BoT Governor certain Thai economic foundation helps maintain GDP

Thailand’s central bank governor is confidant that the country’s strong economic foundation will help maintain the gross domestic product (GDP) despite the current political confusion.
Bank of Thailand (BoT) Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul spoke on the Thai economic tendency this year, saying that strong economic fundamentals will help support the country’s slower economy. He said in the worst case scenario, Thailand’s GDP will not be in the minus sphere and there will be no economic crisis.
However, political situations must be closely monitored for further estimates.
Prasarn said the Thai economic foundation could help the country weather political problems in the short run, but it will be worrisome if there are no more investments in the medium term, for investors are waiting for political clarity.
He noted that the baht currency movement has been stable even during the moment the Constitutional Court ruled the case against caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The Court dismissed her, saying that she has abused the power of her office in the case involving her order to transfer National Security Council (NSC) chief Thawil Pliensri to an inactive post in 2011. (MCOT)

TBX networking at Shenanigans

(L to R) Steve Graham, Dr. Iain Corness and and Sutthawee Thipphayusit, Trade Coordinator of TBX Pattaya announce the launch of the newly formed Trade Barter eXchange (TBX).

Dr. Iain Corness
The newly formed Trade Barter eXchange (TBX) held a networking evening at Shenanigans Jomtien, with MD Steve Graham welcoming everyone and assisting in more than a few business deals during the event.
In an interview on PMTV he indicated that he had seen at first-hand the problems that can occur with unfair trading, and had taken steps to counteract this with TBX. He said that the response to the new barter exchange company has been better than he had imagined and already has offices in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Pattaya, with more in the pipeline.
Queries about TBX can be made through telephone 02 107 0135 or email [email protected]

Commerce Ministry supports Thai SMEs trade, investment in neighboring countries

Thailand’s head of foreign trade has invited the private sector to travel abroad and expand their business activities with neighboring countries.
Director-General Surasak Riengkrua of the Foreign Trade Department said Thailand has been asked to collaborate with a number of countries, particularly ASEAN and elsewhere in Asia, to invest trade and services.
He said if Thai entrepreneurs are staying put, they will face problems, for Thai small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lack liquidity due to the economic slowdown.
The Foreign Trade Department began a project to match Thai entrepreneurs with Chinese and Lao entrepreneurs in furniture, fresh produce, fruit, seasoning condiments and services during May 26-30.
According to Surasak, border trade for the past few years has increased continuously to a current higher value of more than Bt950 billion. He said once the ASEAN Economic Community takes effect next year, growth will continue, and he would like to urge Thai entrepreneurs to find more channels to invest in other countries. (MCOT)

Tourism body urges quick end to political conflicts

The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) is urging all sides to resolve the prolonged political crisis as soon as possible, as the tourism sector continues to be severely hit by the turmoil.
The ATTA said if the impasse is resolved peacefully by this month, a number of tourist arrivals from neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam may pick up.
However, the association expressed deep concern over the crisis’s impact on East Asian markets including Japan and China, where it may take up to 5 months for tourists in these countries to regain confidence in Thailand.
Among key markets, tourist arrivals from Japan dropped the most by 69 percent, followed by China by 50 percent.
Bangkok’s occupancy rates have plummeted more than 30 percent in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period last year. International tourist arrivals to Thailand declined by 4.1 percent in February and 9.39 percent in March. (NNT)

NBTC launches roaming information campaign in Laos border provinces to prevent costly mobile phone fees

The National Broadcasting Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) is launching a roaming information campaign in seven border provinces along the Mekong River to prevent locals from incurring excessive mobile phone fees due to roaming charges.
Comissioner Sutthipol Taweechaikarn said one of the major tasks of the NBTC is consumer protection concerning fixed line phones, mobile phones, public phones and the internet. The NBTC wants to ensure the rights of consumers to understand the information and facts related to telecommunication services, especially those residing in the border areas, as well as tourists. But it has been found that most still do not have adequate knowledge and may be charged costly fees.
The campaign will run in the northeastern provinces for 10 days to distribute knowledge to the residents. (NNT)

Commerce Min targets 10% growth in auto export this year

The Commerce Ministry is targeting a 10 percent growth in auto exports this year after seeing some positive signs in the first quarter.
Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, Director General of the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), expects Thailand’s auto and auto parts exports to expand by 10 percent, predicting the combined value to be around 33.7 billion US dollars this year, with 20.5 billion dollars coming from automobile exports and another 13 billion from auto parts.
Thailand in the first quarter of 2014 raked in a total of 4.7 billion dollars from automobile exports - an increase of 0.46 percent, and 3.1 billion dollars from auto parts exports, a 7 percent rise year on year.
Nuntawan said the ministry was determined to push the industry further forward with the ultimate goal of making Thailand an auto production hub of the ASEAN region. (NNT)

NACC’s ruling on rice case will not affect G2G deals: DFT

The Department of Foreign Trade is confident that the national anti-graft body’s ruling on the rice case will not have an impact on government-to-government (G2G) agreements.
Surasak Riangkrul, Director General of the Department of Foreign Trade (DFT), says Thailand will push forward its rice deals with other countries under the G2G agreements, regardless of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)’s decision, adding that rice auctions have been carried out as planned.
On the occasion of the 72nd birthday anniversary of the DFT, the director general says the department has set up an information center, from which Thai entrepreneurs can seek help and information regarding the ASEAN Economic Community, which is to be formed next year. The hotline number of the center is 1385.
The NACC earlier decided to press charges against Yingluck Shinawatra for her failure to stop corruption in the government’s rice program. (NNT)

Forty-seven billion baht expected to circulate during new school term

The Center for Economic and Business Forecasting (CEBF) of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) predicts that 47 billion baht will be in circulation when the new school semester starts.
According to CEBF Director Thanawat Polvichai, this year’s spending during the new school term will be lower than expected, saying the figure should stand around 47 billion baht, representing a 2.21 percent increase compared to that of the same period last year. He said the lower-than-expected rise in the percentage was due to increasing household debts, which stood at more than 180,000 baht per household.
Coupled with the fact that the cost of living today is higher than the past, parents are forced to buy fewer school supplies.
Thanawat noted that parents want the government to help them with their children’s tuition fees as well as to improve the country’s education system as a whole.
The CEBF director has also predicted that Buddhist Thais will expected to spend as much as 4.9 billion baht on the Visakha Bucha Day, an increase of 3.5 percent from last year’s spending. (NNT)