“The central markets the DIT aims to link are those being promoted by the DIT,” he said. “This operation will be managed in advance in order to serve fruits that will come into the Thai market in the future.”

Previously, the DIT had linked the “Emerald” fruit market in Chumphon province with the Commercial Association for Sustainability of Agriculture and China Agriculture Wholesale Market. This move helped increase Thai fruit exports to China.

In addition, the DIT plans to set up an Agricultural Grading Quality Centre, which can provide numerous services related to agricultural products, such as product quality sorting, residue and disease checking, and packaging.

Furthermore, the DIT is taking measures to expedite the sale of lychees, which will enter the market in February. The DIT is collaborating with airlines to allow their passengers to load upto 20kg of lychees free of charge.

The DIT also will provide fruit boxes to the plane passengers. This measure was successful last year in boosting sales of southern fruits like mangosteen, rambutan and langsat. “Four airlines joined hands with us in this promotion last year. We expect more airlines to join this year,” the director-general added.

KTAM’s chief executive officer, Chavinda Hanratanakool, said on Friday (January 17) that its performance in the previous year showed the company was able to maintain the fourth largest market share in the investment market. The total value of assets under management as of December 30, 2019, was Bt827.31 billion, representing a growth rate of 6.6 per cent year on year.

“This year, KTAM has set a target to increase net asset value by Bt100 billion or 12 per cent,” Chavinda said.

“In the first quarter of this year, the company plans to launch various funds, such as health insurance fund, which is currently in the process of filing a establishment request to the Securities & Exchange Commission.”

She further explained that KTAM will focus on three strategies as follows;

➤ Diversification of investment portfolios and the management of overseas investment funds to increase opportunities for generating returns on investment, especially in emerging markets.

“KTAM foresees growth in overseas markets because we have witnessed a growth of more than 97 per cent of the company’s overseas investment funds in the past year amidst the fluctuations in the global economy, the impact of the US-China trade war, and the baht appreciation,” Chavinda said.

“The company will continue promoting investments in foreign funds, which the company has carefully selected and distributed in many asset classes to support customers’ diversified investment.”

➤ Cooperating with Krungthai Bank (KTB) and partners to provide products and services for both large and small customers more efficiently, especially in the digital platform.

“In the previous year, KTAM’s fund transaction value through the KTB Next mobile application was over Bt14 billion, while fund transaction value through KTAM’s Smart Trade mobile application was over Bt8 billion,” Chavinda said.

“Therefore, the company will continue to improve technologies in transactions to be faster, easier, and convenient for all target investors.”

➤ Developing new technologies to meet the investors’ demand in the digital age, as well as improving the services for investors through digital platforms to support the trend of new generation investors.

“In the previous year, KTAM created a group on Line mobile application, @KTAM, as another way to find knowledge, articles, and contents about investing, which is followed by 235,625 investors, while over 180,000 followers were following on Facebook,” Chavinda said.

“Therefore, the company will focus on providing content to draw more investors to encourage people to see the importance of saving through various funds.”

She added that KTAM has achieved success in the past year, so they will continue improving the management to be effective.

“The company must heed consumers’ demand and behaviour, which changes rapidly, as well as creating outstanding products and services to maximise the benefits for investors,” she added.

“We believed that enabling investors to save while investing, along with encouraging them to have discipline in savings will help to create a sustainable future.”

The minister said on Saturday (January 18) that the land belongs to her family and they had got the legal rights from the Department of Lands. She said she was ready to collaborate with officials to clarify the accusation.

The Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) had earlier arrested a group of excavator drivers deforesting on Khao Yai National Park’s land in Prachinburi province and had learned of the involvement of some local politicians.

Isoc filed a case of encroachment of forest land, occupying a forest area and violation of the land, prompting the director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Thanya Netithammakun, to order the Department of Lands to investigate the accusations.

The Pollution Control Department together with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration studied the situation of particlulate matter not more than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) in Bangkok and its suburbs through the website and application Air4Thai from 54 stations. It found that the amount of dust in the air overall had increased in all areas compared to Saturday (January 18). The amount of dust in 46 areas was at a level unhealthy for sensitive groups (Orange area) while the situation was more serious (Red area) on Samsen Road in Phra Nakhon district.

People in the “Red” area have been advised to reduce outdoor activities and closely monitor the dust situation.

The high-pressure system that covered the North and the Northeast has weakened while the westerly winds in the upper parts are still blowing cold air from the Himalayas to the North. Cool mornings are forecast with possible isolated patchy fog in the North and the Northeast. Mountaintops will see cold to very cold weather. All transport should proceed with caution in foggy areas. Stronger easterly winds prevailing across the Gulf of Thailand could bring more thundershowers.

The easterly winds prevailing across the Gulf and the lower South are stronger with more rain possible in the lower South.

Dust situation in the days ahead:

In the central region including Bangkok and its vicinity, light winds blowing around the area will cause accumulation of dust.

Forecast for the metropolitan area:

Cloudy with morning fog.

Minimum temperature 24-26 °C. Maximum temperature 34-36 °C.

Southeasterly winds 10-20 km/hr.

The Bangkok Poll survey showed that 72.5 per cent of the 1,182 respondents nationwide expressed worry about the drought this year.

The survey found that the majority of people — 50.5 per cent — are concerned about farmers’ income due to damage to agriculture because of the drought while 49.1 per cent were worried about supply of drinking water. Nearly 49 per cent worried about agricultural products becoming more expensive.

When asked how worried they were about the drought, expected to be the second most severe since 1979, 72.5 per cent said they were very worried while 27.5 per cent had no concerns.

About 81.5 per cent of people said they were prepared to cope with the drought, while 67.8 per cent planned to use water more economically. Some 20 per cent said they had stocked up on drinking water and 18 per cent said they had bought water tanks. Meanwhile, 18.5 per cent said they had not made any preparations and thought there would be enough water.

When asked about the impact of the drought on their lives and careers, 53.3 per cent believed it would be severe while 46.7 per cent did not think it would be much.

Asked about their confidence in the Office of the National Water Resources to tackle the drought so that Thai people would have water throughout the year, a great majority — 57 per cent — had little faith in their abilities while 43 per cent believed that they would solve the problem.