#Cambodia / #Vietnam stops nine overloaded trucks with illegal lumber

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Authorities in Vietnam’s Gia Lai province have recently stopped at least nine overloaded timber trucks crossing into the country from the Kingdom, despite the Cambodian government ostensibly banning wood exports to its eastern neighbor, according to a Vietnamese news report.

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The report, published earlier this month by Baomoi.com, which is described online as a government-owned news outlet, complains about the danger of the overburdened timber trucks from Cambodia regularly barrelling down Vietnam’s National Road 19, which connects to the border crossing in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadav district, and refers to lax enforcement by Vietnamese authorities of the vehicles exceeding their weight limit.

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Chief traffic inspector for Gia Lai province Nguyen Dang Hung told the outlet that his forces had stopped nine trucks carrying twice their legal capacity. In those cases, Vietnamese authorities unloaded excess wood, temporarily seized the trucks and fined the drivers about $28, it stated.

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Not mentioned in the article is the fact that, since an export ban on timber was announced in January last year, no timber trucks from Cambodia should be present. Cambodian officials have repeatedly asserted that the timber trade with Vietnam has stopped following the ban and subsequent crackdown. 

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The article presents figures attributed to the Gia Lai People’s Committee from late last year stating that 16 companies in the province had been permitted to import 300,000 cubic metres of timber from Cambodia.

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The Post was unable to reach a representative at the Gia Lai People’s Committee to verify the figure or establish its timeframe.

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Recently released Vietnamese customs data collected by the US-based NGO Forest Trends, however, revealed that last year, Vietnam imported 139,306 cubic metres of uncut logs and just over 171,000 cubic metres of sawn wood from Cambodia.

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Ratanakkiri provincial border police chief Heng Ratana, however, dismissed the report and figures. “Through my border there is no [timber smuggling],” he said, in comments later echoed by O’Yadav district police chief Mao Sann.

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“The report is not right. If there were cases of [wood smuggling] journalists would report about it,” Sann said on the phone. “Each month we have cracked down on many cases. This month we stopped about five or six.”

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However, saying timber flows to Vietnam were increasing, long-time anti-logging activist Marcus Hardtke called on the government to clarify its export ban policy and its legal status. “The trade to Vietnam is alive and well. If anything, it’s getting worse this dry season,” he said.

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Source - PhnomPenhPost

Cambodia - Push to reduce chemical dependency

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The Ministry of Agriculture is working to develop a procedural framework for the trade and use of biological control agents (BCAs) in agriculture in an effort to improve crop yields, protect consumer health and ensure continued access to key export markets. Regulation could also create opportunities for the import or local production of BCA products a possibility that has piqued the interest of foreign firms.

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Speaking yesterday at a consultative meeting on regulations and national registration of biological control agents, Sam Chhom Sangha, deputy secretary-general of the Ministry of Agriculture, said the use of BCAs could provide “holistic” support to Cambodia’s struggling agriculture sector, which he claimed had been damaged by the overuse of chemical agents.

“We need to find ways to boost agricultural productivity, encourage crop resilience and diversification and improve commercialisation,” he said.

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“Our fields are under-producing and this is because the soil has been damaged by years of reckless use of chemicals.” 

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Biological control agents are an integral part of pest management programs that use natural mechanisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, algae or natural insect predators to protect crops from devastating plant diseases and insect infestations. While already in limited use in Cambodia, a regulatory framework on the trade and use of BCAs would facilitate the import of these products and provide solid footing for local production.

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“BCAs can improve our yields once we finalise and implement their regulation, allowing our farmers to be less dependent on chemical pesticides,” explained Sangha.The Ministry of Agriculture is working with regional experts to draft a national regulatory framework on biological control agents based on ASEAN guidelines.

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Sangha said the government must speed up its adoption of regulations or risk challenges to its agricultural exports as countries tighten restrictions on the import of contaminated products.

In one recent example, the European Commission has given Cambodian producers of white rice until June and fragrant rice until December to eliminate the use of the fungicide Tricyclazole. Failure to comply could block rice export shipments to the European Union, the Kingdom’s largest market for milled rice.

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Thomas Jaekel, a regional GIZ expert, said BCAs offers farmers an “economically and environmentally viable” way to increase yields by building crop resilience and improving soil quality. However, convincing Cambodian farmers to cut back on their chemical fertilisers and pesticides can be a challenge.

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“BCAs are used to complement, not eradicate, the use of chemicals, but the problem is that Cambodian farmers and distributors of chemicals are convinced that the more you spray your crops the better they will be,” he said.

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Jaekel noted that when Indonesia adopted ASEAN regulations in 2014 and set up the procedures for properly registering products, there was a massive uptake in applications for BCA products.

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“A week after the BCA regulation was approved in Indonesia, they had already over 10 applications from foreign and local firms trying to register their products,” he said.According to GIZ data, the Indonesian government receives almost 200 applications annually.

Sarah Anderson, a Singapore-based research and development project manager for German industrial giant BASF, said that despite BCAs having a limited market in ASEAN, there was plenty of room to grow. She said BASF, which has an entire arm dedicated to research and development of BCA products, would consider exporting to Cambodia if clear regulations were put in place.

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“The problem is that there is still a gap between government intentions and those of the traditional chemical distributors,” she said. “Easily 5 percent of the pesticide market in Cambodia could be replaced by bio-pesticides.” 

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However, she said the use of the products hinged on the government cutting red tape. “If the regulations are too strict or large companies see that costs are too high, they won’t enter the market,” she said.

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Ieng Sotheara, founder of Entree Baitang Co Ltd, said local demand for BCAs was growing. His company has been distributing Trichoderma – a naturally occurring fungicide that also protects plants against pests and toxins for the last two harvest cycles. 

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Last year, the company sold 100 tonnes of compost impregnated with Trichoderma. This year it has orders for 500 tonnes.

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Sotheara said he sells the locally-produced Trichoderma at $12 per kilo, or $400 per tonne when mixed with compost.

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“Some of the rice farmers say that it has increased their yields by 20 percent,” he said.

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Source - PhnomPenhPost

Thai tourism: Another victim of the bomb?

The remarkable resilience of the hospitality industry is facing its sternest challenge yet.

 

 When Thailand's new deputy prime minister overseeing economic and foreign affairs, Somkid Jatusripitak, delivered his first major public policy address last week, the news was far from good.

Investigations had so far proven unsuccessful in finding who was behind the bombing at the Erawan Shrine, and the short-term economic consequences continue to be felt. More than 20 nations and territories have issued travel advisories or warnings for their citizens traveling to Thailand. Hotels, as well as tour operators, are reporting cancellations.

And now, the latest economic data has Thai exports shrinking for the seventh consecutive month. Overall exports from Thailand from January to July are now down 4.66 per cent. In June, the country had the worst monthly contraction since 2011 - a 7.87 per cent year-on-year decline.

Yet in this nation famously known for looking on the bright side, Somkid has declared that the economy is merely weak, not in crisis. This is to be no repeat of the Asian financial crisis of 1997.

Five years since violent street protests and the worst floods to hit Thailand in 50 years brought about dire predictions for the nation's tourism industry, the purveyors of economic doom are back. Pessimistic views compete with images from the nation's longstanding "Amazing Thailand" tourism promotions.

Worries continue about the impact of the bombing on the all important inward bound travel market. Chinese travellers now make up about a quarter of all foreign tourists in Thailand annually, with the Erawan Shrine and the surrounding shopping district a popular destination. More than 4 million visitors from China travelled to Thailand in the first six months of this year alone, and those numbers were expected to continue to rise.

In the immediate aftermath of the bomb attack, equities related to tourism, transport and distribution, given Thailand's key role as a regional logistics hub, were particularly hard hit. The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index experienced its worst one-day decline in more than a year. The baht also has fallen to six-year lows to the US dollar.

Responsible for about 10 per cent of Thailand's gross domestic product, the nation's vital tourism industry had been one of the few economic bright spots for Southeast Asia's second-largest economy. And yet amid the gloom and the near-term chill on Thailand's markets, one lesson from past crises in this Land of Smiles is that the Thai tourism sector will survive and once again thrive.

CEO Kevin Beauvais of GLOW Hotels & Resorts, with operations in Thailand and Malaysia and other properties under development in China, Vietnam and the Maldives, underscores this view.

"Thailand is amazingly resilient and still offers some of the best tourism values in the world," says Beauvais, who has lived and worked in Thailand through floods, political turmoil and a succession of governments. "In spite of Monday's [August 17] incident, Bangkok remains one of the safest cities in the world," he adds. "People will always come back for the sun, sand [and] sea."

 

 Bouncing back

Tourism numbers in recent years support this view. Bangkok has continued along with London to take one of the top two spots in the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index for the last five years. That index ranks 132 destination cities around the world in terms of total international overnight visitor arrivals and cross-border spending.

Bangkok's draw remained despite some of the worst street violence in Thailand's recent history.

In May 2010, large parts of Bangkok were paralysed by weeks of anti-government demonstrations. Rioting and violence spread, leading to the declaration of Bangkok's first night curfew in 15 years.

Thailand's largest shopping complex was set ablaze. A television station and the stock exchange, among others, were attacked. More than 70 people lost their lives.

Then, as now, dire warnings followed about the nation's tourism industry. Today, a gleaming new and expanded CentralWorld shopping mall complex has emerged from the embers as one of Bangkok's most visited destinations.

And, just a few months later, in October and November 2010, Thailand was hit by one of the worst calamities in five decades. Floods killed hundreds, inundated homes and factories, closed airports and roads, and stranded tourists and residents across the country. Dire predictions about the tourism sector also ensued as hotel occupancy rates plummeted and expenditures by visitors declined.

Few international visitors also may now remember that four years earlier, on December 31, 2006, during the New Year's countdown, bombings in Bangkok left at least 40 dead or injured.

So, what lies ahead for Thailand's enduring travel and tourism industry?

Dan Fraser, co-founder of Smiling Albino, a leading luxury adventure tour company in the Kingdom, says: "Bookings will take a very short-term hit, like the markets, but will bounce back. Thailand is resilient and has a history of bouncing back… so we don't expect anything more than a temporary blip."

Short of a sustained campaign of bombings, which would wreak havoc with any nation's tourism sector, Thailand will more than recover from the Erawan Shrine tragedy. That event is unlikely to have a long-lasting impact on the nation's still lacklustre economy or investor sentiment, already weighed down by Thailand's continued political uncertainties.

Other major travel destinations have withstood much worse attacks - including the resort island of Bali, the focus of bombings in 2002 and 2005, and New York in September 2001. The Erawan Shrine has reopened, vigilance is up, and the nearby Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok hotel, which experienced some minor damage in the Monday explosion, is in full operation at this time, says Hyatt area vice president and hotel general manager Gordon Fuller.

With exports continuing to contract, falling consumer sentiment, a drought-stricken agricultural sector and a persistent political divide, the resilience of the nation's tourism sector should be among the least of the worries facing Thailand's newly installed economic team.

Indeed, that so much focus has been placed on the Erawan Shrine bombing's possible impact on tourism is itself a testament to the sector's ability to bounce back. It has done so in the past, and will do so again.

Source: The Nation

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Chinatown Yaowarat, #Bangkok

Chinatown is located in one of the oldest areas of Bangkok.

It represents the resettlement of Chinese on the Western bank of Chao Phraya river

after Rama I moved the capital of the kingdom from Thonburi to Rattanakosin.

From there Chinese traders operated maritime junk trade between (Siam)

and China throughout the Rattanakosin period. By the end of 1891,

 King Rama V had ordered the construction of many roads,

including Yaowarat Road. Chinatown does not consist of only Yaowarat Road,

but also includes others such as: Charoen Krung Road, Mungkorn Road,

Songwat Road, Songsawat Road, Chakkrawat Road, etc.

Yaowarat’s Sam Peng Market is the center of the area.

The path of the road is said to resemble a dragon’s curvy body,

making it an auspicious location for business. There are many shops selling gold,

garments, textiles, stationery, souvenirs, second-hand parts

and equipment, electric goods, computer parts, antiques,

imported musical instruments and local delicacies.

 

 Land prices around Yaowarat Road have always been one of the most expensive

in Bangkok and Thailand due to limited land which is mostly owned

by prominent Thai-Chinese families who are often leaders

in their respective industries.

Yaowarat Road  in Samphanthawong district is home to Bangkok’s Chinatown,

which is centred on Sam Pheng Lane. Chinatown’s Sam Pheng Market

is an old business centre noted for a post-WW II visit

by the young king Ananda Mahidol. Modern Chinatown now covers a large area

around Yaowarat and Charoen Krung Road.

 There are many small streets and alleys full of shops

and vendors selling all types of goods. It has been the main centre for trading

by the Chinese community since they moved from their old

site some 200 years ago to make way for the construction

of Wat Phra Kaew, the Grand Palace.

 

 

Nearby is the Phahurat or Indian market, and the area is bordered

by the Chao Phraya River to the south. Yaowarat Road is also well known for

its sheer variety of food, and at night turns into a large “food street”

that draws tourists and locals from all over the city.

 

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