Number of flights will soar by 65% next year: AeroThai
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2022
The state agency that manages the kingdom’s air traffic is upbeat about the outlook for the Thai aviation industry, saying the rebound in international and domestic travel continues to accelerate.
The number of flights will rise by 65% next year compared to this year, according to Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Co Ltd (AeroThai).
AeroThai president Nopasit Chakpitak said the aviation industry in Thailand has been rebounding since the government eased its Covid-19 travel restrictions and fully re-opened the country.
The positive trend was unmistakable in the third quarter of this year.
In October, the average daily number of flights to and from Thailand reached 1,637, while the number of domestic flights reached an average of 1,806 a day, Nopasit said.
The average number of flights in December – international and domestic combined – has averaged about 1,800 per day and is likely to increase as the New Year approaches, he said.
So far this year, a total of 520,367 flights have been registered by AeroThai, up 79% from 291,397 flights last year.
AeroThai predicts that Thai airports will handle about 858,387 flights next year, about 2,352 per day.
Nopasit said both passenger and cargo flights have recovered as airspace reopens globally and economies rebound.
If China reopens, the Thai aviation industry will see an even greater number of flights next year, Nopasit said.
NOSTRA Map, a Thailand-focused digital map with GPS coordinates, is offering special routes and locations for travellers during the New Year holidays, including the top locations for viewing mist and details on the location of charging stations for drivers of electric vehicles, according to the company’s operator, GlobeTech Co Ltd.
Wichai Saenghirunwattana, CEO and general manager of GlobeTech, said NOSTRA Map had launched five new maps for the New Year holidays.
The first highlights the best locations throughout the country for viewing mist, including Phu Kradueng mountaintop in Loei and Thung Salaeng Luang in Phetchabun. It includes thumbnails and links to find GPS routes so that motorists can easily locate the Top 10 spots and find the fastest way to get to them.
The second package is focused on temples in Chiang Rai. It provides photos and brief descriptions of nine temples in the city where Buddhists can receive New Year blessings.
The temples include Wat Pla Kung and Wat Ming Muang. When a motorist clicks on the link of a temple, he or she will be directed to the map displaying the route to the temple.
For Bangkok residents who remain in the capital during the holidays, Nostra Map is also providing a package of places to seek blessings. They include the Chao Pho Sua Shrine, the Indian Temple in Bang Rak, the Chinese Temple in Chinatown, and Erawan Shrine.
The fourth package provides a map that uses information from JorSor 100 traffic radio station to display traffic flows in Bangkok during the holidays.
The fifth package is for drivers of electric vehicles. The map lets them search for the nearest charging stations from all major providers.
Court orders EC to pay Pheu Thai ex-MP THB62 million over wrongful disqualification
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2022
The Court of Appeals has ordered the Election Commission (EC) to pay 62 million baht in damages to a candidate who was accused by the election agency of vote-buying and wrongfully disqualified after winning the 2019 general election in Chiang Mai.
Surapol Kietchaiyakorn of the opposition Pheu Thai Party said on Wednesday that the Court of Appeals had upheld the verdict of the lower court which had judged the EC and its officials guilty and ordered them to pay him 70 million baht in damages.
The higher court ruled that the EC should pay the plaintiff 56,792,568 baht, plus interest from November 16, 2019 to April 10, 2021 at 7.5% annually, and from April 11, 2021 until now at 5% annually. The amount of compensation plus interest add up to 62 million baht.
Surapol said he is glad that the court had upheld the verdict and that he had successfully defended his personal honour and that of Pheu Thai Party. “Throughout over 30 years in politics, I have never once bought votes,” he said.
Surapol, a seven-time MP from Chiang Mai, was re-elected in the March 2019 general election. However, the EC ruled that he had violated the law by giving 2,000 baht and a clock to a prominent local monk.
The EC had, therefore, disqualified Surapol and issued him an “orange card”, which in effect prevented him from contesting in a by-election called a month later, as well as any other election for a year.
Surapol brought his case to the Supreme Court’s Election Division, which ruled in September 2020 that there was insufficient evidence to prove that he had made promises in return for votes.
On Wednesday Surapol said that the EC should not use its budget, which comes from taxpayers, to pay the damages and instead should use the money from the commissioners who had approved his disqualification.
Many refusing to repay student loans despite fat bank accounts: study
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2022
Graduates are still defaulting on repayments despite having more than enough savings to pay off their student loans, according to a study by the National Economic and Social Development Council.
The NESDC report on ex-students taken to court for defaulting in 2020 found that 40 had over 5 million baht in their bank accounts, 431 had more than one million baht, 637 had over 500,000 baht, and over 9,000 had 50,000 to 500,000 baht.
The survey on repayments to the student loan fund was part of the NESDC’s third-quarter report on Thailand’s social situation and outlook.
The NESDC expressed concern that the problem of ex-students defaulting on loans could escalate into a severe social issue.
The NESDC said the issue covered 6.4 million ex-students and other people, including loan guarantors. Of these, 1.5 million are facing either lawsuits or repayment demands after court rulings on unpaid debts. Defaulters face being blacklisted by the Credit Bureau, making it harder for them to obtain loans from banks or financial institutions.
The NESDC reported that by September-end this year, 2.3 million or 65% of 3.5 million ex-students debtors have defaulted on repayments worth a total 90.856 billion baht.
The Bank of Thailand reports that the student loan fund has the country’s highest level of non-performing loans. NPLs accounted for 62% of the fund’s loans at the end of 2020, the central bank said.
The fund provides loans to students in four groups:
– Poor students
– Students studying in fields important for national development but short of workers
– Students studying in fields promoted by the fund
– Students with outstanding academic performance.
The fund drew on the national budget until 2018, when it became self-sufficient. Since then, it has depended on debt repayment and interest on debts collected.
As of September 30, the fund had approved loans for 6.4 million students worth 706.357 billion baht or an average of around 110,000 baht per student.
The NESDC report attributed the loan defaults to four main causes: students themselves, debt repayment mechanisms, fund rules, and the national education system.
The NESDC said many students lacked financial discipline and refused to service their debt despite having more than enough savings to pay each instalment. However, it also blamed financial burdens and lost income due to Covid-19.
The report said the fund’s repayment mechanism made it harder for ex-students to service their debts in later years.
Graduates get a two-year grace period before the stepped 15-year debt repayment period kicks in, starting with 1.5% of the loan in the first year and rising to 13% in the 15th year.
The study found that ex-students often started defaulting in the sixth or seventh year because their income does not match the rising debt level.
The NESDC also found that student loan fund rules lack flexibility for debt restructuring or renegotiation. The study found that up to 85% of ex-students who had renegotiated their debt repayment with the fund still defaulted on loans because of the inflexible rules.
On the educational structure, the report said that most debtors studied in fields where graduates flooded the market, such as business administration, economics, arts, social sciences, and education.
The NESDC said only 20.56% of the debtors studied science and technology and even fewer (7.55%) studied engineering.
The report disagreed with the government’s draft bill to exempt student loan fund debtors from interest or penalty payments. This would leave the fund with insufficient money to help future students, meaning it would again become dependent on national budget, it said.
Waiving interest penalties would create a moral hazard as well as being unfair to those who serviced their debt, it added.
The House of Representatives in September passed a bill to waive interest on student loan repayments and exempt late payers from penalty interest.
The fund currently charges annual interest of 1% and penalty interest of 7.5%.
Reviewing the bill, the Senate retained the penalty interest exemption but reinstated the 1% interest rate.
The NESDC proposed several alternative solutions, including calculating instalments based on each ex-student’s monthly income rather than the fixed 15-year ladder of 1%-13%.
PTT, Bangchak ‘will not raise’ petrol prices during New Year holidays
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2022
The PTT Oil and Retail Business and Bangchak Corporation Plc have announced that they will not raise prices at their petrol stations during the New Year holidays.
PTT stations will maintain the current petrol and diesel prices from December 24 to January 3.
But if the global oil prices climb down, the company will reduce its oil retail prices accordingly, it said.
Bangchak, meanwhile, announced that its service stations will maintain prices from December 24 to January 2 but would reduce the retail prices proportionately if the global prices fall.
The current prices at PTT and Bangchak stations in Bangkok are:
Lanna-style hotel is on the auction block again in Chiang Mai
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2022
The five-star Dhara Dhevi Hotel Chiang Mai will be auctioned again in January, with the starting price dropped to 2.01 billion baht from the 2.11 billion baht initial price in its 2021 auction, the Legal Execution Department announced.
The department will hold the auction for the property from January to May.
If no interest is expressed during the first session, subsequent sessions will be held on February 17, March 10, March 31, April 21, and May 12, the department said. The price will be lowered by 10% at each subsequent session, it said, adding that the price cannot fall lower than 30% of the initial auction price.
When the 123-room hotel opened in 2002, its unique ancient Lanna-style architecture caught Thai and foreign tourists’ attention.
It was, however, severely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis and closed temporarily in early 2020. It filed for business rehabilitation in June 2020, but the filing was rejected by the Court of Appeal in November of that year, forcing the hotel to enter bankruptcy.
During the previous auction, IFEC subsidiary Inter Far East Thermal Power (I Thermal) won with a bid of 2.012 billion baht. It paid a deposit of 110 million baht but failed to pay the rest before it was due. The department confiscated the deposit and decided to auction the hotel again.
Baht gains against dollar, but experts see limited potential for further appreciation
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2022
The baht opened at 34.65 to the US dollar on Wednesday, strengthening from Tuesday’s close of 34.78.
The currency will likely move between 34.50 and 34.70 against the greenback during the day, Krungthai market strategist Poon Panichpibool said.
Poon said that the baht might strengthen due to the weakening dollar and gold sales, but it would not strengthen past its support level of 34.5 to the dollar because the currency market is fluctuating and foreign investors could sell more Thai stocks after net sales of 1.7 billion baht on Tuesday.
Moreover, foreign investors could also sell Thai long-term bonds as the global bond yield is increasing.
He believes that some of them might wait for the baht to reach close to its support level to short for profit following net sales of 8 billion baht of short-term bonds this week.
Poon also advised investors to use hedging tools, such as options, to manage risks in a highly volatile currency market.
Bangkok residents urged to check air safety levels as PM2.5 rises
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2022
Four Bangkok districts had air pollution levels above the safety level on Wednesday morning, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
Thawi Watthana, Nong Khaem, Nong Chok, and Pathum Wan districts had hazardous levels of PM2.5, the administration’s Environment Department reported.
Measurements at air quality stations in the four districts found PM2.5 ranging from 30 to 53 micrograms (mcg) per cubic metre. PM2.5 refers to “particulate matter” (fine particles or droplets) in the air. The safety level is 50mcg. A number above this amount is considered hazardous.
The Environment Department warned Bangkok residents to monitor air quality from Friday evening and provided the following PM2.5 levels for Greater Bangkok:
Tomorrow brings shortest day of year with barely 11hrs daylight
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2022
The shortest day of the year, known as winter solstice, will fall on Thursday (December 22), the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (Narit) said on Wednesday.
The winter solstice occurs when either of the Earth’s poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun. This happens twice a year, once in the northern and once in the southern hemisphere.
Winter solstice sees the sun reach its lowest annual elevation in the sky.
On Thursday, the sun will rise at 6.36am and set at 5.55pm, adding up to just 11 hours and 19 minutes of daylight.
“Winter solstice is regarded as the first day of winter in the northern hemisphere, but for those in the southern hemisphere it will be the first day of summer,” Narit pointed out.
After tomorrow, the days will gradually get longer leading to the spring equinox on March 20, when the period of day and night will be the same. The summer solstice will bring the longest day for Thailand and the rest of the northern hemisphere on June 21.
Search for 23 HTMS Sukhothai sailors resumes after 6 bodies found
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2022
The search for 23 missing sailors continued on Wednesday after six bodies and one survivor were plucked from the Gulf of Thailand on Tuesday after the HTMS Sukhothai sank in a storm.
The Royal Thai Navy named the survivor as Seaman Chananyu Kaensriya.
“The Navy is searching for the other 23 missing crewmembers,” Admiral Choengchai Chomchoengpaet said during a press conference on Tuesday.
Navy personnel and volunteers launched the search mission after the Sukhothai, a Rattanakosin-class corvette, capsized during stormy weather with 106 crew onboard on Sunday night.
The ship sank some 20 nautical miles (32 kilometres) off the coast of Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Bang Saphan district.
The first of the 31 missing crew members was rescued on Monday night. Chief Petty Officer Natee Timdee was spotted floating unconscious and plucked from the sea before being taken to Bang Saphan Hospital.
Choengchai said the warship was on patrol when it began listing in strong winds and waves, causing seawater to flow through the ship and damage its electrical system.
“The crew were unable to drain seawater from the warship, causing the engine to stop and the ship to lose control,” he said.
He said the Navy had launched a search and rescue mission with three ships – HTMS Angthong, Bhumibol Adulyadej and Kraburi – as well as helicopters and reconnaissance aircraft.
“The Navy also contacted cargo ships for help to tow HTMS Sukhothai back to shore.”
Choengchai added that the Navy had plenty of life rafts to rescue the crew, contradicting reports that no or few life rafts were launched from the stricken warship.
He vowed the Navy would not conceal information in its investigation and report on the sinking. Meanwhile the search would continue until all missing sailors are found.
The Navy has set up a disaster relief centre to take care of relatives of HTMS Sukhothai personnel, he added.
AeroThai predicts that Thai airports will handle about 858,387 flights next year, about 2,352 per day.
SootinClaimon.Com 