Duangporn Rodphaya, director-general to the Foreign Trade Department, said rice prices were expected to increase continuously in the coming months because of these factors, while global and domestic demand were unchanged.

She said that with the low supply of rice and stable demand, the government would carefully consider the management of its rice stocks and the release of rice, with about 10 million tonnes currently in state stockpiles.

With high demand, the government expects Thailand should break its rice export target of nine million tonnes this year.

The department reported that from January 1 to May 16, Thailand exported 3.9 million tonnes, up 18 per cent compared to the same period last year, while the value rose 11.8 per cent to Bt60.99 billion.

Duangporn said many countries in Africa such as Mozambique had approached the government to purchase rice on credit.

She said that to sell rice ion this manner required the Commerce Ministry to first speak with the Finance Ministry to ensure the government would be paid.

Any contract would be on a government-to-government basis.

Duangporn said the government may talk to business groups and banks to find the best method for selling rice.

But she said the government did not sell rice via barter or counter trade.

“Communities are the right choice to begin with as they are close to people. They can raise awareness among people.”

“We have learnt how to help the world in reducing GHGs,” he said, adding that these cities would in turn share their insights with others to increase the number of participating cities.

Vijai shared the information with the audience attending TGO’s event last month, hosted to announce the World Bank’s US$3 million grant (approx. Bt100 million) to help Thailand meet the national carbon emission reduction target. Thailand is among 30 countries becoming members of the bank’s Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR) – a global alliance to reduce GHG emissions and energy consumption in developing countries.

Advice is being sought to develop instruments to put a price on carbon, believed to be the most effective way to reduce energy consumption and channel financial gains to other social needs. At the UN Climate Change Conference or COP 21, Thailand, the world’s 22nd largest CO2 emitter, was committed to reducing GHG emissions by 20 per cent by 2030 from the business-as-usual level in 2010.

“There are instruments, but applying them poses political, economic and social challenges to each country,” admitted Waraporn Hirunwatsiri, the World Bank’s senior environment specialist.

The options can be implicit or explicit. Implicit carbon prices may equate to higher fuel taxes or feed-in-tariff on electricity prices. Explicit instruments may involve carbon taxes or emission trading or subsidy cuts.

“Our aim is to send a signal to economic actors that in every business decision, environmental costs must be factored in… Emission has a price and it’s not right to pass it on to others,” she said.

At the end of 2015, 13 countries have completed roadmaps for PMR activities and $53 million has been allocated to prepare for PMR initiatives. As a member of PMR, Thailand will hear and share lessons with other participating countries including China, Brazil, Mexico, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

In 2013, China – the world’s largest producer of emissions, introduced a carbon trading system in 7 cities with the ambition of eventually imposing it across the nation in 2017.

In 2015, 525 types of business in 23 sectors in South Korea, which emit two thirds of total emission, joined a similar scheme, under the national aim to reduce carbon emission by 30 per cent within 2020.

Waraporn said that success required leadership from the government sector and participation from the private sector. Implicit or explicit approaches could somehow dent the business sector’s competitiveness, given differences in pricing levels in different countries, she noted. While the government must be clear in its policy direction, the business sector must be committed in participation.

Investment could be shifted towards countries with less stringent rules, she said, while trust in the government would remain if financial gains were geared towards the poor or tax adjustment or public transport projects that benefit a large number of people.

Different government agencies have worked to achieve the emission target. The Industry Ministry this year imposed car tax scales that are levied according to emission levels. Thailand also has carbon labels on electrical appliances.

According to Pongvipa Lohsomboon, the grant involves a process to prepare four areas by June 2018.

The first involves energy performance certificates to buildings and factories that ably reduce energy. This is in line with the plan of the Energy Ministry’s Alternative Energy and Development Department to reduce energy consumption of about 9,000 large-sized buildings across the nation. In sight are shopping malls, hospitals, hotels, office buildings and a variety of factories.

The second involves the low-carbon city programme.

Municipalities and local communities’ plans will be assessed for higher energy efficiency. Under this scheme, municipalities will be encouraged to include renewable energy in their plans, grow more trees and reduce methane generated by waste from the agricultural and farm sectors in their areas.

The funding will also help to lay down an emissions trading scheme and funding a project management unit.

“However, they want to learn everything regarding their work here in Thailand, as well as develop their work skills during their time in the country,” he said.

Surasak said that every job that Dawei workers experienced in Thailand would be invaluable experience and benefit them when returning to work in their home region.

They will then be able to help develop Dawei, as the working cultures of Dawei and Thailand are quite similar, he added.

“I believe that the establishment of the newly elected government in Myanmar will lead to a better investment climate in the country. And, within the next six months, all government agencies will be systematically established to run the country,” he said.

“I personally believe that the political system in Myanmar will be better and more sustainable than that in Thailand in the future,” said the 39-year-old.

Surasak has been in Thailand for almost 30 years, starting off in the Kingdom as a construction worker.

He now owns a van to provide a travel service within the Kingdom, as well as to and from Myanmar.

Migrant workers from Dawei formed the DNDA about one and a half year ago with the mission to help underprivileged people and local society in general.

“The DNDA also helps Dawei people that face problems while working in Thailand,” he said, adding, “We also want to preserve Dawei culture and tradition, which have been eroded for 60-plus years since the end of World War II.”

“Dawei itself had been administrated by 52 generations of kings. It is one of the major ethnic groups in Myanmar, similar to the Mon, Bagan and Yakai,” he explained.

Myanmar has 135 ethnic groups, of which nine are major ones.

With more than 3,000 members in Thailand, similar branches of the association have also been set up in other neighbouring countries, including Malaysia and Singapore. In Thailand, the DNDA has offices in Kanchanaburi and Samut Sakhon.

The major problem Dawei workers face while staying in Thailand is being cheated by their employers, as well as by the individual brokers that bring them into the country, Surasak said.

Many employers commit to giving their workers a full salary and benefits, but the actual payment received is generally much lower than what has been promised, he said, pointing out that the migrant workers have to pay a great deal of money to get their work documents in order, and for their work visit to Thailand.

“Dawei workers would like to have a temporary visa, which lasts for three months to one year, so that they are not discriminated against in terms of their human rights and have the freedom to travel and find a job anywhere within the Kingdom,” the DNDA chairman said.

Saichan, an ethnic Mon worker in Samut Sakhon, said there were more than 20 groups of Mon workers in Samut Sakhon province alone, including those at Wat Thep Norarat, Wat Kok, Wat Sirimongkol, Wat Pa Tha Sai and Wat Pom Wichian Chotikaram.

Each Mon group has its own leader, while they keep in contact with each other via telephone and the Line social app on a number of important issues, especially religious matters and daily living, as well as on the preservation of Mon culture and identity, he said.

“We are of Mon nationality, with our own religious belief, language, way of dress and identity,” Saichan stressed.

He added that the groups also joined together for any religious ceremonies, and when Mon abbots were invited over from Myanmar to give Dhamma talks, and to lead prayer and meditation.

“Our research found that migrants who came to work legally tend to enjoy better and safer working environments. Their access to public services such as healthcare and the education of their children have been in proving in the past three years. The Thai government, local governments, employees and NGOs [non-government organisations] in these areas have been instrumental in making these positive changes possible,” he said.

Kiatanantha said that while international pressures had been the key driving force behind the optimistic trend, there were other important reasons.

Interviews with employers revealed that having legal migrant workers is a plus to a business, especially if they are part of an export supply chain. Therefore, in order to keep their workers from running away to other employers or going underground, employers must offer an employment package that will ensure that these workers have a reasonably good standard of living, Kiatanantha said.

A large majority of workers earn at least at the minimum wage. For those who possess a certain level of experience and/or are able to communicate in Thai, they enjoy additional top-up payments. Some employers also offer them in-kind benefits such as accommodation, transportation, vacations, extra holidays, meals and even scholarships for their children to study at school or a learning centre.

“Illegal migrants do not enjoy the same standard of living discussed above,” Kiatanantha said. “Being kept underground means that migrants are invisible to authorities,” he said. “Thus, they have to live in an area with poor living conditions, which lacks proper access to utilities and transportation.

“They are also excluded from public services. It is also hard for them to send their children to a learning centre or a school. Interestingly, some illegal migrants come to Thailand or decide to stay in Thailand unlawfully because they believe that such a choice offers a better prospect compared to living in their homeland.”

Kiatanantha said migrants were not always welcomed by locals. Superficially, he said, one might be inclined to attribute such a perception to discrimination. “But insights from our qualitative interviews said otherwise. Comparative analysis covering cases where migrants and the locals did get along well and cases where both parties were segregated showed that this was attributable to three main reasons.

“First, migrants were less hygiene because there did not receive such an education prior to their coming to Thailand. That was why, by and large, migrant communities were relatively less hygiene than local communities.

“Second, an inability to communicate in Thai made it hard for migrants to have proper contact with the Thais.

“The last reason was because migrants’ use local facilities, especially healthcare facilities, that precludes locals from having proper access to the same service.”

Kiatanantha said the university’s study on locals having a negative reaction to migrants because of a fear of crime was inconclusive.

Bt300m project

The ministry has set aside Bt300 million to launch the project, which will be open to applicants in the fourth quarter this year, so they can be trained to develop their own digital start-ups in many sectors.

Applications can be submitted at the ministry, which will then pass them on to different training venues in line with their proposal.

For instance, those interested in developing a start-up in the health and tourism arena will be sent to Chulalongkorn University, while those interested in the robotics industry will be incubated at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang. Those keen on developing engineering entrepreneurships will be trained at both Bangkok University and King Mongkut’s University of Technology, Thonburi.

The banks may provide funding in the form of venture capital to promising applicants, Uttama said.

On May 28, the ICT Ministry will also sign an MoU with the Agricultural and Cooperatives Ministry, the Interior Ministry and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives to promote the use of digital technology among farmers.

The Non-formal and Informal Education Office will also take part in the project by educating people at the grassroots level on digital technology, so they will be able to enter the e-commerce channel.

There are some 2,000 community digital technology learning centres across the country, and the ministry aims to install Wi-Fi networks in 600 of them this year.

A start-up is a type of enterprise that can scale quickly, based on intellectual property, technology and an innovative business model.

Developing a supportive ecosystem is critical for the growth of start-up firms, the Ministry of Science and Technology had said previously.

Under the project to develop a start-up ecosystem, the government plans to complete the legal system for start-ups and develop a national e-portal by 2020.

In addition, support will be provided for 800 projects and another 200 start-up firms, 50 of which are expected to raise seed funding from venture-capital investors or get involved in merger and acquisition (M&A) deals, worth an estimated 1 trillion Vietnamese dong (US$44.6 million).

By 2025, the project aims to aid 2,000 start-up projects and another 600 start-up firms, 100 of which are expected to receive venture capital or get involved in M&A deals, worth 2 trillion dong.

Subjects earmarked to receive support include individuals or groups with start-up projects or firms with a high possibility of growing quickly, having been in operation for less than five years from the date of the business registry certificate, and organisations that provide incubation services to start-ups.

Three major goals of the project involve developing start-up incubation zones, enhancing the capacity of start-ups and developing the technical infrastructure for start-ups.

In addition, a national e-portal for start-ups will be built to provide information on technologies, inventions, standards, intellectual property rights and new business models, as well as policies, investments, incubation services and support systems.

Further, incubation activities will be promoted at ministries, in sectors and in localities with potential for the development of start-ups through the establishment of zones with free Internet and a supportive IT infrastructure.

Work on the Vietnam Silicon Valley project, launched in 2013 and sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, will continue as part of Vietnam’s commitment to building a dynamic, advanced start-up ecosystem.

Support for training will also be provided to enhance the capacity of start-ups, while completing the technical infrastructure and adding incentives for loan interest rates and tax and investment policies.

A circular on venture capital funding is also being drafted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment to improve the legal framework for promoting start-ups and to make Vietnam a start-up nation.

A survey by the Amway Corporation in collaboration with German university Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM) and market research company Gesellschaft fuer Konsumforschung (GfK) last year also found that Vietnam had a high entrepreneurial spirit, ranking 7th among the 44 surveyed countries.

However, the percentage of the population who started businesses was low, with only 2.4 per cent compared to the world average of 12 per cent, Nguyen Dac Vinh, First Secretary of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, said while answering questions from Vietnamese youth in an online dialogue in March.

North America and Western Europe lead the world’s luxury travel market – accounting for 64 per cent of global outbound luxury trips despite only making up 18 per cent of the world’s population.

However, the compound annual growth rate in luxury outbound trips for Asia-Pacific from 2011-25, projected at 6.3 per cent, will be higher than Europe’s 5.3 per cent.

Leading the region are India at 12.8 per cent and China at 12.2 per cent.

India’s projected growth is the highest of the 25 countries explored by Amadeus and presents great potential for luxury travel investment over the coming decade.

Growth in luxury travel will outpace overall travel, spurred by consumers’ desire for life experiences.

Over the next 10 years, growth in outbound luxury trips is projected at 6.2 per cent, almost a third greater than 4.8 per cent for overall travel.

Hussein said the Asian luxury travel market presents a lucrative opportunity for travel players but will not be an easy one to crack.

“Asian luxury travellers have a unique set of motivations and needs.

“Truly understanding what drives their travel behaviour will be critical for travel providers looking to tap into that segment.”

Amadeus’ report, “Shaping the Future of Luxury Travel”, reveals the fresh challenges and opportunities that the luxury travel market will face over the next decade.

Last year, Amadeus released a report called “Future Traveller Tribes 2030”, which identified six traveller tribes based on consumer behaviour, recognising that purchasing patterns change depending on the circumstances of each trip.

Using similar methodology, the new report identifies six luxury traveller tribes to help travel providers better target their luxury customer market – always luxury, special occasion, bluxury, cash-rich, time-poor, strictly opulent and independent affluent.

“Luxury means different things to different people and this is especially true today.

“As emergent middle classes seek the material aspect of luxury travel, more mature markets are craving a new, evolved kind of luxury.

“This is why offering luxury customers a relevant personal and exclusive experience will become even more crucial than it is today – it will be a differentiating factor between old and new luxury.

“Exploring the latest technologies and innovations for making the industry work better as a whole is key to achieving a new level of luxury that has never existed before,” said Rob Sinclair-Barnes, strategic marketing director at Amadeus IT Group.

The report was commissioned by and developed with data from Tourism Economics as well as expert interviews with global luxury travel experts across specialist travel concierge agencies, airlines, hoteliers and intermediary suppliers through Connections, a global networking event organiser for luxury travel providers.