BEC World Plc’s chief executive officer has said a rumour that the Juangroongruangkit family plans to take over the business is not true.
Rumours have been doing the rounds in the past few days that the company will come under the administration of the Juangroongruangkit family, of which its most prominent member is Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit.
However, Channel 3, operated by BEC, confirmed in a news broadcast quoting the CEO that the family would not take over the media business.
The rumour has been circulating during this sensitive period of political unrest, when student-led pro-democracy protesters have urged mainstream media to report any anti-government moves.
The baht opened at 31.31 to the US dollar on Thursday, unchanged from its closing rate on Wednesday.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 30.20 and 30.40, said Jitipol Puksamatanan, senior director of the chief investment office at SCB Securities.
On Wednesday night, the S&P 500 decreased by 1.2 per cent amid market concern over the dire Covid-19 situation in the US.
The Stoxx 600 Index increased by 0.4 per cent due to investors’ hopes that the EU would issue a fresh stimulus package, he said.
Meanwhile, the WTI crude oil price rose by 0.7 per cent, to $41.70 (Bt1,265) per barrel.
The dollar continued to weaken, and the US Ten-Year Treasury yield decreased by 2 basis points to 0.88 per cent. Investors decided to invest in the yen as a safe-haven asset. Bitcoin was trading at $17,000 (Bt51,5856) amid speculation.
In Thailand, the baht came under pressure from the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) measures to prevent the currency from strengthening quickly. However, Jitipol said the recent movement of the baht was not mainly from speculation, so BOT will not implement strict measures targeting speculators.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) plans to deploy seven additional electric shuttle boats in Phadung Krung Kasem canal from November 27, after it has been running the first electric boat for several months now, a source said on Thursday.
“The electric boat pilot project has received a warm welcome from commuters, as the boat produces no noise or air pollution,” he said.
“The BMA said that by adding seven more boats, they can increase the trips from 14 to 39 per day, or every 15 minutes, from 6am to 7pm on weekdays, and 23 trips on weekends. Electric boats will be free of charge until further notice.”
The electric boats will run on a 5-km-long route through 11 piers, passing major landmark such as Hua Lamphong train station, the Energy Ministry, Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue and Democracy Monument.
“The boats are 100 per cent powered by electricity generated from 12 solar panels on their roofs. They are also equipped with a lighting system, GPS, anti-slippery mat and a wheelchair accessible seat, apart from 30 normal passenger seats,” the source added. “The boats can run at a maximum speed of 17 km/h and for up to four hours on a fully charged battery.”
A Philippine national, Liny Paengkusan Camaono, 30, and a Thai, Thanyares Saiyanoi, 22, were arrested for running a company that allegedly scammed people into investing in a loan business from an office in Bangkok’s Asoke area, Immigration chief Pol Lt-General Sompong Chingduang said on Wednesday.
“Immigration police acted on a tip-off from Philippine victims who live in Thailand that the company named Filipino Cooperative Investment Loan, which was registered by the two suspects, had allegedly scammed them into investing in a loan business that boasted of giving 15 per cent profit within a month,” he said.
“The company had been advertising via online media and amassed more than 700 victims. A preliminary investigation revealed that it had a rotating investment of over Bt50 million per month,” Sompong said.
“The company would pay the profit as promised in the first few months but then stop and cut off all contact with the victims,” he said.
“Liny was widely known as the ‘Queen of Scammers’ in Philippine media, while the estimated damage to victims caused by her company is 116 million pesos, or Bt75 million,” Sompong added.
After the arrest, the two suspects were taken to the Economic Crime Suppression Division for interrogation and the pressing of charges.
One person was killed and seven others injured after a car crashed into a restaurant in Chiang Rai’s Mae Rai subdistrict in Mae Jan district on Wednesday night.
Police were alerted at 11pm to the accident at the roadside restaurant opposite PT gas station. At the scene they found a body of an identified man with multiple wounds after he was thrown out of his car and seven injured persons, most being restaurant customers.
Witnesses reportedly told officers that they saw the red car, which was travelling at high speed, crash into the restaurant and some parked motorcycles before hitting an electricity pole. The impact threw the driver out of the car.
The seven were reported to have suffered from non-critical injuries. Five were taken to Mae Jan hospital while two others were sent to Mae Sai hospital.
Among those hurt is an 8-year-old boy, who was scalded by boiling water from an overturned noodle pot.
Police are gathering evidence to identify the driver and the cause of the accident.
The police said they would pursue legal action against pro-democracy protesters for defacing signs in front of the Royal Thai Police (RTP) headquarters and shooting marbles at officers during a rally at Ratchaprasong intersection on Wednesday.
The protesters had massed for a rally at 4pm – the second day of intensified demonstrations over charter-change motions in Parliament. They later besieged the front entrance of the RTP headquarters and also the entrance located on Henri Dunant Road, condemning a riot police operation on Tuesday at Kiak Kai intersection near Parliament, where had police fired tear gas and water cannons at the demonstrators.
“At around 8pm [on Wednesday], some protesters threw objects over the fence, while others threw paint at the signboards in front of the headquarters, which is considered an act of destroying government property,” said deputy spokesman Pol General Krisana Pattanacharoen.
“Investigation officers from Pathumwan station are gathering evidence and will pursue legal action against the offenders,” he said.
“Besides water bottles that were thrown over the fence, police also found paint cans and marbles, which were shot by slingshots,” Krisana said.
“Some riot-control officers also reported that they were injured from being shot at with marbles and iron nuts, while others suffered from irritation caused by paint being thrown in their eyes and mouths.”
Krisana added that officers deployed at the police headquarters on Wednesday were ordered to stand by and monitor the situation, with no intention to dismiss the rally or drive the protesters away from Ratchaprasong intersection.
Upper Thailand is seeing cool weather with fog in the morning and mountaintops will continue to experience cold temperatures, while a weak northeast monsoon prevails over the Gulf and the South, resulting in isolated heavy rain in some areas there, the Meteorological Department said on Thursday.
It advised motorists and transport vehicles to be cautious due to poor visibility in upper Thailand and said people in the lower South, especially, should beware of heavy showers.
Here’s the weather forecast for the next 24 hours:
North: Cool weather with fog in the morning; temperature lows of 19-23 degrees and highs of 32-36 degrees Celsius. Temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 8-16 degrees Celsius.
Northeast: Cool weather with light fog in the morning; temperature lows of 21-23 degrees and highs of 33-35 degrees Celsius. Temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 13-17 degrees Celsius.
Central region: Partly cloudy with light fog in the morning; temperature lows of 22-24 degrees, highs of 34-35 degrees Celsius.
East: Partly cloudy with fog in the morning; temperature lows of 23-25 degrees, highs of 33-36 degrees Celsius; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres offshore.
South (east coast): Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 60 per cent of the area and isolated heavy rain; temperature lows of 23-24 degrees, highs of 29-34 degrees Celsius; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.
South (west coast): Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 40 per cent of the area; temperature lows of 22-26 degrees, highs of 32-35 degree Celsius; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.
Bangkok and surrounding areas: Partly cloudy with light fog in the morning; temperature lows of 25-26 degrees, highs of 34-36 degrees Celsius.
The draft submitted by iLaw to change the Constitution was rejected in Parliament on Wednesday after senators voted overwhelmingly to oppose it. Two charter-change drafts sponsored by government parties and the opposition were passed in the first reading.
ILaw’s so-called “peoples’ draft” was the only motion supported by the pro-democracy movement, which yesterday vowed to escalate protests if it was rejected.
ILaw said only three of the 250 senators voted yes to its motion. It received 212 votes in favour,139 votes against and 369 abstentions. Senators had attacked the motion for seeking changes to Chapters 1 and 2 of the Constitution concerning the monarchy. ILaw’s draft would also have scrapped the junta-appointed Senate’s power to vet laws and vote for a new PM.
The draft submitted by government parties received 647 votes in favour, 176 of which came from senators, while the opposition draft received 576 votes, 127 from senators.
The government draft would set up a committee of elected and appointed members to write a new charter within 120 days, leaving Chapters 1 and 2 concerning the monarchy untouched.
The opposition draft requires an elected charter-drafting committee to write a new charter within 240 days, also leaving Chapters 1 and 2 untouched.
Pro-democracy demonstrators turned up in their thousands again on Wednesday at Ratchaprasong Intersection, where they besieged Royal Thai Police Headquarters and splashed paint all over its walls. Demonstrators were expressing their anger at police for using water cannon and tear gas on protesters outside Parliament on Tuesday while failing to prevent clashes with royalist counter-protesters. The violence left at least 55 injured, six with gunshot wounds.
Protesters return to Ratchaprasong Thousands of pro-democracy protesters occupy Ratchaprasong Intersection in the heart of Bangkok on Wednesday, following Tuesday’s rally at Parliament that resulted in clashes with police and royalists.
The rally officially ended at 8pm, but many demonstrators lingered and some were still splashing paint on the wall of the Police HQ. They plan to rally outside the Crown Property Bureau on November 25, in a bid to reclaim public assets protest leaders said were transferred to HM the King by the junta-backed government.
A group of monks arrived at the Central Mosque in Pattani to meet with the Imam on Tuesday – part of their “pilgrimage for peace” from the country’s southern tip to the northern border. The monks began their journey on foot from the Thailand-Malaysia border in Yala’s Betong district on November 10.
The pilgrimage aims to create solidarity between the five religions – Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism – to maintain peace in the country.
The monks will walk a total of about 4,000 kilometres, ending their journey at the Chiang Khong Border Checkpoint in Chiang Rai.
Hotel operators are pleading with the government to reopen the country and launch measures to help their business as soon as possible.
Suphajee Suthumpun, Dusit Thani’s group chief executive officer, said if the country is not reopened soon, hotel operators will suffer heavy losses. Also, she said, banks and financial institutions are not granting loans easily to tourism businesses to because of the risks.
“Hence, we want to ask the government to issue financial measures to support tourism businesses and to instruct the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation to guarantee loans for small and medium enterprises,” she said.
“We also want to ask the central bank to ease rules related to debentures as many large enterprises’ debentures are nearing maturity.”
Suphajee also encouraged the Tourism and Sports Ministry to set up a tourism recovery fund that will allow hotel operators to borrow by using their hotel as a collateral.
“Since the Covid-19 vaccine is expected to be ready next year, the government should come up with an e-visa system to help tourists return to the country,” she added.
Chaiyapat Paitoon, Minor International’s chief strategy officer, said the company had lost more than Bt14 billion in the first nine months of the year, and its businesses in Thailand accounted for Bt2 billion of the losses.
He said the company may need to boost its liquidity, by either finding new capital or launching debentures if the government does not reopen the country soon.
“The government should look into travel-bubble schemes, ease self-isolation rules and launch measures to support entrepreneurs,” he said.
Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, executive vice president of Sukosol Hotels and chairperson of the Thai Hotels Association, said the government should launch measures to help hotels, such as paying 50 per cent of hotel staffs’ salaries as it has been doing for new graduates.
“The government should also extend its 2 per cent contribution to the Social Security Fund, set land and building tax at 10 per cent and ease self-isolation rules,” she said.
Parkpoom Prapasawudi, vice president of the Erawan Group’s Hotel Asset Management division, said hotel occupancy has been at 20 per cent for more than five months due to travel restrictions.
“The situation in Thailand is different from China and Europe, where occupancy rate is 50 to 60 per cent and 30 to 40 per cent, respectively,” he said, adding that the country must be reopened because hotels cannot survive if occupancy remains so low.
“If the government does not want to reopen the country, then it should launch measures to support the hotel business,” he said, adding that hotel operators were unable to come up with a business plan because the government has not provided any clear directions.
Supawan Tanomkieatipume, executive assistant manager of the Twin Towers Hotel Bangkok, said the government should launch a campaign to boost public awareness on reopening the country, because it is not possible for Thailand to be free of Covid-19 forever.
“Thailand and countries with low-risk of infections should work on travel-bubble schemes like Singapore and Hong Kong have done because hotel operators cannot bear high costs or inject more cash into their businesses,” she said.
Meanwhile, Tourism and Sports Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed the Centre for Economic Situation Administration (CESA) to work on establishing a tourism recovery fund to help the travel sector. This fund is expected to stand at between Bt50 billion and Bt100 billion.
“We will also discuss other proposals with the premier and CESA, especially e-visa options, so tourists can return to Thailand once the Covid-19 vaccine is ready,” Pipat said.
.jpg)
Photos by Charoon Thongnual 
