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All drug stores in Thailand must be certified within 10 years
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has adopted a plan
that calls for all pharmacies in Thailand to be certified within 10 years,
according to the FDA’s secretary-general, Dr. Pakdee Pothisiri.
Prof. Dr. Pakdee said that under a joint project of the
FDA and the Pharmaceutical Council, begun last year, drug stores that meet
quality requirements will be awarded certificates. “The project is aimed
at solving the problems of misuse and unnecessary use of medicines and the
resultant perils,” he said.
“The FDA has also signed an agreement with five
pharmaceutical organizations in an attempt to improve the quality of all
pharmacies throughout the country,” Prof. Dr. Pakdee said. He was speaking
after the presentation ceremony of certificates to 52 pharmacies certified
by the FDA this year. Twenty-six drug stores received the certificates last
year. (TNA)
Drought set to cause electricity shortages
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT)
is warning that Thailand’s worst drought for two decades could lead to
electricity shortages in the country’s northeastern provinces next year.
Much of the region is reliant on hydroelectric power, and drought means not
only insufficient water for daily use, but also insufficient water to power
vast electricity generating stations.
The country’s Northeast draws much of its electricity
from the Lam Takhong and the Pak Moon Dams, and even from dams in Laos,
including the Thoen Hin Bun and Huay Ho. Narongsak Vichetpan, deputy EGAT
governor, said that EGAT is drawing up urgent contingency plans to cope with
possible electricity shortages next summer when demand for electricity is
likely to soar.
Already shortages of natural gas in the Northeast have
forced EGAT to bring in electricity from the central region, a practice that
is likely to increase next year. Narongsak said that EGAT is now liaising
closely with the Royal Irrigation Department over water usage. He also
warned that EGAT might have to override the objections of environmentalists
over the opening of the Pak Moon Dam, saying that the dam would not be able
to produce sufficient electricity for the region if EGAT bowed to a demand
to keep the dam open to allow fish to lay their eggs. “If Pak Moon dam is
open, we can’t produce electricity. This is losing us 40 million baht each
month,” he said. (TNA)
Deep seaport in Satun to be completed in three years
The government will inject a budget of about 5-6 billion
baht for the construction of a new deep seaport in Thailand’s southern
province of Satun, with its construction expected to be completed within
three years.
Accompanied by Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives
Minister Newin Chidchob and several senior Transport Ministry officials,
Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit paid a visit to the construction
site of the Pak Bara Deep Seaport in the province’s Lagu District. The
construction itself would cost about five billion baht, while machines and
equipment could cost another one billion baht, Suriya said.
When completed the new deep seaport will facilitate
marine transport from Thailand to Japan and Europe, and will save transport
costs by more than 1.3 billion baht annually. Shipping of important
commodities, such as rubber, with quantities as high as 3.1 million tons in
2003, had to be made from a port on the Malaysian island of Penang, as it
was cheaper than shipping from Thailand’s southern Songkhla province. But
shipping from the Pak Bara Deep Seaport in the future will save costs of up
to 4,000 baht per container, when compared to other ports. (TNA)
New border trade checkpoint with Myanmar to be opened
Thailand plans to open a new border checkpoint with
Myanmar early next year. The Thai authorities hope the border crossing will
help boost local trade between the two countries.
The new checkpoint at Rong Haeng in Ban Rong Haeng, Maung
District of the country’s northern province of “Mae Hong Son will be
opened for local Thai and Myanmar residents although Rangoon has not
officially opened border trade with Mae Hong Son, the provincial
governor,” Supote Laowansiri said.
The Mae Hong Son provincial authorities hope that the
opening of the Rong Haeng checkpoint will help attract more tourists to the
province, in addition to the current border trade point at Ban Huay Phueng.
(TNA)
Thai Restaurant Association signs agreements in Australia and New Zealand
Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang recently embarked
on a tour of Australia and New Zealand to sign agreements with the Thai
Restaurant Association and open a Thai Kitchen to the World festival.
First stop on the deputy prime minister’s tour was New
Zealand’s city of Auckland, where Chaturon presided over the signing of an
agreement between the Thai Kitchen to the World project and the New
Zealander-Thai Restaurant Association. He then traveled to Sydney,
Australia, to preside over the signing of a similar agreement with the
Australian-Thai Restaurant Association, before opening the Thai Kitchen to
the World festival in Sydney’s Intercontinental Hotel on November 22.
During the festival, which was attended by over 400
Australian-based Thai restaurant owners, the deputy prime minister awarded
the ‘Thai Select’ certificates and trademark to 20 Thai restaurants in
Australia and 3 from New Zealand. (TNA)
Thailand Plaza and Market Place to open in US next year
A senior Commerce Ministry official has voiced confidence
that plans are on track to launch the ‘Thailand Plaza and Thailand Market
Place’ (TMP) scheme in the United States next year, with a focus on the
spa and fashion industries. Panpree Phahithanukorn, vice minister for
Commerce, said that the government had already determined a location for two
plazas in New York, with one on Fifth Avenue and the second in So Ho. Both
would be officially opened in June next year, he disclosed.
With a total showroom area of around 29,000 square feet,
the Fifth Avenue Plaza will focus on showcasing food and household items,
including One Tambon One Product (OTOP) goods, furniture and fashion. The
Plaza will also showcase Thailand’s spa industry. The second location, in
So Ho, will act as the Thailand Market Place for fashion, leather goods and
the spa sector.
To publicize the project, Chantra Purnariksha,
director-general of the Department of Export Promotion, has held talks with
US-based Time Magazine and CNN. Chantra admitted that the launch of the
Plaza and Market Place schemes in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago was
running behind schedule due to legislation obstacles. However, she expressed
confidence that within the next five years, Thailand would be able to open
similar ventures in over 100 locations worldwide. The focus next year will
be on the US, France and Japan. (TNA)
Thailand hosts 10th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Industry and Trade (APK)
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra presided over the
opening ceremony of the 10th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Industry and
Trade (APK) held November 18-19 at the Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok.
 Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra presided over the opening ceremony of the 10th
Asia-Pacific Conference of German Industry and Trade (APK).
The opening was followed by speeches from keynote
speakers, Dr. Heinrich Von Pierer, chairman of the Asia-Pacific Committee of
German Business, and H.E. Wolfgang Clement, Federal Minister of Economics
and Labor.
Major discussions and presentations this year included
reports on the recent economic developments in Asia and the Pacific, and an
update on the events subsequent to the previous conference held in Tokyo in
2002.
Keynote
speakers (from left) Dr. Heinrich Von Pierer, chairman of the Asia-Pacific
Committee of German Business, German ambassador to Thailand Andreas Von
Stechow, and H.E. Wolfgang Clement, Federal Minister of Economics and Labor.
New market opportunities offered by several free trade
areas in the region were emphasized, allowing opportunities for the German
economy to be compared to the current status of trade and transfer of
technology in the this region.
The improvement of information provision as well as the
motivation of the public and private sectors to expand business relations
between German companies and the region, which will result from the
conference, will be helpful in achieving this goal.
Education was also one of the major topics discussed
during the workshops and round tables.
The German-Thai Chamber of Commerce (GTCC), German
Foreign Chambers of Commerce (AHKs) in the Asia-Pacific region, the
Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business (APA), and the German Ministry of
Economics and Labor (MBWA) jointly organized the event that drew more than
750 participants.
This makes APK Bangkok 2004 the biggest German business
event organized abroad this year.
The importance of the event is additionally highlighted
by the regional German ambassador’s conference held in parallel in Bangkok
during the same period.
Asia Pacific Conference is held every two years. The
first was held in 1986 in Tokyo with just 52 delegates, leading up to this
year’s participation of over 700 delegates.
Today, the conference has become one of the most
important international platforms for corporate discussion as well as the
exchange of ideas and knowledge between German companies active in the Asia
market.
The long-term goals of APK are to increase Germany’s foreign trade with
the Asia-Pacific region to between 20 and 25 percent of its total foreign
trade volume, as well as to achieve a 10 share of German foreign investment
by 2010.
Loans issued for creating village entrepreneurs
The Government Savings Bank (GSB) will provide new loans
with an aim to establish 10 new entrepreneurs in each village throughout the
country. The bank plans to help create new 800,000 entrepreneurs at the
grassroots level between the next five to eight years.
The move is part of the GSB’s ‘One Village Ten
Operators’ project, which has been implemented in line with the
government’s policy on encouraging state-owned banks, including the GSB,
the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, and the Small and
Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand to provide loans to operators
at the grassroots level, aimed at strengthening their businesses, according
to the GSB’s director-general, Goanpot Asvinvichit.
Under the project, GSB’s officials will visit every
village and will provide loans, especially to Tambon Administrative
Organizations and the Village Fund Offices. The bank will also promote the
use of information technology and the development of their products, he
added. (TNA)
SME Clinics pilot project to be launched early next year
Ten offices of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Clinics responsible for providing advice and assistance to local SME
operators will be open on a trial basis next February, the Vice Minister for
Interior, Wachara Phannachet, said.
Wachara said that the offices would be initially set up
in 10 provinces across the country, with officials in the offices to provide
assistance to existing SME operators, new SME operators and community
enterprises. He said eventually, the SME Clinics would have offices in all
75 provinces in Thailand, excluding Bangkok, adding that training for
personnel who will man the SME Clinics, will be held next January and the 10
offices could be open the following month on a trial basis. The trial
operations will be evaluated three months after the launching, and the
expansion of the offices will be made after assessments have been concluded.
(TNA)
Southern violence slowing national investment
Insurgency in the southern border region is causing a
slowdown in the nation’s investment prospects, the president of a leading
asset management company warned. Piyasawat Amranant, president of Kasikorn
Thai AMC, told small and medium enterprise owners gathered for a seminar in
the southern province of Surat Thani that violence in the three southern
border provinces was having a slight impact on economic, investment and
tourism growth. Nonetheless, he said that growth prospects for 2005 looked
promising, despite the impact of the insurgency and high oil prices. (TNA)
Coffins take to waters
in anti-drugs race
An unusual ‘coffin race’ was organized in
Thailand’s southern province of Prachuap Khiri Khan on November 24. The
race, held in the province’s Thap Sakae Sub-district, was one of a series
of water sport events held by the local administrative organization in
conjunction with the Office of the Narcotics Control Board to get across the
message that ‘drugs kill’.
Local people from surrounding villagers entered into the
spirit - no pun intended - of the race, with team names, including ‘Night
ghosts of the Thap Sakae Vegetarian Cafe, ‘Offal-eating Spirits 2004’,
‘Seven Cemeteries Ghosts’ and ‘100-year Ghosts’. (TNA)
Small liquor and wine businesses on the skids
Saddled with heavy debts and an uncertainty in the
government’s policy over support given to small-scale wine and liquor
producers, some 6,000 of them, accounting for over 80% of whisky makers in
Thailand, have suspended their businesses, according to the chief of the
Thai Wine and Liquor Manufacturers’ Association.
Chairut Monaipong said that some 6,000 small-scale wine
and liquor makers in villages had stopped production and were unable to
repay loans they had taken from financial institutions, saying the
government is not serious in promoting their products. Also, these producers
lacked enough knowledge in the production, and this had resulted in the
products being sub-standard and eventually affected the market demand. The
association has sent letters informing responsible government agencies to
find a remedy before the producers face more serious debt problems.
Chairut said although the government promised to
encourage and promote Thai producers, the government was actually doing was
just the opposite, as a large amount of imported wines had found their way
into the Thai market causing the country’s loss of a lot of annual foreign
exchange reserves. He charged that European-made alcoholic drinks had
indirectly obtained tariff privileges by sending their products to Thailand
via member countries of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). (TNA)
Rush to help tourists stranded on Koh Tao
On November 25, local officials on Koh Tao off the coast
of Thailand’s southern province of Surat Thani rushed to the assistance of
over 3,000 tourists stranded on the island by heavy seas.
The last batch of tourists was shipped off the island in
the afternoon in a boat with a capacity of 200. High waves of up to five
meters meant that the small vessels normally used to transport tourists to
and from the island were forced to remain on shore. All reached safety and
grateful tourists thanked their rescuers for looking after them. (TNA)
Research points to massive teacher shortages
New research published last week suggests that
Thailand’s schools are facing a massive teaching crisis, with a shortfall
of over 100,000 teachers. A team of researchers blames the shortages on the
fact that teacher training colleges are not channeling their students into
the courses for which there is high teacher demand, coupled with government
policies encouraging early retirement, with no new teachers coming to
replace the ones that are lost.
Worst hit are small, rural schools where it is
particularly difficult to attract mathematics and technology teachers.
Dr. Suwattana Iemoraphan from Chulalongkorn’s Faculty
of Education said that as many as 94.5 percent of the nation’s schools
faced teacher shortfalls.
Urging the Ministry of Education to draw up a national
database for the teaching profession, Suwattana said that the government
should ensure that graduate teachers were being produced in sufficient
numbers and for the areas of study where they were required. (TNA)
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