The state agency’s chairman, Lt-General Satit Pittarat, said that Phitsanulok was the first province Thailand Post was supporting under the initiative before expanding it to other provinces. Thailand Post classifies the products it supports under A, B and C classes.

The A class features high quality and appealing packaging. Thailand Post promotes the class on its e-marketplace and charges customers lower delivery fees.

B-class products are good quality but need better packaging. Thailand Post seeks ways to help the product owners develop attractive packaging and then their products receive the same support as A-class products.

Thailand Post works closely with the producers of C-class products to develop product quality and quality packaging so they can be classified as A-class products.

Thailand Post is currently supporting seven community products in Phitsanulok. One of them is the Wink-branded leather and shoe-polish wax.

Suriyaporn Nipornram, the owner of the brand’s producer Surini Innovation, said her business was inspired by her five-year-old daughter, who hated to polish her school shoes because of the strong smell of the wax. Suriyaporn, 36, researched how to make environmentally friendly natural wax at her home two years ago while she was doing her PhD in chemistry at Naresuan University.

She launched her first natural wax product last year, with her products available only in Phitsanulok at present. The products have been patented. Early this year, Thailand Post approached her to join its Pracha Rath project and helped her develop appealing packaging and a marketing campaign.

She hopes the project will result in her products becoming well known nationwide.

Sunanta Kangvalkulkij, deputy director-general of the Commerce Ministry’s Trade Negotiations Department, said both countries have already achieved about 70 per cent in the FTA talks, which involve trade reduction modality, and rules of origin.

The remaining issues will be discussed in the next round of talks to be held every month from now. The fifth round of negotiations will be held in Thailand from October 18-20.

Under trade reduction, Thailand has encouraged Pakistan to eliminate tariffs on many key products, including processed food, sugar, chemical products, petroleum, plastic, rubber and products, wood, printing, textile and garment, electric appliances, and automobile and parts.

Sunanta said Thailand and Pakistan would attempt to conclude the FTA by next year, to not only promote trade and closer cooperation between the two, but also so that each country can use the other as a springboard to South Asia

In 2014, Thailand enjoyed a trade surplus of US$734 million (Bt25.5 billion) with Pakistan. Similar trade surpluses have been registered by the Kingdom since 2010. Bilateral trade reached $1.01 billion in 2014, with Thailand’s exports to Pakistan accounting for $874 million. Pakistan is Thailand’s second-largest trading partner in South Asia, after India, and No 46 globally.

Major exports from Thailand to Pakistan are fabrics, textiles, vehicles and parts, air-conditioners and parts, plastics, and chemical goods. Imports include machinery and parts, musical instruments, processed and semi-processed fishery products, ore, and steel.

“More than 70,000 Sri Lankan tourists visit Thailand every year because much publicity is being given in the Sri Lankan media, especially newspapers and magazines, to Thailand. However, when it comes to Thai newspapers, very few articles are written on Sri Lanka’s tourist destinations,” Noppon Adchariyavanich said at the Sri Lanka-Greater Mekong Subregion Business Council’s fifth annual general meeting held at the Hilton Colombo Residencies. The AGM was organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

He said Sri Lanka has many interesting tourist destinations, such as Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigriya, but Thai tourists tended to visit only the Kandy temple because they have very little knowledge about the alternatives.

“However, in the Sri Lankan media one will find many newspaper articles on Thailand being published … That is the main reason why Sri Lanka is not a popular tourist destination among Thai tourists,” he said.

Noppon said that Thailand and Sri Lanka could develop areas such as agriculture, fisheries, construction, tourism and consumer products, which have a great potential to improve trade and investment between the countries.

He also said that the Greater Mekong Subregion is an emerging market in the region, which could yield ripe economic benefits in many ways.

A power purchasing agreement was signed on Tuesday, during Prime Minister of Thailand GeneralPrayuth chan-Ocha’s visit to the Prime Minister of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, while attending the 28th and 29th Asean Summits and related meetings from September 6-8 in Vientiane.

The Lao Prime Minister highly appreciated and valued the attendance of the Thai Prime Minister and his delegation at the Asean Summits and thanked the Thai government for providing regular assistance to Laos, especially basic infrastructure development and Asean chairmanship and the 49th Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting and related meetings last July.

The two parties will continue to support relevant sectors of the two countries in escalating Thai trade and investment in Laos, in terms of quality and quantity,| and in accordance with the potential and capacity of the countries.

In addition, the parties will together resolve obstacles on border trade and cross border transport between the countries, solve the drugs trade and contraband goods, and maintain security along border areas.

On this occasion, Lao Minister of Energy and Mines Dr Khammany Inthirath on behalf of the Lao government and Thai Minister of Energy General Anantaporn Kanjanarat signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on power cooperation, witnessed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries.

Thailand currently buys 7,000 megawatts of electricity from |Laos annually according to a MoU signed in 2007 between the |two countries, which expired last year. Of the total 9,000MW of power, most would be generated from hydropower, which is more cost-effective than fossil fuels, the Bangkok Post reported in July .

A source said that under the previous MoU, Thailand agreed to buy 5,421MW of power, 3,578MW of which came from five hydropower plants and one coal-fired power plant.

The remaining 1,843MW of power was to come from hydropower plants, which are scheduled to be completed and start commercial operations in 2019.

They are the 354MW Xe Pien Xe Namnoy hydropower project, Xayabury Dam (1,220MW) and the Nam Ngiep project (269MW).

There a re two more hydropower plants in Laos that are set to supply another 1,418MW of power to Thailand. The power purchasing agreements for these plants are still being negotiated.

Napasorn Kakai, TAT’s director in Ho Chi Minh City, said more than 2.4 million tourists from these countries had visited Thailand last year, generating income of Bt65 billion.

Some 1.2 million were from Laos, 760,000 from Vietnam, and 490,000 from Cambodia.

She said the authority expected the number of visitors from these markets to reach 2.6 million this year, and to climb to 3 million in 2017.

“Indochinese countries are becoming more interesting markets for the Thai tourism industry because they now have many more wealthy people, and their citizens are ready to travel abroad – and Thailand is one of their favourite destinations,” she added.

In order to increase the number of quality tourists from Indochina, the authority is planning to promote more destinations such as Phuket, Chiang Mai and other cities, along with established medical and wellness services at a lower cost than similar offerings in other countries.

Following Thai Vietjet’s announcement that it would be operating more routes between Vietnam and Thailand, as well as within Thailand, the TAT will encourage young Vietnamese travellers and families to visit the Kingdom, particularly during the main school break in July and August each year.

“The Vietnamese market has the highest potential among the three [Indochinese |countries], as the country has more direct flights to Thailand. Last year, 4.5 million Vietnamese travelled abroad, but just 760,000 came to Thailand – chiefly only for Bangkok and Pattaya. If we put Chiang Mai and Phuket into the picture, we should see rapid growth from Vietnam,” Napasorn said.

Vietnamese tourists spend an average of Bt31,000 per trip, staying an average of six days in Thailand.

She said the TAT would focus on two niche markets in Vietnam: young travellers and middle-class people who earn more than Bt15,000 per month, and families who are able to travel overseas twice a year.

At least 300,000 of the country’s tourists are estimated to be wealthy, with more than 80 per cent of them living in Ho Chi Minh City, she added.

With a total of 165 flights currently operating between Thailand and Vietnam per week – excluding additional flights planned by Thai Vietjet, Bangkok Airways and Vietnam Airlines – the agency will work with the carriers to promote more marketing activities and packages, as well as participating in three annual national tourism fairs in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang, the director said.

In the other direction, about 230,000 Thai tourists visited Vietnam last year, and the number is expected to rise after more airline seats become available.

The recent opening of Japanese shopping mall Takashimaya in Ho Chi Minh City is also expected to attract more tourists from Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

Napasorn said the TAT also planned to |promote resort-islands such as Phuket, and its yachting segment in particular, to the Lao market, along with wellness and medical check-ups, and shopping.

Moreover, it will promote cross-border tourism by playing a greater role as a gateway into Laos.

“We have learnt that there are more than 10,000 super-rich persons in Laos, and they are our targets,” she added.

For the Cambodian market, the authority will promote Thailand in much the same way as it does for Laos – that is, encouraging more medical and shopping tourists.

More destinations such as Chiang Mai and Phuket will be added to the promotional drive in Cambodia, while the TAT will continue to promote caravan groups for those Cambodians who like to visit provinces on the east coast of Thailand, Napasorn said.

For this year, the ministry has projected export value of between US$210 billion and $218 billion, the first figure representing a 2-per-cent decline and the second figure marking expansion by the same percentage. This forecast is based on the expected average value of the baht at 35-37 against the US dollar and average Dubai oil price for the whole year at $35-45 per barrel.

A senior ministry source said export value next year should grow by at least 3 per cent as there were clearer signs of economic recoveries in many markets, particularly the United States, and stronger growth of emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

“The 3-per-cent export-expansion target for next year is reachable,” the source said.

Deputy Commerce Minister Suvit Maesincee said exports would be driven by many strategies including support of trade in goods, services, outward investment, city focus, and promotion of innovation and technology.

Amid the changing global economic landscape, Thai trade officials will help drive not only export growth, but also trade in services and investment, he said.

During the meeting yesterday with overseas trade officials, six strategies were outlined to drive export next year. These were support for export of both goods and services along supply chains; promoting export via strategic partners; focus on high-margin products; promoting export via digital marketing or online trading; emphasis on innovative, creative and start-up enterprises; and deepening penetration of new markets.

In 2017, export value to every market is targeted to increase from this year.

Export value to the US is forecast to grow by 2.9 per cent, compared with 0.6 per cent this year. Exports to Latin America this year will shrink by 3.9 per cent, but next year’s contraction should be smaller at minus-0.1 per cent. Export to tThai exports he European Union will face flat growth both this year and next year.

Export growth to the Middle East, expected at 2.4 per cent this year, is forecast to improve to 3.3 per cent next year. Export to Africa, likely to decline by 8 per cent this year, should turn around to growth of 5 per cent.

Export growth to South Asia will rise from 0.5 per cent to 2 per cent, and to Asean from minus-0.8 per cent this year to growth of 2.5 per cent in 2017. Export to Australia will continue to grow by 5 per cent in 2017, which is also the expansion expected this year.

Exports to East Asian markets will grow slightly next year. Export growth to mainland China will improve from 1 per cent to 3 per cent, to Hong Kong from 1.4 per cent to 2 per cent, to Taiwan from a flat growth this year to 3 per cent next year, and to Japan from flat growth to 1 per cent next year.

Exports to South Korea will be flat in 2017, compared with 3-per-cent expansion expected this year.

Since the cost of living has increased at different rates in each of the 77 provinces, workers in each province would enjoy a different raise.

Since the Bt300 minimum daily wage went into uniform effect in 2012, it has stayed there. One reason for not adjusting it is the lacklustre economy.

“In my opinion, if we wait until the economic situation improves, people whose income is based on the minimum wage will get poorer. The government should launch an automatic wage increase based on the Consumer Price Index in the past three years,” he said.

It’s up to employers if they want to lift wages even higher, in order to boost workers’ productivity, Yongyuth said.

In his research, over the past three years, while the country’s CPI surged by 6 per cent, the CPI in Nonthaburi rose by 9 per cent against just 4 per cent in Krabi.

At those rates, those earning the static minimum wage would feel poorer every year.

It is worse for workers who do not get paid even the minimum. In his research, they number as many as 2.11 million or 14.8 per cent of the workforce. Most of them are hired by small businesses with no more than 50 employees.

In some outlying provinces, more than half of businesses were found to be unable to offer their staff the minimum wage – 67 per cent of enterprises in Narathiwat, 58 per cent in Mae Hong Son, 55 per cent in Pattani, 55 per cent in Yala and 55 per cent in Trang.