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Business association head re-elected
Sopin Thappajug (center), Chonburi Youth and
Family Court judge, presents a flower bouquet to congratulate Jamroon
Wisawachaipan, president of the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association, as
committee members and guests look on.
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Jamroon Wisawachaipan was re-elected as president of the Pattaya Business
and Tourism Association (PBTA) for another two-year term.
According to regulations of the association, meetings are held twice a year
in March and October and the management committee appointed serves a
two-year term.
This year the new 21-member committee was formed to manage the association
for 2009-2011, replacing the old committee which was also led by Jamroon.
In this new election, Verawat Khakhay presided over the process with many
honorary witnesses. The election took place in the meeting room at the
Bangkok Hospital Pattaya.
Three candidates, Jamroon Wisawachaipan, Alisa Phanthusak, and Anusak
Rodboonmee stood for president, but two withdrew saying that they were
already responsible for other tasks and may lack time, leaving Jamroon
re-elected unopposed.
The search was still on for 17 committee members to make up a total of 21
members required.
Jamroon said that he had contributed to the association for over 10 terms
and will continue to pursue unfinished tasks arranged with the previous
committee, such as boosting tourism and collaborating with the government to
promote tourism to Pattaya.
“I am satisfied with about 80 percent of the tasks accomplished for the past
two years but there remain problems with coordination,” he said.
“With the current economic crisis affecting the tourism sector, Pattaya
needs to use more offensive strategies such as to let the president choose
his own subordinates.”
The location of the association’s headquarters has also been changed from
Mike Shopping Mall to the Green Park Resort “for more convenience”, said the
president.
Jamroon said that on May 14-16 Pattaya would host a regional tourism
meeting, so he hopes that our citizens would work hard to be good hosts,
creating a positive image of our city.
Cash-strapped THAI Airways maps strategic plan for profit
Loss-making national flag carrier Thai Airways International
(THAI) announced a two-stage strategic plan aimed at enabling the airline to
turn around to profit amid the global economic meltdown, according to Pichai
Chunhavajira, chair of the committee managing THAI’s business and financial
rehabilitation plan.
THAI announced in February that it lost Bt21.3 billion in 2008, the company’s
first annual loss in 43 years, because of high fuel prices, foreign exchange
losses due to the weakened baht, and protests that temporarily shut down
Bangkok’s two airports from November 25 to December 3 last year.
On Thursday Pichai told a press conference that under the terms of the urgent
rehabilitation plan to be implemented now until next year, THAI will boost its
revenues through improved sales and more efficient management of its revenue.
The airline plans to increase its ticket sales via its website channels to 5-8
percent of total sales this year, from only 3 percent now, Pichai said.
Other measures under the plan include lowering management overhead by 10 percent
from Bt100 billion in 2009 and cutting board meeting costs by 25 percent.
Because of the decision to cut expenses, THAI salaries will not be raised and no
bonuses will be given, overtime work will be reduced and buying six Airbus
A330-300s planned for this year and two more in 2010 will be postponed.
THAI is facing a cash flow problem amounting to Bt35 billion and postponing Bt15
billion in payments will require the airline to borrow only Bt20 billion to
boost its liquidity.
The airline believes that with the first rehabilitation plan the company’s
performance could turn around with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation
and amortization (EBITDA) of Bt33 billion, profit after taxes of Bt6-7 billion
and debts to equity ratio at 1:1.5 or 1:1 from 3:1 currently.
Under the second strategic plan, new aircraft to be acquired will be reduced to
4 or 5 from 10 now, and the financial system will be restructured. (TNA)
Thailand to benefit
from G20 summit result
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva expressed satisfaction with the outcome of
the London Summit 2009 as it would eventually benefit Thailand, and he
believes the world economy would recover during the first half of 2010.
The Group of 20 (G20) Summit concluded in London on Thursday having achieved
consensus on how to move the world out of its financial crisis, including
pledges of US$1.1 trillion to revive the world economy, a joint call to
fight protectionism, and concrete actions to tighten banking regulations
around the world.
Abhisit said after attending the summit that it had agreed upon stimulus
packages, particularly monetary and fiscal policies, that the world’s
leading economy applied to fight the deepest recession since the 1930s.
The measures also showed that the countries had emphasized the real economic
sector including the employment and income generation to benefit developing
countries and create greater purchasing power among them, which would help
the recovery of Thailand’s export and tourism businesses.
The prime minister attended the summit as chair of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Abhisit said the leaders of 20 developed and emerging countries also vowed
major efforts to clean up banks’ tattered balance sheets and get credit
flowing again, to shut down global tax havens and to tighten regulations
over hedge funds and other financial high-flyers in the US and elsewhere.
This would help stabilize the world financial system, the prime minister
said.
The leaders had promised to provide $1.1 trillion in new resources for the
International Monetary Fund and other global finance bodies to support loans
for the business sector and stimulus packages in the developing countries,
he said.
Most importantly, they pledged to resist protectionism and support the
attempt to initiate a new round of free trade talks after the Doha Round of
negotiations that faced deadlock, he said.
The meeting agreed on building an inclusive, green and sustainable recovery,
the premier said.
Abhisit said the result of the meeting shows that the developing countries
have increasingly played more important roles in helping the world economies
fight the global financial crisis.
He predicted that the world economy could recover during the first half of
2010 and that the signs of recovery could be seen during the fourth quarter
of 2009. (TNA)
IMF forecasts Thai economy to contract 2-4% in 2009
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast that
Thailand’s economy will contract between 2-4 percent in 2009 due to the global
economic meltdown, but that it should start recovering steadily in the next one
or two years, according to Nissanke Weerasinghe, an adviser to the IMF’s
Asia-Pacific Department.
Advising the Thai government to implement monetary and fiscal policies to
prevent a further decline in domestic investment and consumption, Weerasinghe
said Thailand’s economic growth is expected to grow moderately due to public
investment which is vital for recovery during the next one or two years.
Playing down the current political unrest in the country which might affect the
economy, Weerasinghe said the sharp cut of the policy interest rate by the Bank
of Thailand (BoT) since last December would stimulate domestic consumption,
which is weak now.
Inflation has fallen sharply due to reductions in food and energy prices and it
is projected that Thailand’s inflation this year will be less than one percent,
he said.
The government’s fiscal measures, both in the short and medium-term, is
necessary to stimulate the economy and although Thailand will experience a
budget deficit of about 4.5 percent of gross domestic product, they would boost
demand for local consumption, Weerasinghe said.
Regarding the performance of Thai banks, he said that the IMF projects them as
having strong capital while bad debts have continued to pull back from their
peak during the Asian financial crisis which hit Thailand in 1997.
However, Thai banks may see their bad debts rising due to the current global
financial crisis, which might squeeze small and medium-sized businesses, he
said, advising that the government should consider offering credit guarantees
for the businesses. (TNA)
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