Thailand // Current TV

Thailand may start trading of water derivatives, giving investors a means of hedging against disasters after the nation’s worst floods in almost 70 years, the Securities & Exchange Commission said.

The regulator is studying the possibility of introducing contracts whose value would be linked to rainfall, or the level of water in the nation’s major dams, said Vorapol Socatiyanurak, who started as secretary-general of the SEC in October. He declined to say when trading might begin.

The total face value of global weather-related derivatives grew by 20 percent between 2010 and 2011 to $11.8 billion, according to a May 20 report by the Washington DC-based Weather Risk Management Association. Demand growth was seen in contracts related to rainfall, snow, hurricanes and wind from industries such as agriculture, construction and transport, it said.

The majority of weather contracts are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. (CME) CME snow contracts, for example, are based on the exchange’s Snowfall Index, a measure of average monthly snowfall in certain U.S. cities. Traders “determine what amount of snowfall would be detrimental to their businesses and take futures or options positions based on that,” the exchange said on its website.

The risk for Thai water derivatives “would be a lack of trading liquidity,” said Joe Vongkitbuncha, head of equity and structured derivatives at Asia Plus Securities Pcl, the nation’s third-biggest stock brokerage by market value. Still, the contracts may be useful to big conglomerates, whose supply chains and manufacturing “rely heavily” on business continuity, and to agricultural businesses, he said.

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This is all part of Al Gore's Global Climate Scam. These eco-fascists are trading CO2, they're trading H20...they're even trading snow and it has nothing to do with saving the environment or helping people. Its about controlling, taxing and trading every resource on Earth, consolidating power and installing their New World Order/One World Government.Thailand may start trading of water derivatives, giving investors a means of hedging... more

rodstradamus
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American sentenced to prison for Thai royal insult

BANGKOK (AP) — A court in Thailand sentenced a U.S. citizen to two and a half years in prison Thursday for defaming the country's royal family by translating excerpts of a locally banned biography of the king and posting them online.

The verdict is the latest so-called lese majeste punishment handed down in the Southeast Asian kingdom, which has come under increasing pressure at home and abroad to reform harsh legislation that critics say is an affront to freedom of expression.

The 55-year-old Thai-born American, Joe Gordon, stood calmly with his ankles shackled in an orange prison uniform as the sentence was read out at a Bangkok criminal court.

Judge Tawan Rodcharoen said the punishment, initially set at five years, was reduced because Gordon pleaded guilty in October. Defense lawyer Arnon Nampa said Gordon would not appeal, but would apply for a royal pardon.

The sentence was relatively light compared to other recent cases. In November, 61-year-old Amphon Tangnoppakul was sentenced to 20 years in jail for sending four text messages deemed offensive to the crown.

Gordon posted links the to banned biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej several years ago while living in the U.S. state of Colorado, and his case has raised questions about the applicability of Thai law to acts committed by foreigners outside Thailand.

Speaking after the verdict, Gordon said, "I am an American citizen, and what happened was in America."

He also said he had no expectation of being let off easy. "This is just the system in Thailand," he said. Speaking later in Thai, he added: "In Thailand, they put people in prison even if they don't have proof."

Gordon had lived in the U.S. for about 30 years. He was detained in late May during a visit to his native country to seek treatment for arthritis and high blood pressure. After being repeatedly denied bail, he pleaded guilty in October in hopes of obtaining a lenient sentence.

Thailand's lese majeste laws are the harshest in the world. They mandate that people found guilty of defaming the monarchy — including the king, the queen and the heir to the throne — face three to 15 years behind bars. The nation's 2007 Computer Crimes Act also contains provisions that have enabled prosecutors to increase le

more: http://news.yahoo.com/american-sentenced-prison-thai-royal-insult-025403549.htmlBANGKOK (AP) — A court in Thailand sentenced a U.S. citizen to two and a half... more

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Up to 5 Feet of Rain in 10 Days Spurred by Warming Waters is “One of the Most Dramatic Disasters in its History,”

Thailand’s Great Flood Likely to Peak this Weekend and Damage One Quarter of Rice Crop of World’s Top Exporter

No, the main headline wasn’t about Thailand — it was about El Salvador (as is the picture). We’ve been seeing twin uber-deluges this month on opposite sides of the Earth, both spurred by warming waters, as meteorologist and former hurricane hunter Dr. Jeff Masters explains on his blog.

The Thai floods have gotten more attention, because of their epic nature — and global economic impact on rice prices (see below). So let’s start with El Salvador and Central America:

“I want to tell the world that El Salvador is going through one of the most dramatic disasters in its history,” President Mauricio Funes said on national radio and television Wednesday night, as he appealed for international aid. A week of torrential rains across Central America have triggered extreme floods and landslides that have killed 105 people, according to media reports. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua have declared states of emergency due to the disaster. El Salvador and Guatemala have seen the worst flooding, with 34 and 38 people killed, respectively. Another 18 have died in Honduras, 13 in Nicaragua, and 5 in Costa Rica. The rains were due to a large area of low pressure that was moistened by the landfall of Tropical Depression 12-E near the Mexico/Guatemala border last week.

Contributing to the record-intensity rains were ocean temperatures off the coast of El Salvador that were 0.5 – 1°C above average during the first half of October, allowing more water vapor than usual to evaporate into the air. Over the past ten days, rainfall amounts of over a meter (39.4″) have fallen over a large area of southwest El Salvador (Figure 2.) At Huizucar, an astonishing 1.513 meters (4.96 feet) of rain fell in the past ten days.

Climatologist Kevin Trenberth explained the deluge-warming connection in an interview with Climate Progress last year:

I find it systematically tends to get underplayed and it often gets underplayed by my fellow scientists. Because one of the opening statements, which I’m sure you’ve probably heard is “Well you can’t attribute a single event to climate change.” But there is a systematic influence on all of these weather events now-a-days because of the fact that there is this extra water vapor lurking around in the atmosphere than there used to be say 30 years ago. It’s about a 4% extra amount, it invigorates the storms, it provides plenty of moisture for these storms and it’s unfortunate that the public is not associating these with the fact that this is one manifestation of climate change. And the prospects are that these kinds of things will only get bigger and worse in the future.

The AFP reports that many in Central America do understand the connection between warming and deluging:

Officials have blamed the effects of global warming for the spate of deadly rains and flooding.

“Climate change is not something that is coming in the future, we are already suffering its effects,” said Raul Artiga with the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD).

Here’s a graphic of the “astonishing” amount of rain El Salvador has been hit by:

More at the linkThailand’s Great Flood Likely to Peak this Weekend and Damage One Quarter of... more