Thailand’s Minimum Wage Is Set for Second Increase in Two Years
Thailand is set to increase minimum wages for a second straight year as it looks to attract workers amid an aging population and shortage of labor in key industries.
— Bloomberg
PM issues final S44 order
The last order under the sweeping powers of Section 44 has been issued by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, lifting media bans and transferring all cases involving offences against his orders to civilian courts.
— Bangkok Post
FTI: Trade war pummels electronics
The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) says the US-China trade war is hurting exports of electronics and components after overall shipments of these products fell by 11.3% year-on-year to 347 billion baht during the January-April period.
— Bangkok Post
Green sea turtle found dead in a fish trap off Krabi national park
Officers from the Nopparat Thara Beach – Phi Phi Islands National Park, yesterday (Monday) removed a metal fish trap from the sea near Koh Met after some fishermen smuggled the trap into the sea.
— The Thaiger
Bhumjaithai MP stripped of MP status and banned from politics for 5 years
Bhumjaithai party-list MP Mrs. Natee Ratchakitprakarn was today handed a one-month prison sentence, suspended for one year, and fined 4,000 baht by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Offices after she was found guilty of failing to fully declare her assets, as legally required.
— Thai PBS News
Action vowed over school lunch cheats
Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paojinda has vowed to take tough action against those involved in misusing funds for school lunch programmes, saying that stricter terms should be imposed on private caterers hired to provide lunches for students.
— Bangkok Post
TAT targets new markets in the Americas
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) plans to form a partnership with leading football clubs in Brazil to emblazon the Amazing Thailand logo on Brazilian footballers’ jerseys.
— Bangkok Post
Cop sweep nets Yakuza, undocumented migrants
Police have arrested a Yakuza gangster for alleged extortion in Thailand, a Chinese man for a 10-million-baht scam in China and 48 Pakistanis travelling without valid passports.
— Bangkok Post
Bye Bye Big Pom? Prawit Aides Clear DefMin Office
BANGKOK — Staff attached to Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan were seen packing his belongings at the Defense Ministry on Tuesday, in a sign that the junta No.2 may not return to the post in the next cabinet.
— Khaosod English
Ja New rejects police offer of conditional protection
Pro-democracy activist Sirawith Seritiwat, who was attacked and left unconscious on a Bangkok pavement, said he will refuse an offer of police protection that would require him to stop political activities.
— Bangkok Post
30th Senior ASEAN Environmental Officials Meeting
Thailand has proposed remedies to the issue of marine waste during the 30th ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment Meeting (30th ASOEN) and Related Meetings.
— NBT World (video)
UAE issues advisory for those travelling to Thailand
The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Bangkok, Thailand, has warned its citizens from possessing any type of the electronic cigarettes while visiting the Asian country, as it is prohibited under the country’s laws.
— Khaleej Times
Media bans lifted, military court cases transferred
Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha has put his special powers to good use one last time by lifting media bans and transferring all cases involving offences against his orders to civilian courts, ending the military rule which has been a subject of much criticism at home and abroad for the past five years.
— Bangkok Post
Culture Ministry signs MOU with AFS Thailand
The Ministry of Culture has signed a memorandum of understanding with “AFS Intercultural Programs Thailand” (AFS Thailand) to promote Thai art and culture to students and volunteers of the International Education Exchange (IEE) Thailand Program.
— NBT World (video)
15 Million Office Workers Facing Health Risks in Thailand
A top Health Department official warned on Monday that some 15 million office workers in Thailand risk obesity and jeopardize their health by working more than 40 hours per week.
— Chiang Rai Times
Foreign Robots Are Eating Into Thailand’s Trading Business
Thailand’s domestic brokerage industry will continue to face shrinking revenues as foreign institutional investors increasingly replace local retail customers — and pay lower trading commissions.
— Yahoo Finance
Some Junta Laws to Remain Effective Under New Cabinet
Some special laws enacted by the junta’s absolute power will stay in place even after the new government takes over, a deputy prime minister confirmed Tuesday.
— Khaosod English
Thailand and ASEAN attempt to curb marine debris
In an effort to eliminate marine plastic debris, the 10 member states of ASEAN (The Association of Southeast Asia Nations) has adopted “The Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris in…
— Thai PBS News
Head of Thai Tourism Authority believes Thailand will have a 10% rise in tourists in 2020
The head of Thailand’s Tourism Authority, Mr. Yuthasak Suphasorn, stated at a conference recently that he still predicts in a 10% rise in tourist arrivals to Thailand in 2020 and a total revenue gain of 37.1 million baht.
— The Pattaya News
Produce shipments to China rise
The Trade Negotiations Department says shipments of fruits and vegetables to China rose by 31% year-on-year to US$1.2 billion in the January-May period, boosted by the Asean-China Free Trade Area.
— Bangkok Post
DSI to hunt Foreign Business Act loophole violators
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is working to devise a web-based programme to analyse and track down offenders who fall afoul of the Foreign Business Act, including Thais who operate illegally as nominees for foreign investors.
— Bangkok Post
Used-car import ban takes effect Dec 10
Imports of second-hand vehicles will no longer be allowed after Dec 9 this year as authorities step up curbs on fraud, irregularities, corruption and pollution, according to the Commerce Ministry.
— Bangkok Post
Yakuza gangster, Chinese fraudster, 48 Pakistanis arrested
Police have arrested a Yakuza gangster for alleged extortion of a compatriot in Thailand, a Chinese man for a 10-million-baht fraud in China and 48 Pakistanis without valid passports.
— Bangkok Post
Could flexible work hours ease the loads and stress of Bangkok’s peaks?
A study by navigation company TomTom conducted tests on metropolitan congestion. It’s used data from Bangkok, Mexico City, Jakarta and three Chinese cities – Chongqing, Beijing and Chengdu.
— The Thaiger
SRT ready to give bulk of land to rail builder
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) is ready to hand over 80% of more than 10,000 rai of land to the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP)-led consortium to begin work on the high-speed railway project linking three major airports this month, its acting governor Worawut Mala said on Tuesday.
— Bangkok Post
BTS Lat Phrao skytrain station opens in mid August 2019
Good news for people who want to visit CentralPlaza Lat Phrao. Starting from 11th August 2019, the Green Line of
— Richard Barrow in Thailand
Phanom Rung and Si Thep parks on WHC’s tentative list of world heritage sites
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has agreed to add Phanom Rung historical park in Thailand’s northeastern province of Buri Ram and Si Thep historical park in the northern province of Phetchabun.
— Thai PBS News
Death rap for ‘executions’ accomplice
A man who was sentenced by the Criminal Court to a year and nine months in jail for being part of a group that murdered eight family members in Krabi in July 2017 was handed the death sentence by the Appeal Court on Tuesday.
— Bangkok Post
Work permit extensions mulled for migrant workers
The Ministry of Labour will this month ask the cabinet to approve its proposal to extend work permits for migrant workers for another two years.
— The Phuket News
Pattaya City Marathon meeting held, significant road and bar closures discussed for July 21, 2019
This afternoon Pattaya City officials held a preparation meeting for the upcoming Pattaya City Marathon which is on Sunday, the 21st of this month in the early morning hours.
— The Pattaya News
Rapid TB tests to go nationwide
The Department of Medical Sciences has successfully developed a new rapid test kit for tuberculosis (TB), which will be distributed to community hospitals nationwide in October.
— Bangkok Post
MPs to grill Prawit about ‘uninvited visits’
The opposition will on Wednesday call on Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon to clarify reports that security officials are turning up uninvited at the homes of political activists and academics.
— Bangkok Post
48 illegal Pakistanis rounded up in Bangkok raid
Children are among 48 Pakistani nationals rounded up by Bangkok Immigration police this week at an apartment in the Bang Na district.
— The Thaiger
Police say posh private plane is not just for Prawit
Critics are alleging that a new 1.1 billion baht 10 seat luxury private jet is being used solely to transport the current deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan around the country.
— The Thaiger
Police, Fisheries Dept launch special operation against illegal fishing
Police and the Department of Fisheries have jointly launched a special operation against illegal fishing off Ranong province, in line with the government’s policy to meet an ASEAN position on the issue.
— Pattaya Mail
Well known Technology professor says local retired mans claims of fuel less generator is “nonsense”
We wrote here at The Pattaya News on July 3rd, 2019 about a local man who claimed he had invented a powerless generator that could generate, in his words, thousands of watts of electricity without fuel for 6-8 hours by using a hand crank system.
— The Pattaya News
Feature photo A birder’s blog
This week’s Thailand morning news feature photo focuses on Asean’s endangered species, here, the banteng (Bos sauveli)
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. Due to The Nation‘s habit of hijacking urls and diverting them to promotion pages we no longer include it in our clippings.
Thailand morning news for July 10 added by John Le Fevre on
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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