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"Financial tycoons now often pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries."

"Green with envy Published: 8 Apr 2013 at 00.00Newspaper section: Life I'm sure there are people out there who aren't aware that there is a 500-rai tract of lush green land sitting smack in the middle of the city. You might even drive past it, or around it, every day, but it has always eluded you. It's the big plot of land belonging to the State Railway of Thailand in Makkasan, bordered on one side by the Airport Link, and on the other by the Chaturatis Road that connects Si Ayutthaya Road with Rama IX Road. No one paid any attention to it until recently when the SRT announced it was considering developing the land into a commercial complex to boost its books, which always stand in the red. I do sympathise with them in a way, having to give away all those free train rides as part of the government's populist policies. As far as state enterprises go, the SRT incurs the highest losses _ over 7 billion baht a year, equivalent to 50% of its annual budget. But suddenly there looms the spectre of yet another commercial complex in Bangkok. The SRT governor was quoted as saying that he envisions a "new Bangkok landmark where people can use the facilities for important events to be seen around the world", citing the New Year's countdown and Songkran festivities among these. He also expects the complex to dwarf the nearby CentralWorld. According to the SRT governor, some 200 rai of the plot will be used for building new roads, and the remaining 300 rai or so will be for commercial development. He does say, however, that 15-20% of this _ approximately 60 rai _ will be landscaped as green areas. He makes it sound so generous I could cry. The way other cities calculate a per capita park area, it seems Bangkok thrives on a per capita shopping centre area. I'm sure we can be proud of the number of upmarket commercial complexes in the city. On the 4.5km stretch of road between Sukhumvit Soi 24 and Pathumwan intersection, I can already count almost 20 shopping centres ranging

"THEY live in stilted shacks built on a mud flat above piles of oyster shells, broken glass and rubbish, their nomadic days on the seas of South-east Asia gone forever. Liya Pramongkit, an elder and midwife of Thailand's largest group of Moken-speaking sea gypsies, saw her people on the small island of Koh Lao dying at the rate of one a week, many of them starving mothers and babies. "We have lost our traditional way of life as our children no longer hear the stories that have been handed down by our ancestors," Liya says, her deeply lined face showing the hardship the Moken have suffered since they were forced to leave their seafaring lives, where the only things that mattered were the tides, the fish, the storms, the moon and the sea spirits. "Before, when we lived and died on the sea, life was much better," she says. Advertisement More than three decades working in Bangkok's slums did not prepare Catholic priest Joe Maier for what he saw on Koh Lao when he made his first 30-minute boat ride here from the Thai fishing port of Ranong, in south-west Thailand, four years ago. "The people were literally starving to death, trapped between the modern world and the Moken world," Father Maier says. "I have never seen people as poor. "The women did not have milk in their breasts to feed their babies and everyone had [intestinal] worms ... there were no traditional values ... it was a matter of basic survival." For centuries, home for the Moken were hand-built boats called kabang which they plied through the Mergui Archipelago, where 800 islands are scattered along 400 kilometres of the coasts of Burma and Thailand, in the Andaman Sea. They lived on fish, molluscs, sandworms and oysters, accumulating little and living on land only during the monsoons. But massively depleted fishing stocks, the declaration of marine reserves and crackdowns on itinerant fishers in Burma forced them off their boats into an uncertain future where they are struggling to survive in a Th

"The place to be Local Alike is using tourism to boost the profiles of struggling communities 15 Jun 2016 at 04:00 1,021 viewed0 comments NEWSPAPER SECTION: LIFE | WRITER: KANIN SRIMANEEKULROJ Somsak Boonkam observing a forest hiking trail in Chiang Rai. Photos: Sayan Chuenudomsavad With their focus on introducing sustainable tourism practices to local rural communities in order to improve quality of life, local-tourism website Local Alike has recently been chosen to represent Thailand in Chivas' The Venture campaign, a competition among the world's social-enterprise start-ups, with the winner receiving a US$1 million prize. Now in its second year, The Venture's final round of judging will occur sometime next month. "We actually competed in the Thailand preliminaries last year, though we didn't make the cut," said Local Alike's founder and CEO Somsak Boonkam. "The judges last year were concerned about our ability to scale up, as we had only 18 partner communities offered. This year, we've grown to include over 50 member communities, all of whom were working very closely with to introduce and develop sustainable tourism in their communities. It goes together nicely with the campaign's slogan of 'Win the right way', as we are helping these local communities grow by their own strength instead of just giving them money." Unlike many other tourism-related businesses, Local Alike puts a significant emphasis on collaborating with locals in improving their community's quality of living. Furthermore, they also work closely with these communities to develop unique tourism experiences based on the community's cultural heritage. Once they're ready, Local Alike puts the community on their online platform, where tourists can go and enjoy the activities and facilities prepared and overseen by the locals themselves. Somsak Boonkam meeting with representatives from a partner community. To demonstrate his point, Somsak recalled his experiences working with the Baan Suan Pa com

Iceland 'best country for gender equality' Iceland's government is led by a female prime minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir Continue reading the main story Women in the Workplace Job gap 'narrowing for mothers' Gender case hits insurance costs Call for more women on boards Women find glass ceiling 'intact' Iceland remains the country that has the greatest equality between men and women, according to an annual report by the World Economic Forum (WEF). It is the second year in succession that Iceland has topped the foundation's Global Gender Gap Report. Nordic nations dominate the top of the list of 134 countries, with Norway in second place and Finland third. The report measures equity in the areas of politics, education, employment and health. Continue reading the main story Lowest gender gaps in 2010 1 Iceland - no change from 2009 2 Norway - Up from 3rd 3 Finland - Down from 2nd 4 Sweden - No change 5 New Zealand - No change 6 Republic of Ireland - Up from 8th 7 Denmark - No change 8 Lesotho - Up from 10th 9 Philippines - No change 10 Switzerland - Up from 13th 11 Spain - Up from 17th 12 South Africa - Down from 6th 13 Germany - Down from 12th 14 Belgium - Up from 33rd 15 UK - No change Source: World Economic Forum Sweden is in fourth place, with New Zealand fifth. "Nordic countries continue to lead the way in eliminating gender inequality," said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum. "Low gender gaps are directly correlated with high economic competitiveness. Women and girls must be treated equally if a country is to grow and prosper." The UK came 15th in the latest rankings - no change from 2009. France was one of the biggest fallers, down to 46th place from 18th in 2009. WEF that said was a result of a decline in the number of women holding ministerial positions in the French government. Meanwhile the US has risen to 19th place from 31st in 2009, because of a higher number of women in President Obama'

BP forced to pay compensation in one of the largest ever class action lawsuits.

"China has fined popular film director Zhang Yimou more than one million dollars for violating the country's one-child policy. The director, who said he has three children, has 30 days to pay 7.5m yuan ($1.2m, £729,000), state media say."

"HAT YAI, Thailand - He had already endured a treacherous journey down the Bay of Bengal, squeezed in the belly of a fishing trawler, then squashed in a pickup truck as it hurtled down Thailand's southern coast. Malaysia, his final destination, was tantalizingly close. But under the towering trees of a rubber plantation, the smuggler who had brought Abdul Musid, a 30-year-old from Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority, this far made a new demand: Pay more or be left behind. When Mr. Musid pleaded that he had no more money, the smuggler kicked him in the groin and left him for dead. "