Thailand spearheads regional fund to cut reliance on big Asian economies
Thailand is spearheading a new Southeast Asian fund for infrastructure and development projects, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told a summit in Bangkok on Saturday, a bid to counter reliance on Asian giants, such as China.
— Reuters
Going Down & Getting it up in Bangkok: Intermat Asean Returns
It doesn’t matter whether you need some help going down, or some tips on getting it up, the place to be in September is Bangkok when Intermat Asean will again take place over three days.
— AEC News Today
Assets registered to Thai Crown Property Bureau to be held under king’s name
Assets previously registered to Thailand’s Crown Property Bureau will now be held “in the name of His Majesty”, the bureau said on its official website on Saturday, the latest shake-up in royal affairs under King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
— Reuters
Business registrations surge 5% y-o-y in first five months
Thailand saw an increase of 5% in the registration of new businesses during the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to the Department of Business Development (DBD).
— NNT
Five services to lose protection
The Commerce Ministry plans to remove five services on List 3 of the Foreign Business Act (FBA), opening them up to free competition to facilitate trade and investment in Thailand.
— Bangkok Post
A $6 Billion Railway Helps Builders Become Thailand’s Top Stocks
A revival in optimism about Thai infrastructure projects has helped shares of the nation’s contractors rebound from a record slide.
— Bloomberg
NLA Wants More Vetting of 20-Year National Plans
The junta-appointed assembly resolved Friday to set up a committee to vet the junta’s proposed 20-year strategic plans.
— Khaosod English
Doi Suthep activists vow protest
An activist network in Chiang Mai called on judicial members to move out of the controversial housing estate at the foot of Doi Suthep within 10 days if they want to avoid a big protest.
— Bangkok Post
Experts ring alarm bells over coastal erosion
EROSION HAS been eating away five metres of land every year along a combined 42-kilometre-long stretch of Thailand’s coastline.
— The Nation
Thailand leads MICE surge
The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has released the results of its recent market survey conducted in 20 countries showing that Thailand has been rated the most preferred MICE destination which the survey participants would like to revisit for their future business/MICE trips.
— The Phuket News
Bill to Reform Thailand’s Marijuana Laws Passes First Reading by a Landslide
A new narcotics law to decriminalize drug users and to legalize the controlled use of kratom and marijuana passed first reading at the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) on Thursday.
— Chiang Rai Times
Govt tackles school lunch problem
The Department of Local Administration has organized a seminar on the provision of school lunches to ensure healthy meals for students.
— NNT
Prachuap Khiri Khan warns employers consequences from illegal migrant employment
Prachuap Khiri Khan Provincial Employment Office has informed employers and employees on legal consequences from hiring illegal migrant workers ahead of a province wide inspection to commence on 1 July.
— NNT
Grand Palace touts nabbed
Almost 90 people have been rounded up in a joint operation to restore law and order around the Grand Palace following complaints about foreign visitors being pressured to purchase services they do not require.
— Bangkok Post
Parks Department chief probed for ‘funds misuse’
The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry is investigating a complaint against the chief of Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) for alleged malfeasance over his handling of public funds back in 2010.
— Bangkok Post
Government incapable of ending graft, says poll
Almost half of the Thai population think the government will be unable to solve the corruption problem that has plagued government offices and the monastic circle – and another third are unsure – because the problem is so deep-rooted in Thai society, Suan Dusit Poll suggested today (June 17).
— The Phuket News
65 directors of centres for the destitute transferred
A total of 65 directors of the centres for the protection of the destitute have been transferred out of their areas of responsibility to facilitate investigations by the Department of Social Development and Welfare and the Public Sector’s Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), the department director-general Mrs Napa Setthakorn told the Thai PBS on Saturday.
— Thai PBS
Survey: 63% of Thai workers expect disruption
Nearly one-third of Thai employees are likely to leave their firms in the next 12 months as a result of digital transformation, according to a recent survey commissioned by Workday, a cloud-based human resource and financial application company.
— Bangkok Post
Thai economic growth forecast projections up to 6% – World Bank
The World Bank is looking to boost projections for growth in the Thai economy.
— The Thaiger
Autonomous system scheduled for 2036
The Transport Ministry plans to complete its “smart autonomous system” nationwide by 2036, with an ambitious goal to improve logistics competitiveness.
— Bangkok Post
Thailand Hands Over Suspected Dark Web Operative to US
A Canadian suspected of mentoring and advising the founder of the black market website Silk Road was extradited from Thailand to the United States on Friday, where he faces charges of online drug dealing and money laundering, among other offenses, U.S. authorities said.
— Benar News
Airport immigration procedures surge
The Immigration Bureau (IB) saw the number of immigration clearance service procedures rise to 41.9 million or a 31.33% increase in the first half of this year.
— Bangkok Post
Controlled use of kratom and marijuana to be decriminalised
There may be a time in the near future where local police aren’t required to chase around and arrest people using krater and marijuana, in some situation and in small quantities. Decriminalisation has worked in some countries where it is followed by solid public education.
— The Thaiger & The Nation
CAT, TOT seek rate hikes to pay for Pattaya wire-burying project
Internet providers are threatening to raise rates on customers to cover their costs to bury their cables underground in Pattaya.
— Pattaya Mail
NBTC says axed bid is no obstacle to 5G
The telecom regulator insists that the failure of the planned 1800-megahertz auction on Aug 4 will not affect fifth-generation (5G) wireless broadband development in the country.
— Bangkok Post
CBRE: Office rents to continue resilience
The property market will keep growing as land and residential prices soar, just as office rents have risen consistently over the past three decades despite two major economic crises in 1997 and 2008, says property consultancy CBRE Thailand.
— Bangkok Post
Feature photo John Le Fevre
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
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.
Latest posts by John Le Fevre (see all)
- COVID-19 in Asean: update for July 26 — 16 mln case barrier breached, Vietnam records community transmission – July 26, 2020
- COVID-19 in Asean: update for July 25 — new high for daily infections, 16 mln infection barrier to break today – July 25, 2020
- COVID-19 in Asean: update for July 24 — Asean tops 230,000 cases, nudges 90,000 active – July 24, 2020
- Thailand morning news for July 24 – July 24, 2020