Thailand Morning News For December 19

Thailand Morning News For December 19
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Thailand morning newsThai central bank seen keeping key rate steady as growth quickens: Reuters poll
Thailand’s central bank is expected to leave its benchmark interest rate near record lows on Wednesday, the year’s final review, as economic growth picks up, inflation is still tame and high household debt remains a worry.
— Reuters

BOI agrees on SME support measures
The Board of Investment (BOI) has approved measures designed to assist SMEs and will extend the assistance program until 2019.
— NNT

Treasury projects accelerated
The Treasury Department has put several of its long-delayed commercial development plans worth a combined 90 billion baht and its low-cost housing scheme for the poor on the front burner for next year, says its chief.
— Bangkok Post

Extra tax breaks to push SME growth
THE Board of Investment’s (BOI) board has agreed on measures to boost the capabilities of small and medium enterprises (SME), while its secretary-general has expressed confidence that this year’s applications for investment promotion privileges would hit its target of Bt600 billion.
— The Nation

More than half of people impressed with PM’s performance
More than half of the people are impressed with the performance of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha for this year but they are not happy with his government’s performance in addressing economic problems.
— Thai PBS

Government to expand halal food exports to Middle East
The Department of Foreign Trade is confident that halal producers in Thailand’s three southern border provinces can expand their markets and sell their products to countries in the Middle East.
— News Today (video)

Laem Chabang Port’s Phase III expansion to be accelerated
The Ministry of Transport is speeding up the third phase of Laem Chabang Port, hoping to establish the facility as the second largest port of ASEAN.
— NNT

Fishing industry welcomes efforts to mitigate new IUU measures
THE FISHING industry has largely welcomed new government measures to assist struggling fishermen, including a plan to buy unused fishing vessels, set up a relief fund and provide low-interest loans.
— The Nation (annoying popups)

New land prices unveiled for incoming tax change
The country’s costliest land based on the Treasury Department’s new appraisal prices, effective from Jan 1, 2018, is on Silom Road at 1 million baht per square wah, while the cheapest is in Khok Charoen district, Lop Buri, where each sq w is worth a mere 20 baht.
— Bangkok Post

Assistance rushed to four flooded southern provinces
The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation has been expediting help to southern provinces, where continuous floods have hit hard this year.
— News Today (video)

Fourth Army chief suspects business conflict behind Betong bus hijack
The Fourth Army commander says he believed business conflict might be the probable cause for the arson attack on a Betong-Bangkok bus in Yala’s Bannang Sata district on Sunday (Dec 17).
— Thai PBS

SRT ready to build initial part of Bangkok – Nakhon Ratchasima high speed rail project
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) is scheduled to begin to build an initial part of the Bangkok – Nakhon Ratchasima high speed rail project on 21 December 2017.
— NNT

JV to supply blockchain tech for energy trading
BCPG Public Company, a subsidiary of Bangchak Corporation, and Australia-based startup Power Ledger, have entered into a partnership to supply blockchain technology for peer-to- peer energy trading in Thailand.
— The Nation

Government to allow domestic travel expense for tax deduction in 2018
The government is planning to allow taxpayers to use traveling expenses to less touristic destinations for personal tax deduction in 2018.
— News Today (video)

Motorcycle riders without helmets will have vehicles seized during holiday
Metropolitan Police have indicated they intend to seize the motorcycles of any riders who fail to wear helmets during the holiday period and will be fining them up to 1,000 baht.
— NNT

TICON forms second JV with local listed firm for expansion in Indonesia
Ticon Industrial Connection Pcl (TICON), a Thai-listed factory and warehouse developer, has formed a second JV firm with Indonesia’s property developer PT Surya Semesta Internusa Tbk (SSIA) to expand into South Sulawesi and South Kalimantan areas.
— DealStreetAsia

MRTA demands Bestlin move rejected buses
The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) will file a lawsuit against Bestlin Group later this month if the company does not move 84 NGV-fuelled buses from the authority’s maintenance centre, acting MRTA governor Rithika Suparat says.
— Bangkok Post

Treasury Department to promote housing projects in eight provinces
The Treasury Department plans to promote “Houses for Thais” projects in eight provinces, providing a total of 2,600 houses to low-income earners.
— NNT

E-cigarettes are hazardous to health: Disease Control Department
The Public Health Ministry’s Disease Control Department has insisted that electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are hazardous to health and should not be used as a means to quit smoking, said Dr Assadang Ruay-archin, deputy director-general of the department.
— Thai PBS

PM satisfied with progress in addressing unregulated debt problem
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is satisfied with progress in the government’s efforts to address unregulated debt problem, government spokesman Lt-Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd said over the weekend.
— Thai PBS

AIS, True demand 4G concession fee delay
Advanced Info Service (AIS) and True Move have joined together to ask the government to invoke Section 44 to ease their financial burden, extending the due date of their last 4G licence payment, originally scheduled for 2019, for another five years.
— Bangkok Post

Public, private sectors join hands in disease monitoring plan for major cities
The Department of Disease Control (DDC) is joining hands with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Plc (BDMS) to monitor against public health threats in Bangkok and other urban areas.
— NNT

Media reform session hears call to take back TV licences
IN ANOTHER bid to achieve media reform, media professionals yesterday called for a legal change to allow television broadcasters to return some of their owned frequencies to regulators.
— The Nation

BTS wants fare adjustment when “spider” tickets come into force
BTS Group Holding Company chairman Khiri Kanchanapas has suggested an adjustment of mass transit fares now that “spider” tickets will soon come into force which will allow commuters to travel in all mass transit systems using just one ticket.
— Thai PBS

‘Icebox killer’ sentenced to almost 44 years
A Bangkok court has sentenced an Irish man to 43 years and 10 months in jail for attempting to kill a policeman, forging passports and moving the dismembered body of an American businessman found in a freezer in a high-profile case last year.
— Bangkok Post

Algerian man arrested for purse snatching at Suvarnabhumi airport
A 37-year-old Algerian traveler was arrested at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday(Dec 17) for purse snatching after he returned to Thailand.
— Thai PBS

 

Feature photo Josch13


Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Thailand morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Thailand news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

 

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John Le Fevre

Thailand editor at AEC News Today

John is an Australian national with more than 40 years experience as a journalist, photographer, videographer, and copy editor.

He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, with stints in the Middle East, the USA, and England.

He has covered major world events including Operation Desert Shield/ Storm, the 1991 pillage in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Bangkok political protests.

In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak.

Prior to AEC News Today he was the deputy editor and Thailand and Greater Mekong Sub-region editor for The Establishment Post, predecessor of Asean Today.

In the mid-80s and early 90s he owned JLF Promotions, the largest above and below the line marketing and PR firm servicing the high-technology industry in Australia. It was sold in 1995.

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