The baht opened at 31.20 to the US dollar on Tuesday, unchanged from Monday’s close.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 31.10 and 31.30, said Jitipol Puksamatanan, senior director of the chief investment office at SCB Securities.
On Monday night, the markets were volatile. The S&P 500 index fell 1.6 per cent, while the VIX index rose by 30 per cent, the highest in October, due to investors’ concerns about US economic stimulus policies.
Moreover, some investors decided to sell risk assets in their hands, after Joe Biden’s popularity rating was much higher than that of Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, the US Ten-Year Treasury reached 0.77 per cent, while the dollar index dropped by 0.2 per cent, compared to other currencies.
In Thailand, the baht would not move much in the short term. Moreover, he advised investors to monitor Asian currency movement, especially the yuan, which strengthened to 6.68 yuan per US dollar. If it continues strengthening, more capital will flow to Asian countries.
Vietnam plays a key role in Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy, Japanese PM Suga says
NationalOct 20. 2020Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga meet with the press after their talks. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất
By Viet Nam News/ANN
HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam is an important partner of Japan and plays a key role in realising the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy, said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
PM Suga made the above statement at a joint press briefing with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyễn Xuân Phúc following the pair’s summit meeting on Monday morning.
As an Indo-Pacific country, Japan will continue contributions to peace and prosperity in the region, affirmed Suga, adding that he chose Việt Nam for the first foreign trip as Việt Nam is the best destination for him to send out this message.
He said he had a productive meeting with PM Phúc, during which both sides compared notes on a wide range of issues in order to promote the trusted ties between the two countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan has decided to provide emergency relief for Việt Nam to help the Southeast Asia country overcome consequences caused by heavy rain in the central region, pledging to continue sharing national disaster prevention experience with Việt Nam, according to Suga.
Both sides agreed to tighten cooperation over regional matters, including the East Sea issue, and basically reached consensus on an agreement on transfer of defence equipment and technology, which is a big leap forward in bilateral defence cooperation, the Japanese leader said.
The two sides have signed a dozen documents on environment, energy and development cooperation.
Meanwhile, PM Phúc once again congratulated Suga on his election as new Japanese PM, welcoming his first foreign visit to Việt Nam.
Phúc said he had a successful meeting with Suga as both sides agreed to strengthen political trust through the regular exchange of visits and contacts as well as dialogues at all levels to promote cooperation across fields, including defence, security, COVID-19 containment, and especially the economy.
The two countries also agreed to foster coordination at multilateral fora. As the current ASEAN Chair and non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Việt Nam welcomes Japan, a global power, to continue its active role and positive contributions to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.
Both sides reaffirmed the importance of ensuring peace, security, safety and freedom of aviation and navigation in the East Sea, beefing up settlement of disputes via peaceful measures, avoiding the use or threat of force, seriously abiding by international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), respecting diplomatic and legal processes, fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and concluding a practical and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea that is in line with the UNCLOS. — VGP/VNS
The Public Health Ministry will next week undertake aggressive testing of 9,000 people in Tak province for Covid-19 after a Myanmar married couple who reside in Mae Sot district tested positive last week.
The district shares a border with Myanmar.
“The two patients are being treated at Mae Sot Hospital and have shown no symptoms so far,” Dr Rames Wongwilailuck, Tak’s public health deputy chief, said on Monday.
“Five other family members who carry high risk of infection are also being monitored in quarantine rooms at the hospital.”
Rames further added that since the infection was found in the province, the public health staff have performed aggressive testing on approximately 4,000 people, but there are no positive cases so far.
“Next week we will test over 5,000 people in risky areas, such as shopping malls and crowded communities. After that, we will expand the testing to around 4,000 patrol police officers in four districts that share a border with Myanmar, namely Um Phang, Phob Phra, Mae Ramad and Tha Song Yang.”
Meanwhile, Dr Sarayut Uttamangkhaphong, director of Region 2 Disease Control Office, has said that since October 11 product transport trucks from Myanmar that are allowed to enter Mae Sot must stay in the border checkpoint’s safety zone only. “Each truck can have only one driver and no passenger, and must stay in the safety zone awaiting their Thai partners to come and pick up the goods,” he said. “The loading can take a maximum of seven hours, while the driver must provide sample of saliva for testing.
“However, since October 18 the checkpoint has been closed for seven days for maintenance and will open again on October 26,” added Sarayut.
“During this time, border staff will install additional barricades in the safety zone, recruit additional staff as well as procure sanitary face masks for staff to use while working.
“We expect that when the checkpoint reopens, we will be able to accept product transport trucks at 600-700 vehicles per day,” he added.
The Thailand Meteorological Department forecast on Tuesday that the monsoon trough lies across the upper South and the East while the moderate southwest monsoon prevails across the Andaman Sea, the South and the Gulf of Thailand.
The high pressure area from China also extends to the upper North and Northeast of Thailand, resulting in less rain all over the country. Moderate winds are likely with waves in the Andaman Sea about two metres high and more than two metres high during thundershowers. All ships should proceed with caution, the department said.
The weather forecast for the next 24 hours:
North: Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 30 per cent of the areas; minimum temperature 20-23 degrees Celsius, maximum 26-30°C.
Northeast: Cloudy with thundershowers in 30 per cent of the areas; minimum temperature 20-22°C, maximum 24-28°C.
Central: Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 30 per cent of the areas; minimum temperature 20-23°C, maximum 26-28°C.
East: Cloudy with thundershowers in 30 per cent of the areas; minimum temperature 23-24°C, maximum 29-31°C; waves 1-2 metres high and over two metres during thundershowers.
South (east coast): Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas; minimum temperature 23-24°C, maximum 28-34°C; waves 1-2 metres high and over two metres during thundershowers.
South (west coast): Cloudy with thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas; minimum temperature 22-25°C, maximum 31-34°C; waves two metres high and over two metres during thundershowers.
Bangkok and surrounding areas: Mostly cloudy with thundershowers in 30 per cent of the areas; minimum temperature 23-24°C, maximum 28-29°C.
The Appeal Court on Monday released 19 demonstrators on bail, including singer Chaiamorn “Ammy” Kaewwiboonpan.
They were set free on condition they do not repeat their alleged offences and report to the court every two weeks. Bail was set at Bt20,000 per person.
The protesters were detained by police on October 14 over their participation in an anti-government rally at Democracy Monument the day before. They face multiple charges ranging from breaching the emergency decree to violating traffic laws. Initially denied bail, they successfully appealed the court’s earlier decision.
Thai property giant Sansiri has written to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) in Thailand voicing concerns over the welfare of the young protesters, most of whom are adolescents.
On Sunday, Unicef Thailand’s Twitter administrator expressed concerns about the government’s suppression tactics, adding that protesters should have the right to gather. Though the comment was published on Unicef Thailand’s official Twitter account, an official statement has yet to be issued.
Meanwhile, Sansiri president Srettha Thavisin wrote to Unicef reminding them that his company is one of the agency’s partners and urged the agency to call on the government to not use violence against the protesters.
Srettha also pointed out that his company was not supporting any political group, adding that politics should be kept separate from the welfare of young people.
Sansiri is one of Thailand’s largest property developers and the local company has a “selected partnership” with Unicef.
Anutin vows to have half of population jabbed once Covid-19 vaccine released
NationalOct 19. 2020Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul
By The Nation
Siam Bioscience Group has been chosen to produce the Covid-19 vaccine once the human trials conducted by Oxford University and AstraZeneca prove to be successful.
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced on Monday that the vaccine will initially be tried out on Thais in their mid-60s, with the eventual target of covering at least 50 per cent of the population.
The Public Health Ministry is working on ensuring a sufficient supply of the vaccine by pre-booking through the World Health Organisation’s COVAX facility, using bilateral agreements or negotiating for technology transfer.
Thailand is also developing vaccines using seven codes, namely mRNA, DNA, viral-like particle, protein subunit, viral vector, as well as inactivated and live attenuated vaccination. There are nine agencies involved, including private and public universities.
So far, three studies based on mRNA, DNA and plant-based vaccine have entered the Phase 1 and 2 of clinical trials. It is difficult to conduct human trials domestically because Thailand does not have enough Covid-19 patients.
Dr Supakit Sirilak, the Public Health Ministry’s deputy permanent secretary, said approximately 65 million doses will have to be reserved if half of the population, or some 30 million people are to be vaccinated.
He added that some 40 per cent of the doses will be reserved with COVAX, 40 per cent with AstraZeneca and 20 per cent with other sources.
“Siam Bioscience has the potential to produce up to 200 million doses. Once the technology transfer agreement is signed, the Thai side will have to be trained on production processes. AstraZeneca’s vaccine is expected to pass Phase 3 testing and production should start in December. After that it needs to register with the FDA in the UK and Thailand, before we can start producing the vaccine mid next year,” said Nakorn Premsri, director of the National Vaccine Institute.
Meanwhile, the price of the vaccine has yet to be set clearly. Initially, COVAX priced each dose at US$10.55 (Bt329), but AstraZeneca has said its vaccines will be a lot cheaper.
Police have confirmed the authenticity of a leaked document revealing their actions against social media, but deny a crackdown on internet freedom is underway.
The document, released by the Free Youth protest movement, shows police have targeted the Free Youth’s Facebook page for allegedly violating the emergency decree by spreading information that could incite unrest. In response Free Youth opened a Telegram messaging account, but this is now being scrutinised by authorities.
Assistant national police chief Jaruwat Wisaya on Monday confirmed police had asked the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and Digital Economy and Society Ministry to consider whether protester’s social media accounts were breaking the emergency law. Police also asked the NBTC to check four media outlets – Voice TV, Prachathai website, The Reporters and The Standard.
Jaruwat said police would have to follow procedures by applying for a court order first before suspending or censoring any online outlets found to be breaking the law.
He denied that police had policies or orders to restrict or shut down media, adding that allegations against media outlets would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
However, he said a media and information management committee had been set up under the emergency decree to monitor news and information that might affect national security.
Chaired by the Digital Economy and Society Ministry’s permanent Secretary, the committee will inform police when action should be taken against media and social media outlets.
The government moved to block communications on the Telegram messaging app on Monday, claiming they pose a threat to national security under the special emergency decree.
After police moved to shut down its Facebook page on Friday, the Free Youth movement called for protesters to switch to the Telegram messaging app.
The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry asked the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to delete information on Telegram, claiming it violated the emergency decree imposed last Thursday in response to escalating anti-government protests.
The decree bans gatherings of five or more people and dissemination of information that threatens public order.
The pro-democracy Free Youth movement opened the Telegram account after national police chief Suwat Jangyodsuk asked the NBTC to close its Facebook page along with four media outlets – Voice TV, Prachathai.com, The Reporters and The Standard.
Government critics condemned the move as a slide back towards dictatorship.
Political crisis worries private sector despite consistent rise in industrial confidence
NationalOct 19. 2020Supant Mongkolsutee, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI)
By The Nation
The Thai Industrial confidence index in September improved for the fifth consecutive month, however a majority of business owners have expressed concern about the political situation.
The index rose to 85.2 in September, increasing from 84.0 in August, Supan Mongkolsutee, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), said.
He said the survey results pointed to expanding domestic demand over the previous month after the government relaxed lockdown measures, helping economic activities in the country recover.
The recent economic stimulus and measures to help small and medium-sized entrepreneurs have helped improve domestic purchasing power. This is reflected by the index of orders, sales, production and turnover, which increased in both durable and non-durable products, Suphan said. Meanwhile, the export and shipping sectors showed positive signs after several countries eased Covid-19 control measures, causing trading partners to import more products from Thailand
According to a survey of 1,301 entrepreneurs covering 45 industry groups nationwide in September, it was found that 55.3 per cent of operators were concerned about the domestic political situation, 40.4 per cent about oil prices and interest rates, and 36.8 per cent about loans.
Factors alleviating the operators’ concerns were the recovering world economy (65.7 per cent), the exchange rate (42.4 per cent — mostly exporters).
The index forecast dropped to 93.3 from 94.5 in August. The drop was due to concerns about the second round of Covid-19, both domestic and abroad, especially the situation of the outbreak in neighbouring countries.
Many countries have enforced more lockdown measures. This will put pressure on the recovery of the Thai export sector in the future. Moreover, the end of the debt moratorium in October may affect the liquidity of businesses and the purchasing power in the country.
However, the issues that industrial sectors want the state to take are: accelerate budget disbursement through public investment projects, both central and regional, to help stimulate the economy; offer additional financial measures to help SMEs after the end of the debt moratorium in October; and, encourage government agencies to purchase and hire products from domestic entrepreneurs.
Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga meet with the press after their talks. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất 
(File photo) Chaiamorn Kaewwiboonpan 
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul 
Supant Mongkolsutee, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) 
