Thailand Morning News Roundup February 22

Welcome to the Thailand morning news roundup by AEC News Today, your one stop for Thailand news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities.

Tourist SIM-tracking plan axed

Plans for special SIM cards for tourists have finally been scrapped by the national telecom regulator after facing strong opposition from the government, which says the idea will do more harm than good.
— Bangkok Post

Unemployment Rate Rises In Thailand
Let us take this into perspective. The National Statistical Office said in January this year that there are 37.94 million people in working ages, but 37.21 million of them or 98.1% are employed while 449,000 or 1.2% are unemployed, and 275, 000 others or 0.7% are seasonal employees.
— Buriram Times

New bill on foreign quota for aviation
The cabinet yesterday approved a new bill on civil aviation that authorises the Civil Aviation Board (CAB) to decide the proportion of foreign ownership in Thailand’s aviation business.
— Bangkok Post

90% of Internet Users in Thailand Use Smartphones
Smartphones are increasingly the dominant means of internet access and online activity in Thailand.
— Thailand Business News

Thailand to stop sugar subsidy by year-end
The government will stop subsidising sugar production and drop domestic control of consumer prices for sugar by the end of the year, a Ministry of Agriculture official said on Tuesday.
— Bangkok Post

PCMA and UAI Choose Thailand for Their Global Business Events
Thailand has won the business to host two prestigious global events in 2017; the Professional Convention Management Association’s (PCMA) Global Professionals Conference for the Asia-Pacific region will convene for the first time Aug. 28-31 in Southeast Asia in Bangkok and the Union of International Associations (UIA) will host their Round Table Asia Pacific, where approximately 100 association representatives will meet Sept. 21-22 in Chiang Mai.
— TSNN

Thailand: Massive raids lead to seizure of US$85 mil worth of drugs
THAI police have seized drugs worth Bt 3 billion (US$85 million) in three major drug busts over last week, national police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda told a press conference at the Royal Thai Police head office in Bangkok.
— Asian Correspondent

Thailand unveils ‘MICE Magnificent Themes’ campaign to target Oceania Market at AIME 2017
The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) launched a new campaign titled, “MICE Magnificent Themes” to promote Thailand as a unique destination for incentive travel for the fast-growing Oceania market.
— TravelDailyNews

1-Net, TCCtech collaborate to expand cloud-enabled data centre in Thailand
T.C.C. Technology Co, Ltd (TCCtech) recently announced the upcoming completion of their cloud-enabled data centre facility expansion in Bangkok, Thailand.
— Digital News Asia

Swedish grain management company establishes Thailand subsidiary
Tornum from Sweden is a developer and manufacturer of grain facilities that has evolved into a market-leading global supplier.
— ScandAsia

Feature photo: John Le Fevre

The Thailand morning news roundup is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Thailand Morning News Roundup For February 22 added by John Le Fevre on February 22, 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.