“We will use these meetings as a platform to finalize free trade agreements (FTA) with pending partners including Turkey, Sri Lanka and Pakistan,” he said. “Furthermore, we will seek new to establish FTA deals with new partners such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement of Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to increase Thailand’s competitiveness and expand our export markets.”

Weerasak further added that his Ministry will also establish a special fund to assist those entrepreneurs affected by the upcoming FTAs. “The fund committee will be chaired by Commerce Permanent Secretary, and will have its first meeting on December 20,” he added.

Meanwhile, Rapibhat Chantarasriwong, secretary-general at Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), said that the special safeguards (SSG) privileges that Thailand receives from New Zealand under Thailand-New Zealand Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (TNZCEP) will expire on January 1, 2021. “This will result in 3 of our products exported to New Zealand, namely milk, cream and beef being subject to 5, 18 and 50 per cent tax respectively instead of current rate at 0 per cent,” he said. “The OAE will consult Ministry of Commerce to plan measures to mitigate the impact before the expiration date. One of the possible solutions is to find new partners through these JTC meetings.”

The ‘Freestyle to Music’ round is part of the individual dressage competition and sees the horses’ movements and figures choreographed to meet the technical requirements with music chosen to highlight the horse and rider combination.

Eight riders from Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, China, and South Korea took part in the event, which was won by South Korean rider Dongheon Nam, who earned a score of 73.919 and took home US$4,500. Pakjira Thongpakdi placed second with 70.663, and Arinadtha Chavatanont received the bronze medal with 69.769.

Another Thai rider, Apisada Bannagijsophon scored 66.231 on her stallion Samba de Orfeu and was ranked sixth.

The equestrian event, which kicked off on December 1 and continues through Sunday (December 8) is being held at the Thai Polo & Equestrian Club, Chon Buri province.

The temperatures in Uthai Thani have dropped to 12-14 celsius up the hills and 16-18 on the ground in the morning. The chill has an negative impact on their habitat in the Pattawee mountain, a well-known tourist attraction. Many monkeys, especially mothers and cubs, were seen cuddling under the sun in groups close to the ground. Drought has also hit the province, reducing their food source.

In the areas of Phra Prang Sam Yot and San Phra Kan Shrine, Lop Buri, local monkeys were seen gathering in shelters. Residents in the areas said baby monkeys were heard crying in the cold weather.

President of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI)’s Automotive Industry Club, Khanchit Chaisupho, revealed the department’s plan at a recent seminar exploring the direction of the automobile market organised by Thai Automotive Journalists Association (TAJA).

He said that the plan will look two major problems, namely the current car market and environmental problems, including the problem of PM 2.5 dust particles from old cars, which are becoming increasingly serious.

“It was proposed that auto components, such as car batteries, be added to the draft management plan for electrical appliances and electronic devices,” he explained. “Cars in our country are expensive so consumers tend to use old cars for a long time. The department suggested that they should launch incentive measures to encourage people to change cars.”

He added that they will discuss with their partners the types of measures that could be introduced to reduce the cost burden on consumers

Many countries also use this concept in various ways. The most famous is perhaps the “Cash for Clunkers” issued by the US government under Barack Obama in 2009, which encouraged people to exchange old cars for new to stimulate the economy.

Workers in Chon Buri, Phuket, Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and Prachin Buri will receive the additional Bt6 a day.

This will give Phuket and Chonburi the highest minimum wages of Bt336 a day while those with the lowest minimum wages, Bt313/day, are Narathiwat and Pattani.

The Permanent Secretary believes that the adjustment is appropriate for the economic situation. It’s expected to give some balance while also benefiting Thailand’s economy.

The Committee will present the resolution to the Cabinet as soon as possible so that the measure can take effect by January 1, 2020.

ARLO secretary-general Winaroj Sapsongsuk said on Friday (December 6) that his office spent more than a month investigating the land of Pareena after former member of the dissolved Thai Raksa Chart Party, Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, filed a complaint with the Royal Forest Department and urged the inspection of her property for possible encroachment on protected national woodland.

Parts of the land in question, located in Rangbua subdistrict, Jombeung district of Ratchaburi province are under jurisdiction of ARLO, an agency responsible for giving out lands to farmers for agricultural purposes.

“We found out that Pareena’s ownership of the 682 rai area does not comply with ARLO regulations,” he said. “Although the land is currently used for chicken farming, Pareena who is listed as current owner, is a member of the House of Representative and a director of private organisation, and is therefore not qualified to own the land reserved for farmers.”

Pareena received the land in 2005 from her father, ex-Ratchaburi MP Thawee Kraikup who claimed that he bought it from local villagers in 1980.

Meanwhile, ARLO’s director of legal office Noppadol Tantimekin said that the office will not yet file a lawsuit against the owner. “We issued a notice to Pareena today and will start legal actions after this 7-day period if the owner has failed to return the land to ARLO,” he said.

Kitsiam Khongsatri, the chief of Doi Inthanon National Park, confirmed that the sub-zero temperature was recorded at 5am before rising to 3 degrees Celsius. He believed the temperature could dip even more as the winter is forecast to stay for a while.

The chief revealed that some 7,800 visitors had come to the area to experience the cool weather and be amid nature. Some 5,000 tourists are expected to spend some nights from December 5-10.

He advised tourists to take good care of their cars before driving to the highland and to avoid bringing any plastic bags to the area.

The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Mananya Thaiset, has ordered the Dairy Farming Promotion Organisation of Thailand (DPO) to study and survey China’s dairy market.

The DPO has found that the demand for dairy products had increased in China. Consumption from 2017 to 2022 in China is expected to average 38 litres per person annually, much higher than the yearly 18 litres per person of Thai people.

In 2016, China imported around 14.85 million tonnes of dairy products, including milk powder, whey, cheese, cream, fresh milk and yogurt. “However, the market share of Thai dairy products in China’s imports was very low,” said Mananya.

“In 2016, China imported around 151 tonnes of dairy products from Thailand valued at US$310,000 (Bt90 million)

“China is a market with high capacity in terms of population and consumption behaviour,” she added.

“Thai dairy products should extend their market by improving products’ quality to meet the demands of foreign consumers.”

Under a Thai-Chinese agreement on sanitation certificate for Thai dairy products, Thailand was allowed to export products that used ingredients imported from those countries which were safe from foot and mouth disease. “Therefore, I hastened DPO’s research to improve the products’ quality to meet Chinese regulations for export of Thai-Denmark products,” she added.

Exports of Thai-Denmark products have been growing continually. This year, the brand earned over Bt957 million and its main markets were in the Asean region, including neighbouring countries Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

In 2020, the brand aims to expand its market share to Bt1.2 billion, by increasing its distributors in Myanmar and opening more markets in Vietnam and China. Also, the brand plans to increase 15 per cent expansion in foreign markets by 2021, while a proportion of revenue from the market should be 20 per cent.

The results revealed on Wednesday (December 4) by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed results of Thai students aged around 15 having scores well below the OECD average.

The scores were:

– Reading 393 points (OECD average 487 points)

– Mathematics 419 points (OECD 489 points)

– Science 426 points (OECD 489 points)

Thailand ranked 66th among 79 countries whose students took the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test.

Compared to PISA 2015, reading scores were down by 16 points, while maths and science scores increased by 3 points and 4 points respectively. In statistical tests, maths and science were considered unchanged. It was found that maths and science assessment in Thailand had not changed while reading evaluation results had been declining continuously.

Considering the difference of scores between students with high scores (90th percentile) and students with low scores ( 10th percentile), there is a gap of about 200 points, with the tendency for differences in reading and science remaining stable. For maths, there is a wider score gap since high-score group students have a higher average score while low-grade students had lower scores. Considering the differences between genders, female students had higher scores than male students in all aspects, especially in reading, where female students scored 39 points higher than males.