Thailand Morning News For November 13

Government says more confidence in Thailand’s forecast 4% economic growth next year
The government has forecast that the Thai economy will grow by four percent next year, with the latest economic confidence index continuing to rise.
— News Today (HD video)

You Had One Job: Thailand Road Crash Rescue Fail (HD video)
Straight out of the pages of the ‘You Had One Job’ book is the video above, recorded last Wednesday (November 8) evening on the Bangna-Trad road (Debaratana Road), in Samut Prakan Province, just outside of Bangkok.
—AEC News Today

Head Kicking Monk The Latest Thailand Buddhism Embarrassment (video)
Video’s, photos, and stories of Buddhist monks behaving badly in Thailand are nothing new. Reports of everything from drug-fuelled parties to sex with underage boys and girls are so routine that it barely raises an eyebrow among expats, while the majority of Thais try to pretend that there is nothing amiss with Buddhism in the ‘land of smiles’.
—AEC News Today

BoT: Commercial banks’ bad loans to peak in Q4
Commercial lenders’ bad loans will peak at just above 3% of loans outstanding this quarter, says a senior Bank of Thailand official.
— Bangkok Post

Automation Reshaping Thai Economy
The size of Thailand’s shipment of industrial robots is estimated to increase by 133% from 2,131 units in 2013 to 7,500 units in 2018, according to Duangjai Asawachintachit, secretary-general of Thailand Board of Investment.
— Financial Tribune

PM mulls how to tackle debt
THE GOVERNMENT is considering the creation of a specialised fund or financial institution to take over the debt owed by low-income people to formal lenders and loan sharks.
— The Nation

Fomm EV Built in Thailand, Sold in Japan
Engineered in Japan, built in Thailand will be the key hallmark of the Fomm four-passenger electric car that can float.
— EV World

Kanit: Boeing deal for EEC imminent
Talks with Boeing Co about its plan to invest in an aviation training centre for the Asean region in the Eastern Economic Corridor are expected to conclude this month, according to EEC Office secretary general Kanit Sangsubhan.
— Bangkok Post

Government forms to be consolidated
Within the next four years, Thais will be able to fill a single application form online for some 300 government services, as part of the government’s effort to be fully digital by 2021.
— Bangkok Post

Current growth momentum expected to continue: Somkid
The Thai economy is expected to continue its growth momentum next year with more economic reforms after estimates put the third-quarter growth this year at above 4 per cent.
— The Nation

Obesity rife among kids, survey finds
Weight issues and obesity are two of the biggest health problems facing Thai children — a trend that could cause Thailand to miss its target of improving nutrition and achieving food security by 2030, according to a recent survey.
— Bangkok Post

Thailand: Q3 profits are golden at Thai hospital operators
The quarterly figures are mostly in for the listed hospital operators in Thailand and the news is good. After a quiet second quarter the biggest operators in Q3 have seen profits grow in the high single figures, while it has been a case of double digit growth for the smaller players.
— Health Investor

Government crackdown uncovers 100,000 illegal immigrants
The 95 arrested in Phuket last week for overstaying their visas could be just the tip of a 100,000 person iceberg, according to the country’s Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan.
— Phuket Gazette

Foreign gangs in government crosshairs
Almost 100,000 foreign nationals who have overstayed their visas have been targeted by authorities who are ramping up efforts to weed out transnational criminal gangs from Bangkok and other major tourist provinces.
— Bangkok Post

ASEAN signs free trade, investment pacts with Hong Kong
Hong Kong signed free trade and investment agreements with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Sunday, in what one of the Chinese territory’s officials called a “loud and clear” vote against rising regional trade protectionism.
— Reuters

Thai kid’s cable laying robot to compete in international competition
The World Robot Olympiad, where students from more than 60 countries compete in robotics is taking place in Costa Rica. Our reporter, Khun Suchanee Rungmueanporn, had the opportunity to talk to one of the teams representing Thailand. These clever kids invented a robot to lay infrastructure cables and wires in barely accessible areas to improve the well-being of Thais.
— News Today (HD video)

PM: Perseverance and cooperation a formula for success
Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha believes perseverance and cooperation are the keys to success as he hails Thailand’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business for 2018.
— News Today (HD video)

Gay Chinese tourists flock to Thailand for fun, acceptance
Bathed in a pink spotlight, the caberet singer at Phuket’s ZAG bar lip-syncs the top notes of a popular Mandarin love song, delighting the crowd of gay Chinese tourists who have escaped judgement at home for sexual freedom in Thailand.
— MYSinchew.com/ AFP

Feature photo Orasa Khosanthia
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.

Thailand Morning News For November 13 added by John Le Fevre on November 13, 2017
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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.