Tag: Business

Five organizations, namely the Fiscal Policy Office under the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Thailand, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Insurance Commission, and the Stock Exchange of Thailand, have issued a Joint Statement on Sustainable Finance Initiatives for Thailand.

The joint statement was issued on 18 August 2021, as follows:

Recognizing the crucial role sustainable economic growth plays in bringing about better living standards and inclusive economic development for all, in 2015 Thailand has adopted the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (consisting of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals: SDGs), and, in 2016, committed to the Paris Agreement to advance its Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) reduction by 20 to 25 percent from the business-as-usual level by 2030.

The financial sector plays a crucial role in mobilizing funds to promote sustainability practices in the country. Most recently, financial sector has begun to comprehensively incorporate Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations in its business processes.

With regard to acceleration of the sustainable development, the Working Group on Sustainable Finance, consisting of the Fiscal Policy Office, the Bank of Thailand, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Insurance Commission, and the Stock Exchange of Thailand, has joined forces to steer and align the direction of Thailand’s sustainable finance policies.

On 18 August 2021, the Working Group on Sustainable Finance has jointly published the Sustainable Finance Initiatives for Thailand (the Initiatives), one of our key work plans, to set the direction and framework for driving sustainable finance across the financial sector. The Initiatives recommend 5 Key Strategic Initiatives (KSIs) as follows:

1) Developing a Practical Taxonomy: Serving as common definition and classification system of economic activities deemed as environmentally-sustainable, a taxonomy aligns the regulators’ sustainable finance policies in a congruent manner, and encourages innovative financial products and services, attracting funding towards the achievement of Thailand’s sustainability goals.

2) Improving the Data Environment: ESG disclosure which has quality in accordance with international disclosure standards is crucial for making and monitoring financial decisions, as well as devising financial products and policies to serve the business needs. A rich ESG data environment enhances investment analysis, effective ESG risk measurement, and heightens transparency for monitoring business conduct.

3) Implementing Effective Incentives: Effective incentives could encourage both fundraisers and investors to seize better risk-adjusted return from investment, thereby creating the market and stimulating further investment in sustainable financial products.

4) Creating Demand-led Products and Services: This involves creating an environment where the real underlying demand for sustainable financial products and services is generated and encouraged to continuously grow, with a minimized level of regulatory roadblocks for new products and services.

5) Building Human Capital: Equipping workforce in the financial sector with the necessary sustainable finance-related skills, competences, and values accelerate sustainability transformation of the financial sector by turning work plans into concrete actions with tangible results.

These 5 KSIs are crucial foundation upon which a fertile sustainable finance ecosystem can flourish, facilitating the allocation of economic resources to fulfil the country’s sustainability agenda and enhance benefit to all parties.

Despite the critical urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic, ESG considerations should not be neglected as they are the key driving forces for future sustainable economic growth. When a financial sector is well-equipped with the necessary capacity and capabilities to innovate products and services in a cost-effective manner to tackle ESG issues, particularly climate change, it facilitates private sector to further advance their fundraising activities and investment on sustainable projects and economic activities. Altogether, these pave the way for a thriving economy, society, and environment.

Source: The Government Public Relations Department

A group of farmers, entrepreneurs, and community enterprise operators from Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat, and Songkhla have been provided with knowledge and information about trade with ASEAN markets.

They attended an online seminar, presided over by Deputy Commerce Minister Sinit Lertkrai, who also gave a keynote address on increased trade opportunities in ASEAN for the southern border provinces of Thailand.

Experts from both the public and private sectors also participated in the seminar to share their experience in doing business with various ASEAN countries. They also talked about Thai exports to ASEAN and the use of free trade agreement (FTA) privileges in the framework of the AEAN Free Trade Area through the elimination of both intra-regional tariffs and non-tariff barriers.

The southern border provinces have diverse products, such as seafood, fruit, rubber, batik cloth, handicrafts, herbs, and halal food. Many local products are recognized for their high quality and have made a name for the deep South.

The Deputy Commerce Minister urged Thai traders to prepare for greater opportunities through the development of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement, which is expected to take effect in early 2022.

He believed that the RCEP would create more trade opportunities for local farmers, entrepreneurs, and community enterprise operators in the southern border provinces to export their products to ASEAN markets.

The RCEP is a proposed FTA between the 10 ASEAN member states, and it marks ASEAN’s biggest free trade pact to date, covering a market of 2.2 billion people, with a combined size of US$26.2 trillion or 30 percent of the world’s GDP.

Source: The Government Public Relations Department

Samut Prakan provincial administration has posted on its Facebook page to confirm that the evacuation zone remainswithin a 5km radius of the chemical factory, which caught fire early Monday morning.

Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) also posted on Twitter asking the public only to follow official announcements issued by the governor’s office.

Meanwhile, Samut Prakan’s governor, Wanchai Kongkasem, said that, while they have been able to contain the fire, no one,except emergency services, is being allowed with a 5km radius of the plant, citing the danger which is still present.

The province has set up 8 evacuation centers, at schools, temples and government buildings, which are currently accommodating 1,892 evacuees, with the capacity for 400 more.

One person died in the incident and 33 others were injured.

Later in the day, Samut Prakan police sealed off parts of Lad Krabang and Bangna-Trad Road, heading toward the Kingkaew area, to allow free movement of emergency services.

According to ESRI (Thailand) Company, which specializes in local data, there are 206 housing estates, 99 condominiums, 52 government buildings, 34 petrol stations, 10 nurseries and two hospitals within a 5km radius of the burning factory.

The area of highest risk, which is three kilometres from the chemical factory, covers 72 housing estates, 12 government buildings, seven condominiums, 10 gas stations, one hospital and a nursery.

As of 9.30pm this evening, the fire at the factory is still burning

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS)

The Thai government has resumed its tug-of-war with popular social media platforms, particularly Facebook, over the content it deems fake news and insulting to the monarchy.

In the latest round of confrontations, the Ministry of Digital, Economy and Society (DES) last month threatened legal action against Facebook for refusing to close accounts it accuses of committing the offenses.

DES Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said in late June that Facebook was still refusing to abide by Thai court orders to block eight social media accounts spreading anti-monarchy messages.

These accounts – all operated from overseas – are registered to Pavin Chachavalpongpun, his discussion page Royalist Marketplace – Talad Luang, Andrew MacGregor Marshall, Suda Rangkupan, Pixel Helper, DK Ning, Aum Neko, and Kon Thai UK. Several of the account owners are wanted in Thailand for lese majeste.

“Despite negotiations, Facebook has refused to follow orders to block eight accounts. I will bring legal action against Facebook in Thailand and its headquarters,” Chaiwut said.

He asked the social media giant to show responsibility towards Thailand’s issues and comply with the country’s regulations, given the fact that Facebook has many users in the Kingdom.

Thailand has about 50 million Facebook accounts, out of an estimated 2 billion worldwide.

Recently, Internet service providers barred access to dozens of URLs found by Thai courts to have spread false information, particularly about Thailand’s latest outbreak of COVID-19 and its vaccination programme. However, DES seems to be focusing its efforts on the eight Facebook accounts accused of lese majeste – a crime punishable in Thailand with a sentence of up to 15 years in jail.

Prolonged confrontation

This is not the first time that Thai authorities have been involved in a tussle with global social media forums. When the junta led by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha took power after the 2014 coup, Internet giants Facebook, Twitter, and Google, as well as the popular messaging app Line, were often pressured to censor content the junta deemed insulting to the monarchy or a threat to national security.

The social media forums often resisted the pressure, only cooperating after being shown court orders to shut the offending accounts. However, in most cases, the shutdowns only covered Thailand, with the content and accounts freely accessible from other countries.

That was also the case with Pavin’s “Royalist Marketplace” page, which Facebook blocked in August 2020 after DES managed to secure a court order. However, the Facebook group could still be accessed from outside Thailand. The blocked page was later replaced by “Royalist Marketplace – Talat Luang” (“royal market”) for followers in Thailand.

Earlier that year, the ministry accused Facebook of failing to comply with requests to restrict banned content, including insults to the monarchy. Facebook was given 15 days to comply with court orders or face charges under the Computer Crime Act, which carries a fine of up to Bt200,000 and an additional Bt5,000 per day until they are observed.

Facebook’s guidelines

Facebook sometimes agrees to block or remove certain content at the request of governments if it is found to violate local laws, as outlined in the platform’s “community standards” guidelines.

The community standards cover such issues as false news, hate speech, violence and criminal behavior, suicide, sexual abuse, as well as bullying and harassment.

The standards downplay false news rather than removing it, although they state, “Reducing the spread of false news on Facebook is a responsibility that we take seriously”.

Its rules read: “There is also a fine line between false news and satire or opinion. For these reasons, we do not remove false news from Facebook but we significantly reduce its distribution by showing it lower in News Feed.”

Regarding hate speech, Facebook defines it as “a direct attack against people – rather than concepts or institutions”. However, the platform allows critical commentary about public figures who are featured in the news or who have a large public audience, arguing that this helps encourage open discussion and debate.

But there are rare instances when Facebook and other social media forums have banned prominent figures – most notably former US President Donald Trump.

In January, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube banned then-President Trump for comments they said had incited Trump supporters to storm the Capitol building, the seat of the US legislature.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS)

Thailand and Vietnam have agreed to work closely to enhance linkages between Thai and Vietnamese economies and ensure that both economies would emerge stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Mr. Thani Thongphakdi, on 30 June 2021 co-chaired the 8th Thailand – Vietnam Political Consultation Group Meeting via videoconference with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Dzung.

In the videoconference, both sides discussed ways to further advance bilateral cooperation and the “Strengthened Strategic Partnership” between Thailand and Vietnam, especially as the two countries are celebrating the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Thailand and Vietnam agreed that it would be useful for the two countries to start discussing measures, such as mutual recognition of respective vaccine certificates and facilitation of travel between the two countries in the future.

They also agreed that it would be beneficial for bilateral trade and investment for both sides to work toward establishment of consultation mechanisms in respective countries to facilitate investment promotion between the two countries. Both sides will work closely to increase the value of bilateral trade and reduce impediments to trade in order to achieve the new trade target of USD 25 billion by 2025. They will also promote cooperation on digital economy.

The two countries will further promote technical cooperation through exchanges of experts and personnel in new areas, such as health security, energy and environmental security, and sustainable development.

Both countries will cooperate more closely in various areas, including maritime security, education, regional connectivity, water resources management particularly through strengthening of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), as well as non-traditional security issues such as cyber security and transnational organized crimes.

In addition, both sides concurred that Thailand and Vietnam should forge closer cooperation bilaterally and together with other countries in the Mekong Sub-region to promote sustainable economic and social development of the Sub-region. Both sides will work to synergize the respective countries’ efforts, and to fully utilize ACMECS and GMS as primary platforms for cooperation in the Sub-region.

On the Myanmar issue, which is a mutual concern of Thailand and Vietnam, they emphasized in particular the importance of moving forward with the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus of the ASEAN Leaders as soon as possible. On the South China Sea, both sides shared common interest in ensuring peace and stability in this important area, and in good progress of the consultations under the ASEAN framework on this matter. They reaffirmed the importance of ASEAN centrality. Vietnam also expressed support for Thailand’s upcoming APEC hosting in 2022.

Source: The Government Public Relations Department

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, today (Thursday) called on all sectors on the resort island of Phuket to help make the tourism “sandbox” pilot project a success.

249 tourists are scheduled to arrive in Phuket today, on flights from Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Israel. The visitors will stay in Phuket for at least 14 days, during which they will be tested for COVID-19 twice, before they can travel to other provinces.

The first flight, Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi, touched down at the island’s airport at 11.10am, about 50 minutes late, with 25 passengers disembarking, fewer that the 46 originally expected.

Accompanied by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paochinda and Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the prime minister was there this morning to welcome foreign tourists at Phuket International airport. He then visited security checkpoints.

Upon his arrival at the airport, he told those gathered to greet him that he was glad to see them and urged them to work together to make the project a success.

During his visit to the Tha Chatchai checkpoint, the prime minister said that the success of the “sandbox” concept will serve as a model for other tourist destinations in the country.

In his Facebook post today, he said the Phuket model is the first major step towards the ultimate goal of fully reopening Thailand to foreign arrivals in less than four months, as planned.

“This is all about paving the way for Thai people to be able to return to their normal livelihoods and to make a living,” said the prime minister.

While admitting that there are risks involved in reopening the country, the prime minister said that it is necessary to take the risks adding, however, that monitoring of the tourists and periodical assessments of the situation are needed.

More importantly, he said, the people of Phuket must comply strictly with health and safety measures and refrain from bringing illegal immigrants onto or off the island.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS)

Business operators have started granting “rights” to members of Thailand’s LGBT+ community as they continue to wait to be granted legal rights

Thailand is one of the world’s friendliest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT+) countries and it can be proud of its gender diversity. The acceptance shown towards the LGBT+ community is relatively good in the region, but there are still no specific laws that really protect their rights.

Perhaps the closest path to achieving equality is the government’s civil partnership draft bill. If ratified by parliament, Thailand will be the first country in Southeast Asia, and the second in Asia after Taiwan, to legalize same-sex unions. However, despite being approved in July 2020, it is still unclear as to when the draft bill will become an Act.

The current draft bill covers the registration and termination of partnerships between same-sex couples and the rules for property sharing, adoption, and inheritance. However, it does not grant rights in some areas, such as changing sexual identity, tax allowance, and government-related benefits for couples under the law because these involve amendments to other laws.

Many rights activists are skeptical as to whether the bill will ever see the light of the day. “The bill is still pending a nod from the parliament and there are a lot of conservative people. It’s unlikely to pass,” says one gay rights activist.

Despite a delay in promulgating the Civil Partnership bill, Thailand has witnessed a few positive signs along the road to equality. While these do not have legal standing, the new developments significantly increase recognition of LGBT+ individuals and couples. Telecom giant Dtac is one of the private companies to have taken steps. In line with the Scandinavian parent company’s responsible business policy, the company promotes gender diversity and offers a non-discriminatory working environment. “We’ve worked on the same-sex marriage welfare to provide LGBT+ staff with common marriage rights,” says Dtac CEO Sharad Mehrotra

The Scandinavian telecom giant has just announced a rights package that’s generous even compared to the average welfare benefits for heterosexual employees. It includes leave for a period of up to six days per annum for a marriage, annual leave of up to 7 days a year to take care of (same-sex) partner and child, and paid leave for a month for a sex-change operation.

The announcement has won praise from left and right. Support has been widespread, with many saying that other companies should adopt the same standard. The acceptance of LGBT+ people and providing them equal employee rights is a positive step towards gender equality.

In bygone days, the private sector would be more or less forced to adapt and change in accordance with legal requirements, but in the present world there is no need for government to take the lead: the private sector can put in place its own pioneering strategies without waiting for the law to be passed, which could be too little and too late.

In terms of property rights, LGBT+ individuals can’t co-own a property as a couple until the proposed bill becomes an Act. However, a number of commercial banks are now offering mortgages to LGBTQ customers, allowing them to be co-signatories just as they would a heterosexual couple.

Specifically, UOB further confirmed that LGBTQ customers will not only receive equal service from the bank but also be eligible for promotional offers such as interest rates or exemption of various fees despite not being a registered couple in the eyes of the law.

In addition, Siam Commercial Bank, Kasikornbank, Krungsri, and Standard Chartered Bank now allow LGBTQ couples to co-sign for a house loan. However, details of credit conditions differ from place to place. For example, Krungsri limits LGBT+ loans to real estate projects developed by its customers.

Thailand also made some progress last year when the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security signed an MoU with 39 government agencies and private sector firms including education institutions to prevent gender discrimination. Under the agreement, the parties will strictly follow the guidelines of the Gender Equality Act B.E. 2558 to create workplaces or educational institutes that are accessible to all genders. Thanks to the MoU, the LGBT community can now enjoy a range of rights such as allowing students or employees to dress according to their sexual orientation, job applications, and candidate selections focused on ability and qualifications rather than gender and preventing harassment or sexual harassment in the workplace.

The MoU’s signatories include major Thai conglomerates Charoen Pokphand (CP), SCG, PTT Plc, Saha Pattana Piboon Plc, Krungsri Consumer Plc, Central Group, and the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) and leading institutions Thammasat and Naresuan universities.

Are these merely baby steps? Maybe. Yet these moves by the business sector are interesting and promising as the LGBT+ community can see some rights are coming their way, even if these are not legal rights. Something is better than nothing. More importantly, the intention behind the developments shows that there is a growing recognition of the LGBT+ in all sectors. That matters. It helps the fight for greater rights enjoyment in the years to come.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS)

The public, private, and people’s sectors are joining hands to promote cattle raising on a full-cycle basis, as a way to develop the halal economic corridor in the southern border provinces.

Representatives of the three sectors joined a meeting on 24 June 2021, chaired by Secretary-General of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC) Rear Admiral Somkiat Pholprayoon, to discuss halal livestock development, with an emphasis on the raising of beef and dairy cattle, as well as chickens, for health.

SBPAC and relevant organizations agreed to upgrade cattle raising to generate employment and income for local farmers in the deep South, where state agricultural areas will be used to plant Napier grass and other crops for animal feed.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives serves as a leading agency to carry out this project with local farmers and will provide them with knowledge and skills in cattle raising. About 70 local farmer groups are preparing to register as cattle-raising enterprises and urge more people to join the project.

At the meeting, a proposal was made to encourage each district in the deep South to carry out a cattle-raising project as a model for local residents. SBPAC has set a target to develop it into a stable career for people in the southern border provinces.

The project also aims to help ease the poverty problem, create more job opportunities for local people, increase economic value, and upgrade the people’s quality of life.

Source: The Government Public Relations Department

The Board of Trade of Thailand and the Federation of Thai Industries on 24 June 2021 responded positively to the Government’s policy of reopening the country within the next 120 days, or in October. They will use “Phuket Sandbox” as a model to reopen economic, trade, and tourism activities in target areas.

The Cabinet earlier acknowledged the Phuket Sandbox plan to reopen Phuket province to international tourists from 1 July 2021 onwards. This pilot project also involves Ko Samui, Ko Pha-ngan, and Ko Tao in Surat Thani, which are set to reopen on 15 July 2021.

According to measures under the Phuket Sandbox plan, before entering Thailand, foreign travelers must have a Certificate of Entry (COE) and a medical certificate with an RT-PCR laboratory result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected, issued not more than 72 hours before arrival.

They must come from low- and moderate-risk countries, have a COVID-19 health insurance policy with a minimum coverage of US$100,000, and show a vaccine certificate indicating that they had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no less than 14 days before arrival. They must also register through the website www.entrythailand.go.th.

After arrival in Thailand, the foreign travelers must install the application Thailand Plus and other required applications set by respective provinces, such as Mor Chana. They are also required to take a COVID-19 test. In Phuket, they must check in at the pre-booked SHA Plus-certified accommodation establishment. As for Ko Samui, Ko Pha-ngan, and Ko Tao, they must stay at Alternative Local Quarantine (ALQ) accommodation.

If their COVID-19 tests produce negative results, they may travel around Phuket and must remain on the island for at least 14 days before traveling to other provinces. If they want to stay less than 14 days in Phuket, they must depart for an overseas destination after that period, not another destination in Thailand.

Source: The Government Public Relations Department

The Bank of Thailand on 23 June 2021 predicted that the Thai economy would expand by 1.8 percent in 2021 and 3.9 percent in 2022 This would be lower than the previous projection owing to lower foreign tourist figures and domestic demand held down by the third wave of the outbreak.

The labor market would be more fragile and recover slowly, particularly the service sectors and the self-employed. However, the economy would be supported by higher public expenditure, thanks to the Emergency Decree Authorizing the Ministry of Finance to Raise Additional Loans to Solve Economic and Social Problems as Affected by the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic, B.E. 2564 (2021) as well as by the improving merchandise exports in line with the global economic recovery.

Headline inflation would temporarily increase in the second quarter of 2021 due to the low level of crude oil prices in the same quarter of last year. Meanwhile, higher inflation in advanced economies and global supply shortages would have limited impact on domestic inflation. Medium-term inflation expectations remained anchored within the target. Downside risks to the economic outlook also remained significant from the possibility of the outbreak situation in Thailand and abroad becoming more severe owing to virus mutations.

Despite ample overall liquidity, the distribution of liquidity remained uneven due to increased credit risks, particularly among SMEs and households that were additionally impacted by the third wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. Long-term government bond yields remained stable. On exchange rates, the Thai baht relative to the US dollar depreciated more than regional currencies.

The Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee on 23 June 2021 voted unanimously to maintain the policy rate at 0.50 percent. Downside risks to the economic outlook also remained significant from the new wave of the outbreak.

The Committee viewed that financial measures, particularly special loan facility for businesses as well as debt restructuring, should be expedited. These measures would reduce financial burden for the businesses and households affected by the outbreak in a more targeted manner than cutting the policy rate, which was already at a low level. The Committee thus voted to maintain the policy rate and stand ready to use the limited policy space at the most effective timing.

Source: The Government Public Relations Department