Thailand Morning News For January 30

Somkid: EEC to beat investment goal
The government is more positive about investment prospects in its much-touted Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), predicting more than 200 billion baht to be recorded this year.
— Bangkok Post

Labour ministry to propose Wage Committee’s new minimum wage rate to the cabinet for consideration on Tuesday
The Ministry of Labour will not bow to the demand of the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee for a single minimum wage rate to be applicable nationwide and will propose to the Cabinet on Tuesday the tri-partite Wage Committee’s decision on January 17 to increase the wage rate by 5-22 baht a day.
— Thai PBS

Economic growth to continue this year
THAILAND’S Finance Ministry has projected higher economic growth for this year, predicting a growth rate of 4.2 per cent and upgrading its economic forecast to 4 per cent for 2017.
— The Nation

SEC: ICO study finds high risk, indicating need for regulation
A study on investment in initial coin offerings (ICO) indicates 95% of ICO investment is deemed a failure, with the remaining 5% reaping a considerably high return, says the Securities and Exchange Commission…
— Bangkok Post

Court turns down Yingluck’s second injunction request
The Central Administrative Court has turned down former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s second petition for a forfeiture injunction, paving the way for an immediate seizure of her assets under the Finance Ministry’s administrative order.
— Bangkok Post

Legal Execution Department awaits instruction from Finance on freezing Yingluck’s assets
The Legal Execution Department is awaiting an instruction from the Finance Ministry before it proceeds with freezing the assets of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra after the Central Administrative Court dismissed her petition for a stay of execution of an administrative order to freeze her assets.
— Thai PBS

BMW applies for PHEV, to localise in 2019
BMW Group is the second European carmaker to apply for the Board of Investment (BoI)’s plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) scheme in Thailand, indicating the local market’s potential as a part of the region’s electric vehicle (EV) supply chain.
— Bangkok Post

Jasmine and Pathum rice prices made record high
Prices of Thai jasmine and Pathum fragrant rice have made a record high partly due to natural disasters.
— News Today (video)

State investments rising by 47% in fiscal 2017-2018
The state enterprises investment budget of Bt506.16 billion for the fiscal year ending in September represents a 47-per-cent hike over the last fiscal year, Ekniti Nitithanprapas, director-general of the State Enterprise Policy Office said on Monday.
— The Nation

‘Thai-ness’ scheme has big ambitions
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha raised eyebrows and triggered some speculation when he mentioned the term ‘Thai niyom’ in his Children’s Day speech early this month.
— Bangkok Post

SME Bank prepares 78 billion baht credit for SMEs affected by increased Minimum Wage
SME Bank has prepared a total of 78 billion baht in loans for SMEs affected by a Minimum Wage increase.
— NNT

DSD on track with 5 year plan promoting SMEs 4 0
The Department of Skill Development (DSD) is expediting human resources enhancement plan promoting SMEs 4.0, under the 5-year project with a 450- million-baht budget, to help raise competitiveness of the SMEs.
— News Today (video)

Ban of “Borrowed Pricey Wristwatches” opinion survey result prompts Nida Poll director to call it quits
The director of Nida Poll of the National Institute of Development Administration will quit his post on Monday after his opinion survey result on “Borrowed Pricey Wristwatches” was banned from being released by the institute.
— Thai PBS

Court acquits Prachatai journalist, pro-democracy activists
A court in Ratchaburi has acquitted a Prachatai journalist and four activists of violating the Referendum Act. The journalist faced charges for merely reporting on the anti-referendum campaign.
— Prachatai English

Eppo sees fuel demand increase of 2.1%
The Energy Policy and Planning Office (Eppo) forecasts the country’s energy demand in 2018 will grow by 2.1% to 2.811 billion barrels of oil equivalent per day from all types of fuels, in line with estimated GDP growth of 3.6-4.6%.
— Bangkok Post

Sansiri budgets Bt15 bn for 2018 investments
LISTED PROPERTY firm Sansiri Plc has set aside an investment budget of Bt15 billion to buy land for residential projects this year and in 2019, with plans to launch 31 new properties worth Bt63 billion in 2018.
— The Nation

Labor Ministry monitors potential consequences of Minimum Wages rise
The Ministry of Labor is closely monitoring to effects of the increased Minimum Wage among employers while firms have called on the government to help raise the skills of their workers to improve productivity.
— NNT

SCB to hold urgent meeting with union on restructuring
Chief executive officer of Siam Commercial Bank plans to meet the bank’s labour union leader on Monday (Jan 29) to clarify the bank’s earlier announced policy to downsizing the branches and scaling down staff.
— Thai PBS

Thai palm oil growers hope price slump is only short-term
Thousands of farmers growing palm oil in Thailand are concerned about the European Union’s decision to look at ways to ban palm oil biofuel, despite the fact the country does not export such produce to the EU.
— Asia Times

Thailand AGR Innovation 2018 to promote innovation-enhanced agricultural products
The Institute for Agricultural Product Innovation (APi) will organize Thailand AGR Innovation 2018 featuring farm goods enhanced by innovation.
— NNT

Suspected militants shot dead a ranger in Pattani
A para-military ranger was shot dead by suspected southern militants in his pick-up truck in front of his rented house in Muang district of Pattani Saturday night (Jan 27).
— Thai PBS

Thai authorities enforce strict measures to prevent influx of foreign workers
Authorities have stepped up measures along the border to prevent an influx of foreign workers.
— NNT

Lessons from the latest political lawsuit of Sulak Sivaraksa
In 2016, two retired military officers, Lt. Gen. Padung Niwatwan and Lt. Gen. Pittaya Vimalin, filed a complaint against me at Chanasongkram Police Station after I took part as a speaker at a seminar on “Thai History: Construction and Deconstruction” run by the Dome Front Agora at Thammasat University on 5 October 2014.
— Prachatai English

‘We warned them’: Phuket dive company slams coral-damaging tourists
A Phuket dive tour company has vehemently defended its practices after being named by officials as associated with a dive tour boat that has been banned from returning to a poplar dive site off Phi Phi Island.
— The Phuket News

OBEC improves measures to prevent school bullying
The Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) is preparing a plan to prevent bullying in schools, after a recent survey shows that Thailand has the world’s 2nd highest percentage of children being bullied at schools.
— NNT

Feature photo Tom Jutte

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 January 30 added by John Le Fevre on January 30, 2018
View all posts by John Le Fevre →

Bio
Latest Posts

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.