Thailand Morning News For March 20

ADB finances 25MW biomass power plant in Thailand
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Gulf Chana Green Company (Chana Green) have reached financial close for a loan of up to THB1.109bn ($35m) for the development of a biomass power plant in Thailand.
— CTBR

Loan guarantee firm sets Bt500bn target under new fiveyear plan
Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCGC)’s fiveyear plan for 2018-22 is to lift its outstanding loan guarantees to Bt500 billion, covering 450,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) nationwide, senior executive vice president Wichet Warakul said recently.
— The Nation

Thai beaches to face strict rules to undo damage of tourism
THE Thai government is planning to adopt drastic measures against increasing environmental damage caused by tourism on three popular islands in southern Thailand.
— NEWS.com.au

Risk of road map failure over legality of MPs election bill
INTENTIONALLY or not, the legislative assembly’s decision not to seek a Constitutional Court verdict as to whether the MPs election bill is constitutional seems to be a time bomb that could eventually affect the entire political road map.
— The Nation

PDRC core leaders to challenge prosecutors’ authority to file blanket charges against them to Constitutional Court
Core members of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) who led the mass protests against the Yingluck administration in 2014 plan to challenge the prosecutors’ authority to indict them with multiple criminal charges related to the protests claiming that the Constitutional Court has already ruled that the protests were legal.
— Thai PBS

KPN Land targets condos worth Bt35 bn in joint venture
A JOINT venture between Thailand’s KPN Land Co Ltd and Singapore based Keppel Land Co Ltd plans to launch up to 14 condominium projects worth more than Bt35 billion by 2022 in a bid to achieve annual revenue growth in the double digits, KPN Land chief executive officer Rawee Tahtniyom said yesterday.
— The Nation

CRG earmarks Bt10 billion for expansion
THE CENTRAL Restaurants Group Co Ltd (CRG) yesterday announced an investment budget of Bt10 billion over the next five years, aiming to grow its share in Thailand’s Bt140 billion food chain segment.
— The Nation

Thailand’s leading banks to share blockchain platform
Fourteen Thai banks will join hands to develop a shared trade finance platform based on blockchain technology, the central bank said Monday.
— Nikkei Asian Review

Bangkok is new battleground for Foodpanda, Uber’s meal delivery apps
Bangkok’s famed love affair with food is spilling over to meal-delivery apps, a fledgling sector that Delivery Hero AG’s Foodpanda projects will surge in 2018 as competition intensifies.
— Deal Street Asia

Migrant workers registered with iris scan technology
Five southern coastal provinces with large numbers of migrant workers have pioneered the use of iris scans in the registration procedure, the governor of Samut Nakhon announced today (Monday).
— Phuket Gazette

About 100 WWII bombs found at a construction site on Rajvithi road
About 100 dummy bombs from the Second World War era were found at a construction site on Rajvithi road not far away from Krung Thon bridge on Monday.
— Thai PBS

NIA moves to establish innovation institute for commercial solutions
The National Innovation Agency (NIA) is moving to establish an institute to benefit entrepreneurs looking to upgrade their business operations with innovation.
— Newsline (video)

Internal Trade Department to strictly regulate prices after wage rise
The Ministry of Commerce has instructed the Department of Internal Trade to keep a close watch on price of goods in the wake of the wage rise slated to apply from next month.
— News Today (video)

ELECTION COMMISSION REJECTS ‘COMMUNIST PARTY OF THAILAND’
The election commission on Monday rejected the formation of a communist party on grounds that it was unconstitutional.
— Khaosod English

Thailand’s LNG imports up 54% year on year in January
Thailand’s LNG imports increased by 54% year on year in January, to 384,381 tons. This was the fourth-largest amount of LNG the country has received in a single month.
— Interfax Global Energy

Nitirat chief warns of new ‘Black May’
Thammasat law lecturer and Nitirat group leader Worachet Pakeerut has warned against appointing an outsider prime minister after the election, saying the country should have learnt its lesson after the bloodshed of Black May in 1992.
— Bangkok Post

Nationwide rabies alert continues
Several areas in Thailand remain on high alert for the deadly rabies virus while a vaccination service for cats and dogs continues.
— News Today (video)

49 centres for the destitutes and 4 cooperatives involved in cheating the poor
Four self-help cooperatives and 49 provincial centres for the protection of the destitute people have been found by anti-graft investigators to have cheated fund that should have gone to the poor and destitute people.
— Thai PBS

Sa Kaew checkpoint on alert for rabid pets from Cambodia
As a measure to control rabies, the animal quarantine centre in Sa Kaew has been instructed to work with the provincial immigration office to tighten checks on attempts to bring in cats and dogs from Cambodia.
— The Nation

Guideline set for probes into aviation incidents
The Ministry of Transport, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee (AAIC) and the National Police are drawing a guideline for the investigation of aviation incidents in line with the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
— NNT

Pet tax mooted in wake of rabies outbreak
Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang said Monday he agreed with the idea of collecting taxes from pet owners.
— Bangkok Post

‘Overwhelmed’ PACC detects graft at 5 more welfare centres
ALLEGED IRREGULARITIES have been found at five more provincial protection centres for the destitute, bringing the total number of scandal-tainted centres to 49, with estimated total damages of Bt104 million, Public Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) secretary-general Korntip Daroj said yesterday.
— The Nation

Pitch set for airport rail link
The Eastern Economic Corridor Office (EEC Office) is proposing a high-speed railway linking three main airports worth 200 billion baht to the cabinet Tuesday.
— Bangkok Post

Selection panel for EC members to be complete work in 70 days
The selection panel for new members of the Election Commission (EC) will complete its work on choosing a new batch of commissioner candidates within 70 days, panel member Pornpetch Wichitcholchai said on Monday.
— Thai Visa News

Thailand’s corruption ‘too ingrained in society to fix’ according to poll
More than half polled don’t think the government can tackle the problem while nearly a quarter are uncertain
— South China Morning Post

Feature photo Bernard Spragg

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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 March 20 added by John Le Fevre on March 20, 2018
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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.