News
ADB puts Thailand’s GDP growth forecast at 3.2%
The Asian Development Bank has slightly revised up its forecast for Thailand’s 2016 economic growth from 3 per cent to 3.2 per cent, praising the country’s investment in infrastructure. “Government infrastructure investment is a key contributor to growth in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand,” ...
Thailand pledges $1m to kick off ASEAN science development fund
Thailand will invest an initial US$1 million to establish a Science, Technology and Innovation Development Fund for ASEAN. After the first ASEAN Science & Technology Innovation Forum, held in Bangkok last week, Science and Technology Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj said the forum had come up with three plans to ...
Governors ordered to set up flood prevention and assistance centres
The Interior Ministry on September 25 ordered governors of provinces nationwide except in the South to set up flood prevention and alleviation centres to deal with ongoing flooding in many provinces. The order was issued by Interior Ministry permanent secretary Krissada Boonraj. Krissada stated in the order ...
Waste management capacity on the rise
The country’s capacity for industrial and toxic waste management will rise to 37.6 million tonnes this year, up from 25.8 million last year, as more treatment factories begin operatations, the Industry Ministry’s Department of Industrial Works predicts. The government’s plan to set up industrial waste management ...
Promises unmet as Thailand tries to reform shrimp industry
Facing international pressure for failing to stop human trafficking in its seafood sector, Thailand promised almost a year ago to compensate victims of slavery and industry leaders vowed to bring all shrimp processing in-house. That hasn’t always happened. Instead, some formerly enslaved shrimp peelers have been ...
PEA unit enters solar power system distribution deal
PEA ENCOM International Co on September 21 announced its collaboration with Fah Chai Engineering, a provider of solar power systems, to offer such systems via its PEA Shops nationwide, focusing on customers of its parent, the Provincial Electricity Authority. PEA Encom, a state enterprise, has been authorised ...
Central bank to allow fintech experimentation
The bank of Thailand will open the way for financial-technology product experimentation under its regulatory “sandbox” in the first quarter of next year, in the hope that fintech developers applying to participate can receive licences quickly once they decide to commercialise their products or services. ...
Thailand to overhaul sugar policy
Thailand, the world’s second largest sugar exporter after Brazil, is to overhaul its sugar production and distribution systems for the first time in more than three decades in order to avoid being challenged by Brazil at the World Trade Organization. The move is unlikely to make ...
Exporters warned over strict standards
Amid poor export prospects, Thai exporters are being warned of looming strict trade standards on food safety, sanitation and the environment, notably from the US, the EU and Japan. Pimchanok Vonkhorporn, deputy director–general of Trade Policy and Strategy Office under the Commerce Ministry, said stricter ...
Thai garment exports tipped to drop further
Thai garment exports are expected to continue to decline with more Thai manufacturers expanding to neighbouring countries to tap cheaper costs and better tariff benefits. Vallop Vitanakorn, an adviser to the Thai Garment Manufacturers Association, said after expanding investments to Cambodia and Vietnam over the past ...
