding in.

This petrol price isn’t necessarily a reform. It’s a mere hike. If there is a hike in diesel price (which is being contemplated to be raised by Rs.5 per liter) then that would be when the real dissent comes in. It’s not that we don’t have any dissent right now. Our resident-dissident Mamatha Banarjee has already weighed in. BJP which, never takes an opportunity, is weighing in meekly. Everyone else took to the punching bag Twitter.

The anger on Twitter was more towards why diesel was left alone, than why the petrol price was raised. Many found solace in humor by joking about how there will be loans for petrol and how they will torch their vehicles with their last drops of petrol.

With yesterday’s hike, Hyderabad (Rs. 80.58 per liter) is the most expensive city for filling up the tank followed by Bangalore (Rs. 80.51 per liter). In the metros Delhi has the cheapest rate at Rs. 73.14 per liter. Goa’s Panjim enjoys a bargain Rs. 62.4 per liter. This is because of a bold move taken by Goa’s Chief Minister to the cut the price.

I have just checked the news and nothing drastic happened in the last 10 hours since the hike, which means we will continue to live with this price hike. The burning question right now on everybody’s mind is, will the government go for Diesel and the cooking gas? Diesel price in Bangalore is hovering around Rs. 46 per liter and with yesterday’s hike for petrol, the difference between these two fuel categories now stands at a staggering Rs. 34 per liter.

Last quarter ,for the first time, diesel car sales surpassed petrol car sales. The main reason driving this surge is the obvious price differential. However, cars aren’t the biggest consumers. It’s the trucks which are the biggest consumers of diesel. Also they are the vehicles which transport everyday goods and vegetables from one place to another. Hitting on diesel is directly hitting on inflation. Most importantly, it is hitting just about everybody. Is the government ready for it? 

PS: The air is still free by the way.

Patrick Winn of Global Post has a 3 series report on the issue (part 1; part 2; and part 3). From Part 2:

“Years ago, I saw an entire foreign crew shot dead,” said Da, a 38-year-old Thai crewman who has worked the seas since 18. “There were 14 of them. They’d been out to sea for five years straight without compensation. The boss didn’t want to pay up, so he lined them up on the side of the boat and shot them one by one.”

Twelve bodies dropped into the sea, Da said; two slumped forward, and bled out on the deck. “I was ordered to dump them into the water,” he said, “and clean up the mess.”

On land, Thai long-haul fishermen tend to occupy society’s lower rungs. “A lot of guys run to the sea to escape the law,” Jord said. But on the open sea, these misfits occupy the higher caste. Their inferiors, trafficked migrants, are compelled to make themselves useful or else.

Murder is obscenely common. Of the seven ex-slaves interviewed by GlobalPost in Thailand and Cambodia, four had witnessed a killing aboard a Thai trawler. So did nearly 60 percent of a 49-man set of rescued captives profiled by a UN anti-trafficking team in 2009.

“I once saw a captain grab a metal spike used to mend nets and stab a fisherman in the chest,” said Moeun Pich, 32, a former sea slave from Cambodia’s central Kampong Thom province. “The crew pulled a sleeping bag over his corpse and rolled it overboard.”

BP: Go and have a read…

btw, some background info below:

The Trafficking in Persons Report 2011 issued by the State Department for Thailand states:

THAILAND (Tier 2 Watch List)

Thailand is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Individuals from neighboring countries, as well as from further away such as Uzbekistan and Fiji, migrate to Thailand for reasons including to flee conditions of poverty. Migrants from Burma, who make up the bulk of migrants in Thailand, seek economic opportunity and escape from military repression. The majority of the trafficking victims identified within Thailand are migrants from Thailand’s neighboring countries who are forced, coerced, or defrauded into labor or commercial sexual exploitation; conservative estimates have this population numbering in the tens of thousands of victims. Trafficking victims within Thailand were found employed in maritime fishing, seafood processing, low-end garment production, and domestic work. Evidence suggests that the trafficking of men, women, and children in labor sectors such as commercial fisheries, fishing-related industries, and domestic work was a significant portion of all labor trafficking in Thailand.

….An IOM report released in May 2011 noted prevalent forced labor conditions, including debt bondage, among Cambodian and Burmese individuals recruited – some forcefully or through fraud – for work in the Thai fishing industry. According to the report, Burmese, Cambodian, and Thai men were trafficked onto Thai fishing boats that traveled throughout Southeast Asia and beyond, and who remained at sea for up to several years, did not receive pay, were forced to work 18 to 20 hours per day for seven days a week, and were threatened and physically beaten. Similarly, an earlier UNIAP study found 29 of 49 (58 percent) surveyed migrant fishermen trafficked aboard Thai fishing boats had witnessed a fellow fishermen killed by boat captains in instances when they were too weak or sick to work. Fishermen typically did not have written employment contracts with their employer. ….

….Thailand is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year. Given the significant scope and magnitude of trafficking in Thailand, there continued to be a low number of convictions for both sex and labor trafficking, and of victims identified among vulnerable populations. ….

… A study released during the year on the trafficking of fishermen in Thailand found that investigations of alleged human trafficking on Thai fishing boats, as well as inspections of these boats, were practically nonexistent, according to surveyed fisherman, NGOs, and government officials. The justice system remained slow in its handling of criminal cases, including trafficking cases.

From a UN news agency report:

Those lucky enough to escape report 20-hour work days, food deprivation, regular beatings and threats at the hands of the crew, many of whom are armed.

“The captain had a gun. We had no choice but to work,” said one survivor.

So bad are conditions that those deemed expendable are tossed overboard.

“Many of these men have been badly traumatized by what’s happened to them,” Mom Sok Char, programme manager for Legal Support for Children and Women (LSCW), a local NGO and one of the first to monitor the trafficking of men, explained. “After months of forced labour, that’s understandable.”
….

Earlier this month, the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, called on the Thai government to “do more to combat human trafficking effectively and protect the rights of migrant workers who are increasingly vulnerable to forced and exploitative labour.

“Thailand faces significant challenges as a source, transit and destination country,” said the UN expert at the end of her 12-day mission to the country.

“The trend of trafficking for forced labour is growing in scale in the agricultural, construction and fishing industries,” she said.

BP: See also this AFP report.

h/t to a reader

Daya Bay Nuclear power plant, Shenzhen, China; pic public domain

A few nations reacted sharply against nuclear, especially Japan, where the disaster occurred. As of just a couple of weeks ago, Japan is nuclear free, having shut off all 54 of its reactors. Whether it will stay that way is unknown, but public opinion is decidedly – and understandably – anti nuclear so a move back to using nuclear power may be a tough sell in the future.

Way over in Central Europe, about as far from Fukushima as you can get, Germany is phasing out its nuclear stations as is neighboring Switzerland. Germany, heavily industrialized and technologically advanced, has long had a strong Green/anti-nuclear lobby. Despite a short-term balk in 2010, there’s been a complete phase-out planned since 2002. They’ve also done well since closing 8 of their reactors following Fukushima. According to the Guardian Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions have gone down by 2%, their economy has grown by 3%, energy consumption dropped by 5.3% and electricity prices have gone down by 10-15% (after an immediate post-Fukushima spike). All that in just a year and after losing 60% of their capacity for nuclear energy.

Japan’s plans, which I go over here, are equally ambitious as Germany’s, though the East Asian’s industrial and economic powerhouse of course is in different circumstances, despite many historical and contemporary comparisons.

The United States, a huge greenhouse gas emitter, leads the world in the number of nuclear plants by a huge margin – 104 to runner-up France’s 58. These countries, along with Russia, the Ukraine, South Korea, India, Canada and the UK, aren’t showing any concrete signs of turning away from nuclear power. India and Russia are building, and planning to build many more to add to their already substantial numbers.

But the real nuclear power ambition lies in China, which is set to lead the world in nuclear reactors in the coming years. Of course it will take a lot of building to catch up to the US (China currently has 14 compared to the US’s 104) but according to the Financial Times, China has 25 under construction with ‘dozens more in advanced planning’. And if any nation can complete large-scale construction projects in short amounts of time it’s China.

Other nations that are currently without nuclear reactors, but are planning on constructing them, include Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Vietnam and the UAE. South Africa, Argentina, Pakistan, Finland and Romania are also planning on increasing their small amount of reactors.

Countries that remain nuclear free include Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Norway,  Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Portugal and Austria.

Australia topped the OECD Better Life Index while Japan has been ranked 16th out of 36. Picture: OECD Better Life Index

But is Japan really that bad a place to live, or are Japanese people just complaining too much?

The OECD Better Life Index bases its results on the housing, personal income, jobs, community, education, environment, civic engagement, health, life satisfaction, safety and work-life balance of people within ３６ of the world’s most developed countries.

The Wall Street Journal reports that thanks to continued trade with countries like China and the country’s resource boom, Australia has managed to ride out the economic storm in Europe, placing the it at the top of the Better Life Index, overall.

While Australia performed exceedingly well, ranking within the top five for civic engagement, health, safety and community, the work-life balance of many Aussies leaves something to be desired. Australians are among the most overworked people in the world, ranked 30^th above Israel, Korea, Japan, Turkey and Mexico.

But what of Japan?

According to the Better Life Index, the citizens of the world’s third largest economy are not very happy. While findings that place Japan as the safest in the world and with one of the best education systems are of little surprise, things are not looking good for Japan, overall.

Although Japan boasts the highest life expectancy in the world at 83 years, on average, only 30 per cent of respondents reported they were in good health – much lower than the OECD average of 70 per cent. While these results could partially be to do with the aging population, Japanese people spend less of on their health than the average developed nation.

And while a almost a third of the country reported that they worked “very long hours – the second highest behind Turkey at 43 per cent), it doesn’t seem to be paying off. The average Japanese person earns $US23458 a year – only $1000 more than the OECD average.

In terms of housing, Japan scored slightly lower than the OECD average. 93 per cent of Japanese people live in dwellings with private access to indoor flushing toilets. The  OECD average is 97. per cent. Similarly Just over three quarters of Japanese people say they are satisfied with their home, compared to the OECD average of 90 per cent.

It’s interesting that areas in which Japan performed worst such as health and housing are rated on a subjective basis. While there is no disputing factors like the average education attainment (the highest amongst those countries surveyed), how much time someone spends with their friends, or how “satisfied” someone is with their house, cannot be accurately measured.

15 per cent of Japanese people said they ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ spend time with friends or family – the highest figure in OECD countries. But don’t we all feel overworked sometimes? How often are exaggerations thrown around because we’re in a particular mood?

With a shaky economy and signs of a hot summer teamed with power outages thanks to the temporary shutdown of the country’s nuclear reactors, it is easy for Japanese people to become depressed by their surroundings, especially when their neighbour, South Korea, is growing from strength to strength.

Whatever the case may be – whether Japanese people truly are less happy that many other countries, or whether they just think they’re worse off – perhaps what is important for Japanese society is to look beyond what is, and aim for what could-be.

To promote real dating over internet dating for the company Ô Fiô Bier Bar, Brazil-based ad agency Dim & Canzian created a humorous print ad.

In the ad, it shows how a man can transform himself into an attractive woman in just 10 steps—showing how misleading internet dating can be.

Scroll down to view the pictures of the step-by-step transformation:

[via Creative Criminals]
TAXI Daily News

“The Voice” weekly still faces a defamation suit over the article published in March. The initial court ruling means it will be allowed to protect its reporter’s name, lawyer Win Shwe told The Associated Press.

Lawsuits involving the media are a new development in Burma and part of an easing of censorship under the reform-minded government that took office last year.

Under the previous military regime, strict media censorship determined what was fit to print and violators faced severe penalties.

Despite the new freedoms, publications still follow their old policy of writing anonymously on sensitive subjects.

In the article published in March, The Voice wrote about misappropriation and irregularities in the accounts of several ministries including information, agriculture, industry and mines from 2009-2011. The article cited a report from the auditor general’s office to the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

The Mines Ministry filed a defamation suit in response to the article and demanded that editor-in-chief Kyaw Min Swe reveal the article’s author. The defamation hearing will continue June 6.

A weekly publication “The Modern” faced an earlier defamation case over an article that alleged truck drivers had bribed engineers at the Construction Ministry to let them use a certain bridge even though their vehicles exceeded the weight limit. One of the engineers sued the publication, but the two sides settled after the magazine printed a correction.

Burma’s Press Scrutiny Board has ended censorship on subjects such as health, entertainment, fashion and sports but many in the media say the arrival of lawsuits is a new threat to media freedom.

Articles on general news and religion are still required to go through censors prior to publication, but the Press Scrutiny Board says it will end all forms of censorship in June.

The international crimes division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has arrested six people from The Philippines, including 58-year old Mr. A, on charges of converting 16 billion won into US dollars and secretly moving the money overseas.

Mr. A and the others are accused of receiving the money from over 25,000 workers from The Philippines living in Korea starting in August of 2004, then converting the money into US dollars and smuggling it into The Philippines.

They would fill ramen packages with 50 $100 bills each, police said, and then passed through the X-ray inspection of the Customs Service and delivered the money to a currency exchange business in The Philippines.

Mr. A and the others made an illegal profit over 13.5 billion won this way, considering fees and exchange rate differences.

Police are searching for over 30 others yet to be caught.