http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/06/11/politics/politics_30104843.php
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
Published on June 11, 2009
There are at least four reasons why Thailand is not able to push Burma's political development toward democracy and national reconciliation, as well as to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
First, the current government led by the Democrat Party has no record of civilian supremacy, not to mention democracy and reconciliation. The Thai government is not comfortable commenting on any military run government since it obtained help from military top brass to form its own coalition. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva knows very well how much he owes the commanders.
People in this country love to call on the military to intervene whenever they have problems with civilian government. The latest military coup d'etat happened only three years ago.
The Thai military junta dissolved at the end of 2007. Nobody in this country could say the military has no influence in politics, notably over this current government.
So-called national reconciliation is a political term this government might not be able to spell out. As long as it cannot reconcile the red- and yellow-shirted movements, it's better to have no comment about the even worse national division in Burma.
Disunity in that country is deeper than in Thailand, absolutely. It is not just a matter of political difference, but also a problem of race.
Second, Thai elites - notably those in power - have no clear vision about future opposition and dissident groups. They have no more faith in the opposition's fighting against the Burmese junta.
It seems the Thai elite jump to the conclusion the opposition, and even the rebellious ethnic minorities Thailand uses as a buffer, have a very slim chance of defeating the Tatmadaw [Burmese military].
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya has talked to ethnic minorities along the Thai border several times over past months since he took the position, to convince them to turn themselves into the junta's fold.
The move is most helpful for the junta but weakens the dissidents.
Very few Thais connect strongly with Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy. Some female members of the ruling Democrat Party and SEA Write-award winning author Jiranan Pitpreecha met Suu Kyi more than a decade ago.
Thammasat University conferred an honorary doctorate degree on her when she turned 60, but such a link is very slim. No strong pressure group could force the Thai government to help her.
Third, the Thai economy relies too much on resources from Burma. The government, every government, would never dare challenge the junta. Making Burma angry might cause trouble in business.
Thailand could not join any economic sanctions to pressure the junta since they would pose a direct challenge to its own economy. The jewellery industry, for example, suffered from the US's Tom Lantos Block Burmese Jade Act of 2008, since it stifled imports from any country of gems and jewellery containing Burmese raw material.
Rubies and other Burmese gemstones account for about 20 per cent of raw materials for the Thai jewellery industry.
Exports of gems and jewellery to the US dropped sharply in the last quarter of 2008 when the Act was enforced in October. Exports to the US contracted 35.19 per cent between October and December last year, according to Ministry of Commerce data.
Besides gemstones, Thailand is buying via pipeline more than a billion cubic feet of gas a day from Burma's Yadana and Yedagun gas fields, accounting for some 20 per cent of total consumption in this country.
Fourth, Thailand has the burden of proximity as it shares more than 2,200 kilometres of border with Burma.
The borders shelter problems ranging from smuggling and trafficking to political conflict. The junta knows how to use border issues to mount pressure on Bangkok.
Burma's military offensive against the Karen National Union over past weeks caused at least 3,000 people to flee to Thailand, home already to 111,000 displaced persons from Burma.
The operation coincided with the Thai Asean Chairman's statement on Aung San Suu Kyi.
As long as this country fails to overcome these obstacles, it will find it very difficult in lending a hand to save Aung San Suu Kyi.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Reasons why Thailand can't push Burma too far
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Brazil on the Road to Fossil Fuel Independence
In the world today, Brazil is the one country that has already taken major steps to greatly reduce their dependence on foreign oil. During the 1973 oil crisis, the Brazilian Government at the time decided to implement their "National Alcohol Program", better known in Brazil as "Proalcool". It was a planned strategy to implement an ethanol production infrastructure for Brazil's automobiles. Today, 8 out of 10 cars on the road in Brazil run on ethanol. Some run on 100% ethanol. This brilliant program set the stage for ethanol to fulfill the promise of energy independence and freedom from reliance on fossil fuels for the Brazilian people.
The Source
The United States is the largest producer of Ethanol producing about 35% of the world's ethanol. Brazil is a close second producing about 32 to 33% of the world's ethanol. In America, Ethanol is derived from the distillation of sugar that is obtained from corn. In Brazil, ethanol is derived from the sugar cane plant. Sugar cane grows all year round in Brazil. The ethanol derived from sugar cane provides 8 times the energy that was used to make it. Also, the waste material after the sugar is extracted from the cane is used as energy for power plants. Ethanol burns cleaner than regular gasoline because of the extra oxygen in its chemical makeup. Because ethanol is distilled from a plant, it emits no harmful toxic emissions such as carbon monoxide.
The CO2 that is released into the air when ethanol is burned is absorbed by the original plant or biomass (such as the sugar cane plant) that the ethanol was extracted from to begin with, making ethanol a carbon-neutral fuel. Brazil is poised to greatly surpass the United States in ethanol production worldwide. The road that led to this energy paradigm shift was not so smooth though. In the beginning, the government was subsidizing sugar cane growers. But as soon as oil prices dropped in the early 80's, the government stopped subsidizing sugar cane growers and many of them went out of business. Demand for ethanol had dropped.
The Future
Brazil has managed to achieve a 50% replacement of petroleum by ethanol. Also, 80% of all of Brazil's car fleet is flex-fuel capable. They can run on 100% gasoline or any combination of ethanol/gas mix such as E10, E25, or E85. Brazil is on the road to total oil replacement by ethanol, a notion that doesn't sit well with the national oil company in Brazil; Petrobras. The present sugar cane cultivated area in Brazil dedicated to ethanol production is about 7.4 million acres. It constitutes about 1% of the total arable land. In Brazil, there has been an increase of about 3% a year in ethanol production without having to add to the arable land with more sugar cane plantations. This is due to the refining of extraction technology and the derivation of higher yielding sugar cane plants. It wouldn't be hard for Brazil to achieve 100% replacement in the very near future.
If you want to learn more information about ethanol and ethanol production and products, please stop by http://www.allethanol.com and have a look.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Brazil mobilizes military might
Eduardo Simoes, Reuters
Published: Saturday, September 13, 2008
Brazil deployed warships, fighter jets and thousands of troops off its southern coast Friday, starting two weeks of military manoeuvres aimed at showing the world it can defend vast new oil reserves.
The exercise, dubbed Operation Atlantic, will simulate an attack by a fictitious enemy on oil platforms and pipelines both on and off shore along the coastline of the states of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Espirito Santo.
The maneuvers are the latest in a national debate over how to manage a slew of recent deep-sea oil finds that could thrust Brazil, which still occasionally imports crude to meet domestic demand, into the top 10 of the world's oil producers.
Brazilian marines prepare for war games designed to show the world Brazil can defend its oil riches.
Sergio Moraes, Reuters
This is an exercise that is intended to dissuade, a show of force," said Admiral Edlander Santos, the commander of the operation.
Over the next two weeks, 10,000 troops, as many as 50 fighter jets, 17 ships and at least one submarine will be mobilized for the exercise, which will cost about $11.2 million to stage.
The operation is also intended to take stock of the growing list of military hardware that Brazil covets to defend its offshore resources, which are becoming one of its top defense priorities along with a porous border in the Amazon jungle.
Brazil began imagining itself as an oil superpower when state-run energy giant Petrobras announced in November it had found five to eight billion barrels of light crude deep beneath the ocean floor in the Santos basin, the world's second-biggest oil find in the last 20 years.
Just this week, Petrobras estimated that another nearby deep-sea field holds between three and four billion barrels of oil and natural gas. Together, the two finds could lift Brazil's proven reserves by 85 per cent, and that may be just the tip of the iceberg.
Some analysts estimate that 50 to 80 billion barrels of oil may lie deep below a thick layer of salt under the seabed along an 800 kilometre stretch off Brazil's southern coast.
As part of the strategic defense plan, Brazil is negotiating a military alliance with France that would include the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine. It is also seeking closer military ties with Russia.
© The Calgary Herald 2008
Brazil plans to build 50 more nuclear power plants
www.chinaview.cn 2008-09-13 13:19:45 Print
RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao announced Friday Brazil plans to build 50 to 60 nuclear power plants in half a century, with each having capacity of 1,000 megawatts.
"The general idea is to build one plant per year," he said during a visit to the construction site of Brazil's third nuclear power plant, Angra 3.
The ambitious plan, a priority for the administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has yet to be approved by Brazil's National Council of Energy Policy, he added.
The construction of Angra 3 started in 1984, but was halted for21 years. The decision to resume the project and expand the nuclear program was welcomed by Brazil's industrial sector as a way to prevent an energy crisis in future decades, but environmentalists warned of the problem of the residues storage.
Angra 1 and Angra 2, both located in the southeastern state of Rio De Janeiro, currently have a combined installed capacity of 2,000 megawatts.
Besides the three plants, four others, two in northeastern Brazil and two in the southeastern part, are due to start operation by 2020.
It is said Brazil's environment ministry will not allow Angra 3to start operation until the residues problem is resolved.
According to Lobao, the construction of Angra 3 is due to be resumed in April 2009 and will take almost five years to complete, at a cost of 7 billion reais (3.7 billion U.S. dollars).
Editor: Du
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