Is new town old vote ploy?

EDITORIAL

Published: 14/07/2011 at 03:13 AM
Newspaper section: News

Environmental groups are up in arms against the Pheu Thai Party's ambitious megaproject to build a high-tech town on a huge tract of land to be reclaimed from the sea in the Gulf of Thailand from Samut Prakan to Samut Sakhon.

The environmentalists have every reason to feel worried although few details about it are publicly known besides what was said in the the party's election campaign and bits and pieces of information from Thaksin Shinawatra and the party's economic team.

They claim the project will permanently and irrecoverably destroy all the remaining mangrove forests along the coast and kill off all the marine life such as fish, shrimps, crabs and clams which rely on the forests as a breeding ground.

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johninbkk
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Discussion 15 : 15/07/2011 at 11:47 PM15
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"...in arms against the Pheu Thai Party's ambitious megaproject to build a high-tech town...fishermen and residents living along the coast will be deprived of their traditional livelihood and a cheap source of food. Alternative jobs to be offered by the government will, at the very best, be as labourers on the minimum wage."
FYI, technology creates jobs. To stay in the stone age to protect stone age jobs is a bit silly. This article comes off as an anti-TS opinion devoid of any facts.
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tomb
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Discussion 14 : 15/07/2011 at 07:30 PM14
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If it doesn't damage the environment, creates jobs and makes money, I'm all for it.

Thinking, however, that 1 rai could be sold for 20-30 million baht is downright delusional.
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ivyking
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Discussion 13 : 15/07/2011 at 10:32 AM13
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bangkok, the next Dubai. Boom and bust within a decade.
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amazed
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Discussion 12 : 14/07/2011 at 10:06 PM12
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The beauty of this new, "Cub Red", is that it doesn't have to show that it would be successful or safe or anything else for Thaksin and his big investor cronies. All of these grandiose projects are like a giant pyramid scheme with the big boys getting their profits up front and whatever mess is left for the late comers is the government's and country's problem. The professional spin experts will be sure to lay the blame on others and show how the country benefited, even as the site turns into a toxic land area used by the homeless. On to the next scheme.
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jacksprat
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Discussion 11 : 14/07/2011 at 08:50 PM11
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Presumably this would all disappear into the sea in a few years, as the islands in Dubai are already doing.
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bkk-farang
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Discussion 10 : 14/07/2011 at 02:40 PM10
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We know that the government does not want to sell any Thai land to foreigners but it looks like they want to make an exception with the new land from the see.
Maybe they should make an exception and allow foreigners to buy some land in the north and north east of Thailand under the condition that the buyers bring new jobs and care about the environment. That could be a win–win situation.
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lazar
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Discussion 9 : 14/07/2011 at 11:53 AM9
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This is fantastic news. Mr Thaksin will have the law changed to allow aliens to own land in Thailand. About time too.
This is a step in the right direction.
On the small matter of the environment.....Throw that topic in the "too hard basket" lol
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dougo
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Discussion 8 : 14/07/2011 at 11:14 AM8
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In view of climate scientists' predictions on the future rise of sea level, it would seem prudent to put a hold on all major projects near the coasts. Shift development inland.
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airborne
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Discussion 7 : 14/07/2011 at 09:50 AM7
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200,000 rai will be allocated as public land and the rest sold to potential foreign investors at between 20-30 million baht a rai.

Last I looked it is not legal for foreigners to buy land in Thailand. And there was the memo from the Land Department issued recently that all foreigners owning land through nominees_the wife_would be hunted down, deported and the land confiscated.
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franklin
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Discussion 6 : 14/07/2011 at 09:11 AM6
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Geoffo (Disc 4) TS certainly qualifies to become a “winner”. Now if only he would head to the check-out counter.
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