Thai hotels see positive growth as tourists start returning
TUESDAY, JANUARY 03, 2023
Nongluck Ajanapanya
Hotels in Thailand expect occupancy rates to start picking up in the second half of this year, especially since travel has become easier and China will lift restrictions from Sunday.
The Hotel Business Operator Sentiment Study, conducted by the Thai Hotel Association and the Bank of Thailand last month, shows that most hotels expect their revenue to rise by 10-30%.
The study, which covered 95 hotels, showed that most operators expect to welcome more guests this year.
This forecast is feasible because the average occupancy rate in December was 63%, up from 59% in November. Thailand expects arrivals to continue rising during the high season, which runs from November to March.
Though most hotels expect their occupancy rates to rise, hotels in the South expect to do far better with the arrival of European and American tourists.
The occupancy rate forecast for this month is about 60%.
However, despite the optimism, many hotels say they still face challenges like rising costs, global recession and labour shortage. They all hope the government will step in and lend a helping hand.
The survey showed that almost all hotel operators, especially small and medium-sized ones, want the government to help cut costs, provide low-interest loans, extend repayment periods and launch more subsidies like the “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” (We Travel Together) scheme. They also called on the government to ease regulations for migrant workers.
Tourism and hotel operators also want the government to provide training and upskill the workforce in a bid to propel forward the tourism and hotel industries.
Meanwhile, all hotel operators have pledged to help prevent a new Covid-19 wave by prioritising hygiene standards. They said they will ensure strict adherence to public health regulations, so the industry can drive the country’s economy and instil confidence in tourists.
The survey results were released shortly after the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) announced that Thailand had seen 11.81 million foreign arrivals last year. Most visitors were from Malaysia, followed by India, Laos, Cambodia and Singapore.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the agency’s goal this year is to attract at least 25 million foreigners and generate 2.38 trillion baht in tourism revenue.
South Korea, Thailand launch mutual tourism campaign for 2023-2024
TUESDAY, JANUARY 03, 2023
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and its South Korean counterpart, the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO), have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to boost tourism in both countries.
The campaign, “2023-2024 Korea-Thailand Mutual Visit Years”, was officially launched on Monday.
Kim Jang-sil, KTO’s chief executive officer, said South Korea’s biggest visitors were Thais, with more than 570,000 visiting the country in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic brought tourism to a halt.
Thailand is also very popular with South Koreans, with as many as 1.89 million visiting the Kingdom in 2019. This put South Korea in the 4th position as Thailand’s biggest tourism market.
“Thailand and South Korea have been each other’s important tourism partners since before Covid-19, which affected the tourism industry globally,” he said.
Kim added that the outbreak situation was gradually improving, and KTO will focus on expanding its target for 2023 to also cover business travellers.
“Though the number of travellers in the MICE [meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions] group in Thailand is still small, they have high potential due to their tendency to seek quality tourism and high spending power,” Kim said.
He added that KTO will coordinate with TAT to make boost mutual travel by launching promotional campaigns.
“We will also introduce more flights to different cities to promote local and cultural tourism, bringing Thai travellers closer to the authentic Korean experience,” he added.
“During the Covid-19 shutdown, we prepared several aspects of tourism to welcome Thai travellers, including exchanging information with the TAT about changing consumer trends,” Kim added. “We believe long-standing bilateral ties and close cooperation, Thailand and South Korea will be able to bring the tourism industry back to pre-Covid levels.”
Pheu Thai to ‘unmask’ PM, cleanse ‘contamination’ late this month
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 04, 2023
Ruling coalition and opposition whips agreed in principle on Wednesday to hold a general debate late this month during which the opposition plans to attack the administration Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, House Speaker Chuan Leekpai said.
The House’s legal officials affirmed that the opposition motion calling for the debate is legal, so he will put the debate on the House’s agenda soon, Chuan said.
On December 28, the opposition submitted a motion seeking to hold a general debate in Parliament on Prayut’s government, with Pheu Thai Party leader Cholnan Srikaew saying the opposition plans to “unmask” him ahead of the next election and cleanse the country of the “contamination” he has caused.
The opposition cited Section 152 of the Constitution as the basis for its motion, which was submitted to Chuan by Cholnan.
Section 152 says: “Members of the House of Representatives comprising not less than one-10th of the total number of the existing members of the House of Representatives have the right to submit a motion for a general debate to inquire about facts or recommend issues without a resolution to be passed.”
Chuan said on Wednesday that Deputy House Speaker Suchart Tancharoen would hold another meeting with whips from both sides to find out how many days each wanted for the debate in order to agree upon its date.
Normally, such a debate would last two or three days, Chuan said.
Chuan also asked coalition and opposition whips whether another bill, the life partnership bill, should be moved up for deliberation in parallel with the cannabis and hemp bill.
The whips replied that the cannabis and hemp bill would not take many more days, as deliberations are now on its later sections so his proposal was dropped.
Chuan said he would not call special House meetings on Fridays for fear that not enough MPs would show up to reach quorum.
Chuan added that the House and Senate would hold joint meetings on January 10 and 11 to deliberate two education bills and a charter amendment bill sponsored by the Pheu Thai Party.
House lives up to its nickname, marijuana bill delayed further
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 04, 2023
The House of Representatives started the year by doing what it acquired a reputation for doing last year – failing to summons enough MPs to reach quorum.
As a result, the second reading of the marijuana and hemp bill was delayed again on Wednesday.
The chairman of the meeting, Deputy House Speaker Supachai Phosu, on Wednesday repeatedly rang the bell for MPs to return to the meeting room to no avail.
Supachai waited for about 40 minutes for the House to achieve quorum, but the number of MPs failed to reach the required 212. As a result, he adjourned the meeting to deliberate Section 11 of the bill.
At the end of last year, Parliament-beat reporters gave the House the nickname “Sam Wan Nee See Wan Lom” – “Absent Every Three Days, Collapse Every Four” – due to its repeated failure to convene meetings. Either there were too few MPs to reach quorum or opposition MPs walked out in protest.
Earlier on Wednesday, the House almost failed to meet a quorum for deliberations on a separate section of the marijuana and hemp bill. Supachai waited for about 15 minutes before 218 MPs were present for the vote on Section 7 of the bill.
The meeting was scheduled to continue for a vote on Section 11 of the bill but too few MPs remained at the meeting.
Thailand-France Relations Moving Into Higher Gear With Visits, Innovation Diplomacy
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 04, 2023
The Year 2022 will remain a turning point for the relations between Thailand and France, marked by the signing of an important roadmap for future cooperation, a string of agreements and visits that culminated with French President Emmanuel Macron’s participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit in Bangkok as a special guest of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, host and chair of the forum.
A shared focus on innovation and advanced technologies to boost trade and investment is giving centuries-old bilateral cooperation a new impulse.
“Relations between Thailand and France date back more than 300 years since the reign of King Narai the Great and King Louis XIV when the two sides first exchanged ambassadors, and over that period they have developed into the comprehensive cooperation we see now,” said H.E. Mr Tana Weskosith, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the French Republic. “Today’s complex geopolitical and economic challenges have led Thailand and France to deepen their cooperation.”
The realization of that new direction came with the signing in Paris in February 2022 by the two Foreign Ministers of the first Roadmap for Thai-French Relations. The successful conclusion of the said document, hence, sets a clear framework to elevate the bilateral relations to a strategic partnership by 2024 by focusing on national development in the new global context and emphasizing cooperation in the areas of science, technology, and innovation. The agreement also affirms the two governments’ support for private-sector cooperation through existing bilateral trade and investment forums.
Soon thereafter, in June 2022, a French business delegation led by François Corbin, Vice President of MEDEF International (MEDEFi), a business group representing large French companies established abroad, visited Bangkok where it held a fruitful meeting with Prime Minister Prayuth and participated to the 3rd annual meeting of the France-Thailand Business Forum (FTBF).
The visit also led to exchanges with the Thailand Board of Investment and the management of the Eastern Economic Corridor Office (EEC) regarding investment opportunities located in the EEC in advanced technology sectors of interest to French investors. French companies that took part in the exchanges are active in industries such as the aerospace, automotive, rail, and renewable energy sectors.
President Emmanuel Macron
“The visits to Thailand during 2022 first by the MEDEFi, and then by President Emmanuel Macron are of great importance in driving the Thailand-France roadmap,” Ambassador Tana said. “This is showing that French businessmen are ready to consider doing business with Thailand in the target areas specified in the roadmap and that the French government supports increased cooperation in research and development and the Thai-French Innovation Year 2023.”
Innovation diplomacy
In May, the National Innovation Agency (NIA), which is tasked with driving Thailand’s plan to turn into a regional hub for innovation-friendly investment, and Bpifrance, a French government agency dedicated to promoting the financing and development of companies in France, notably startups, signed in Paris a letter of intent to cooperate in the promotion of joint investment projects, and advanced technology, including deep tech, over the next five years.
The “Innovation Diplomacy” initiative, developed in close coordination with the Royal Thai Embassy in Paris, the French Embassy in Bangkok, and “La French Tech”, a movement that brings together investors, startups, community builders, and policymakers, is laying the foundations for the activities to be held next year under the “Thai-French Innovation Year 2023”.
The planned activities include a roadshow by Thai startups and exchanges with French counterparts during a startup and innovation week in Paris in April 2023, and French participation in the Startup x Innovation Thailand Expo (SITE) in Bangkok in June, with a focus on startups active in areas of importance for both countries, such as food innovation, aerospace, and the creative economy, according to the NIA.
“This year will mark a new chapter,” said Pun-Arj Chairatana, Executive Director of the NIA. “The innovation diplomacy between the two countries will result in the establishment of a French-Thai Innovation Platform that will enhance the relationship, in terms of investment, development of tech professionals, and allow businessmen from both countries to come together.”
In regards to aerospace, another important achievement of bilateral cooperation was the delivery in June 2022 to the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand (GISTDA) by Airbus Defence & Space of the Thailand Earth Observation System 2 or THEOS-2.
The development program of the very high-resolution satellite, acquired under a contract signed in Paris in 2018, saw over twenty Thai engineers involved in its assembly and testing ahead of the launch scheduled for 2023. This significant transfer of technology represents a critical step in paving the way for Thailand to develop its space capability in the EEC area and to build its own small observation satellites in the near future.
People-to-people diplomacy
During their meeting in Bangkok in November, Prime Minister Prayuth and President Macron agreed to enhance closer people-to-people ties by promoting smart sustainable tourism, safe travel, and sports, among other things, and by intensifying cooperation on professional training and education, including through the teaching of the French language in Thailand and the Thai language in France.
In regard to tourism and travel, Thailand has long been a popular destination for French tourists and as soon as the country reopened in early 2022, they started coming back to enjoy the country’s culture, arts, gastronomy and nature. From January to October 2022, 182,197 French tourists visited Thailand.
During his trip to Bangkok, and despite the heavy meeting schedule, President Macron also had the occasion to experience first-hand and express his appreciation for Thailand’s “soft power”.
He visited a temple where he exchanged with Buddhist monks, walked in Yaowarat Road, Bangkok’s Chinatown, and visited the Ratchadamnoen Boxing Stadium where he watched a demonstration of Muay Thai, the country’s martial art which is enjoying rising popularity around the World. President Macron also posted on his personal Instagram about his visit to the Jim Thompson House Museum, saying “The Jim Thompson Foundation Arts Center is a symbol of the link between France and Thailand as well as the diversity of cooperation that France undertakes in the Indo-Pacific region”.
As part of this continued development of bilateral relations in education, the Royal Thai Embassy in Paris is supporting Thai language studies at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), where the language, then still known to foreigners as “Siamese”, started to be taught in 1876.
“The embassy is giving scholarships to students of the INALCO’s Thai language program to allow them to increase their knowledge and experience of Thailand through internships and research in the country,” Ambassador Thana said.
New data protection portal launched by digital economy ministry
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 04, 2023
Nongluck Ajanapanya
The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society has launched a digital platform to help government agencies comply with the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), which became law in June of last year.
The Government Platform for PDPA Compliance, or GDPC, was launched on Wednesday. The platform makes it faster and more efficient for government agencies to handle personal data in compliance with the new law, ministry officials told the about 200 government officials who attended the launch.
It also links the agencies directly with the Personal Data Protection Commission, allowing its officials to monitor whether agencies are complying with the law.
Minister of Digital Economy and Society Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said the portal was built to ensure compliance with the new law, which requires data controllers, including government agencies, to protect people’s data and notify them of any breaches. It also includes penalties for failures to comply with it.
The law specifies how data controllers and processors, including both public and private entities, must obtain consent from data subjects prior to processing, collecting, or disclosing personal data.
Personal Data Protection Commission secretary-general, Siwaruk Siwamogsatham said government agencies are identified as data controllers under the law.
Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn
Chaiwut said the new centralised portal would reduce government spending because every government agency can use it. He said that it would cost about 5 billion baht if every government agency had to set up its own system to comply with the data protection law. The portal unveiled today cost about 200 million baht, he said.
This includes the cost of installation, offline and online training and the creation of a help desk to resolve issues, the minister said.
Wisit Wisitsora-at, permanent secretary at the ministry, said the ministry aimed to link more than 200 government agencies to the portal, and train more than 2,000 officials how to use it, by September.
Wisit explained that the Personal Data Protection Commission came up with the idea for the portal but lacked the capacity to implement the project. As a result, the ministry will assist the commission for nine months. The commission will then take over the project.
Prayut to study 2024 budget with 4 economic agencies
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 04, 2023
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is scheduled to meet four economic agencies to discuss the budget for the 2024 fiscal year at Government House on Wednesday.
Chalermpol Phensoot, the Budget Bureau’s director, said he expects the Wednesday meeting to iron out details before the draft is proposed to the Cabinet next Tuesday.
Once the draft is approved, the bureau will finalise the budget before presenting it to the Cabinet again by May 16.
This is assuming the Parliament is not dissolved before the general election is held on May 7 as scheduled, he said.
The first draft of the 2024 budget had been approved by the Cabinet on December 27 at the amount of 3.35 trillion baht, which is 165 billion baht higher than the previous budget which stood at 3.19 trillion baht but will render a budget deficit of 593 billion baht.
The draft expects 2.76 trillion baht in government revenue (up 10.7% year on year), 3.36 trillion baht in government spending (up 5.2% year on year), and 1.18 trillion baht in outstanding public debt or 61.35% of the GDP.
The bureau believes that in 2024, Thailand’s GDP will expand by 3.3-4.3% with inflation in the range of 1-2% in line with global economic recovery, rising public consumption and full recovery of the tourism industry.
Police search for foreign owner of sailboat over damaged coral reefs
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 04, 2023
Krabi provincial agencies are searching for the owner of a sailboat accused of damaging coral reefs in the national park around Phi Phi Island, after a Facebook post making the allegation went viral.
The search began on Tuesday, after a photo of the sailboat “4139T Catspaw” was posted on Facebook along with the claim it had damaged coral reefs in Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park.
The sailboat was photographed moored off Yawasam Island. The post was made on MonsoonGarbageThailand – a popular Facebook page for information about Phuket and vicinity. It immediately went viral.
People who reposted the photo urged government agencies to investigate the allegations and take legal action against the sailboat owner.
National park chief Teekawut Sriburin said on Wednesday that the agency was cooperating with the Marine Office in Krabi to investigate the sailboat, which is owned by a foreign tourist.
He said the national park had deployed divers to check for damage to coral reefs, adding that it has submitted evidence and filed charges against the sailboat owner at Aonang Police Station.
“The sailboat owner will face a 5,000 baht fine for breaking through the buoy line,” Teekawut said, adding that the charge was for a violation of the National Park Act.
Park officials have been instructed to increase patrols to prevent visitors from violating national park laws, he said.
“Tour operators have also been instructed to strictly comply with national park laws to prevent damage to natural resources,” Teekawut added..
Music bands to trace evolution of Thai classical music since 1687 at Jan 18 event
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 04, 2023
Thai classical music since 1687 will be played during the event “Amata Siam” at Thailand Cultural Centre in Bangkok on January 18.
The event is being organised by the National Research Council of Thailand, aiming to describe Thailand’s history, society and traditions via classical music.
The event will feature music performances by renowned Thai bands and musicians, such as Thai Symphony Orchestra, Thanis Sriklindee and Chinnawat Themkumkwun.
Meanwhile, renowned Thai artist Dr Suchart Vongthong will paint a watercolour masterpiece during the music performance.
The event opens at 6pm. Free tickets are available at Sugree Charoensook Foundation’s Line account https://page.line.me/sugreefoundation, or contact 02 101 0558.
Train service briefly delayed in Songkhla after bolts stolen from tracks
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 04, 2023
Two trains in Songkhla were delayed on Wednesday morning after over 300 railway pinning bolts were removed from a section of the railway tracks that pass through Hat Yai district.
Ekkarat Sriarayanpong, spokesman of the State Railway of Thailand, said railway staff found that 325 railway pinning bolts and five steel plates for supporting tracks above a bridge were removed from a section of the tracks between Hat Yai station and Klong Ngae station in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district.
Ekkarat said the section of railway was closed in the morning for repair and re-opened at 12:15pm.
The closure caused two trains to be delayed. One was travelling from Padang Besar to Hat Yai and the other was going in the opposite direction, Ekkarat added.
Ekkarat said State Railway of Thailand was working with security agencies to increase protection of the railway.
SRT governor Nirut Maneephan has instructed railway officials to ask members of local communities in southern border provinces to help monitor rail lines to prevent interruption to service, Ekkarat said.
On December 3, a freight train was derailed by a blast in Songkhla’s Sadao district. A second explosion three days later killed three engineers who were inspecting the scene. Both incidents have been blamed on insurgents.
Chuan also asked coalition and opposition whips whether another bill, the life partnership bill, should be moved up for deliberation in parallel with the cannabis and hemp bill.
President Emmanuel Macron
Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn
Ekkarat said State Railway of Thailand was working with security agencies to increase protection of the railway.
On December 3, a freight train was derailed by a blast in Songkhla’s Sadao district. A second explosion three days later killed three engineers who were inspecting the scene. Both incidents have been blamed on insurgents.
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