Thailand Morning News Roundup For March 2

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.

Death Penalty Fears Slow U.K. Response to Thai Rolls-Royce Probe
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office is stalling the handover of information from its corruption investigation into Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc to Thai authorities because of fears the country may pursue the death penalty against individuals.
— Bloomberg

Thailand enjoys export growth for three consecutive months
Thailand’s exports continued to increase for three consecutive months with over 8% growth in January.
— Pattaya Mail

Thailand total export growth likely to exceed government’s initial 3 pct target this year, says DBS
Export growth continued its pretty strong run, coming in at 8.8 percent y/y in January. Export growth averaged 6.5 percent over the past 6 months. At the current pace, total export growth for the year is likely to exceed the government’s initial target of 3 percent.
— Econo Times

Exports driving shift in Thai trade
Cambodian exports to Thailand surged by 46 percent last year compared with 2015 while imports from the neighbouring country decreased slightly, according to statistics provided yesterday by the Ministry of Commerce.
— The Phnom Penh Post

Govt adopts ‘defence diplomacy’ with China
The current military government has adopted “defence diplomacy” when it comes to handling international relations. Such a diplomatic approach has helped it forge closer ties with China, resulting in strengthened.
— Bangkok Post

Lion lifts off for China
Thai Lion Air will commence two new routes connecting Bangkok to Chengdu and Chongqing in China effective today, 1 March.
— TTR Weekly

Thailand’s ‘Ghost Tower’ a haunting reminder of the 1997 financial crisis
The 49-floor Bangkok high-rise was supposed to feature luxury condos for hundreds of newly affluent Thai families, but it was abandoned unfinished when the Asian financial crisis struck in 1997.
— South China Morning Post

Report: Thailand prisons failing to meet international standards
Prisons in Thailand are failing to meet international standards, according to a report published Tuesday by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) advocacy website.
— Jurist

‘Safety zone’ in South only a pipe dream without BRN agreement
TWO lanes of the Thai-Belgian Flyover near Lumpini Park in Bangkok were reopened yesterday afternoon, following a blaze that broke out in garbage bins under the four-lane bridge on Tuesday morning.
— The Nation

Foreign Ministry reassures on issuance of e-passports as deadline looms
THE ISSUANCE of e-passports for Thai citizens will continue as usual, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday after reports that passports would be unavailable within three days after the contract with a consortium of outsourcing companies expires.
— The Nation

Thailand Tourism expands Visa Waiver Program
Likely to have a major impact in pushing arrival numbers up for Thailand which in recent years has suffered of some significant wobbles over political developments, the Kingdom of Thailand made a surprise announcement regarding their Visa Waiver Program.
— eTurboNews

President Trump & Thailand’s Military Coup Leaders
President Donald Trump may strengthen Washington’s support for Bangkok’s military government after sending the head of the U.S. Pacific Command to open a 10-day Cobra Gold military exercise on Valentine’s Day, the highest-level officer to arrive since Thailand’s 2014 coup.
— Scoop

Death sentence upheld for Myanmar pair over Brit killings
Two Myanmar men convicted of killing a pair of British backpackers on a Thai holiday island have lost their appeal against the death sentence, a prosecutor said, a ruling made without their defence lawyers present.
— The Star Online

Trade missions eye wider export footprint in China
SINCE CHINA HAS become the single largest export market for Thailand this year, the Commerce Ministry is moving to seek trade with more cities on the mainland while also using China as a springboard to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russia and Europe.
— The Nation

Bangkok Airways completes recertification, eyes expansion
Bangkok Airways (PG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) has become the first Thai commercial carrier to complete its AOC recertification according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand’s (CAAT) revised, ICAO-compliant standards.
— Ch-Aviation

Thai university riled by lecturers’ criticism of government
Rights groups are urging a university to drop an investigation of a group of lecturers who criticized Thailand’s military junta, calling the university’s response an attack on free speech and academic freedom.
— The Asahi Shimbun

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 March 2 added by John Le Fevre on March 2, 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.