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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40014702

Soft power exercised by Thai influencers is playing a positive role in enabling Thailand to increase the value of its creative economy.

Promoting soft power is a part of the 20-Year National Strategy to boost the country’s competitiveness in line with BCG – bio, circular and green – economic model.

The Culture Ministry is focusing on promoting the cultural creative industry in five aspects — foods, films, fashion, Muay Thai and festivals.

The first influencer who created soft power among people was Thai K-pop star Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban after her own music video “Lalisa” was launched in September last year.

In the music video, BlackPink’s only Thai member used various Thai elements, such as Thai dress and a background that looks similar to Phanom Rung Stone Castle.

Meanwhile, Lisa’s remark, stating that she missed the meatballs in her hometown in Buriram province, caused sales of meatball retailers in the province to increase sharply.

Lisa’s move to return home to celebrate her 25th birthday in March this year also caused her fans to flock to restaurants where she went, such as barbeque pork restaurants in Bangkok’s Chokchai 4 Road and Brasserie 9, a French restaurant in Sathon district.

Another influencer who used soft power recently is Thai rapper Danupha “Milli” Khanatheerakul’ who ended her set at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California on Sunday by eating mango sticky rice.

Commanding the stage in a skimpy red outfit, Milli took a break from her twerk-heavy dance routine to grab a bowl and take a mouthful.

Line Man revealed on Monday that orders for mango sticky rice in Thailand had risen by more than 3.5 times after the hashtag #MILLILiveatCoachella became top-trending on Twitter.

Inspired by Milli’s mouth-watering performance, the Department of Cultural Promotion says it will push for mango sticky rice to be listed as Unesco intangible cultural heritage.

Published : April 19, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40014700

The Finance Ministry on Tuesday denied it is hiding a public debt worth 1 trillion baht, saying this amount was used as advance payments for subsidy programmes under the Fiscal Disciplines Act.

Pornchai Theeravet, director of the Fiscal Policy Office, dismissed an online report claiming that the government was hiding a debt liability of 1 trillion baht by not declaring the amount under the category of public debt in the state budget.

He explained that the 1-trillion-baht figure covered advance payments for the government’s many public subsidy programmes.

He said these advance payments were not listed as a financial liability, but the Finance Ministry had clearly summed up the payments and reported the amount.

Pornchai said the total advance payments made were still within the framework of 30 per cent of the annual budget as stipulated in Section 28 of the 2018 State Fiscal and Financial Disciplines Act.

A source from the Finance Ministry explained to The Nation that this amount was not counted as public debt because it covered advance payments under state policies.

The source said the central bank was ordered to cover funds needed to implement policies first before the government allocates a budget for reimbursement.

Such policies include the crop-price guarantee scheme as well as subsidies such as a reprieve from high-interest rates.

Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said the Monetary Policy Committee raised the ceiling of advance expenditure under Section 29 of the Fiscal Disciplines Act from 30 to 35 per cent in November last year.

He said this new ceiling was temporary and is due to expire at the end of September.

Arkhom also said that the Finance Ministry will need to consider two points related to the 2023 budget and advance expenditures to see if it should extend the 35 per cent ceiling for another year.

First, the ministry needs to find out which projects that have received funding can be wrapped up. If they can wrap up, then they should return the remaining funds to the Finance Ministry.

Second, the ministry will study the scope of the projects that are implemented in the 2022-2023 fiscal years to see if they can be downsized. These projects include the paddy-price guarantee programme.

If these subsidies can be downsized, then the advance expenditure ceiling will be lowered, Arkhom said.

“We want to return to the 30-per-cent ceiling because we don’t want to spend too much in advance,” Arkhom added.

The minister said the amount of advance expenditure has piled up because the Budget Bureau failed to allocate enough funds to compensate for the advance payments made.

Arkhom added that the spending for subsidies cannot be declared in the fixed expenditure of the annual state budget because the government cannot estimate details of subsidies in advance.

Published : April 19, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40014699

The Tourism Council of Thailand is confident that Chinese tourists will return to the Kingdom in October and help boost foreign arrivals this year.

Wichit Prakorbkosol, vice president of the council and president of CCT Express Co Ltd, said Thai tourism operators, who have inside sources in Chinese government agencies, learned that Beijing would allow its citizens to travel abroad starting October 1, which is China’s National Day.

“It is expected that a lot of Chinese tourists will travel to Thailand,” said Wichit, whose Express company is a major inbound tourism operator.

“But we can’t expect the number of Chinese tourists to be around 800,000 to 900,000 a month like the pre-Covid years.”

Speaking to The Nation, Wichit urged the government to lift Covid restrictions for foreign arrivals and fully open the country to foreign tourists in preparation for tourists from China and other countries.

He said if the country is opened fully to foreign tourists without travel restrictions within the second quarter of this year, at least 5 million foreign tourists would arrive in the second half of the year.

“The sooner the country is opened fully, the more advantage we will have over our competitors, who are opening their countries more and more,” Wichit said.

He said it is yet to be seen whether China would open its country fully. If China imposes no travel restrictions on its citizens, the number of Chinese arrivals may boost the number of foreign arrivals in Thailand to about 7 million or 8 million this year, Wichit added.

Wichit said it is expected the inbound tourism industry would recover by 70 per cent next year compared to the pre-Covid level of almost 40 million foreign tourists in 2019 and the industry is expected to fully recover in 2024.

But he said the council expected the inbound tourism trend would change from big tourist groups to small groups. He said operators of tourist coaches with 30 to 40 seats would be in trouble because foreign tourists would prefer travelling in small groups by van.

The foreign tourists in the post-Covid period would focus on resting in hotels, eating at unique restaurants in Bangkok or big cities and choosing to visit places on their own instead of eating and participating in tourism and shopping programmes set by operators, Wichit added.

Meanwhile, Prachoom Tantiprasertsuk, marketing president of the Thai Hotels Association, said most hotels are now hit by shortage of human resources because many staff have left to do their own business and they did not want to return to work in hotels again.

Prachoom said the hotels after the Covid situation had to teach their remaining staff to be multi-skilled. For example, one staff must do at least three tasks, he said.

He said Thai hotels would have to impress returning foreign tourists, who have high expectations of their services, with warm and Thai-style hospitality.

Nok Air CEO Wutthiphum Jurangkool, meanwhile, said his airline expected the return of Chinese tourists in the fourth quarter when the Chinese government is expected to allow its citizens to travel abroad.

He said Nok Air would buy six more Boeing 737-800 planes with 189 seats for opening routes to China, India, Osaka and Ho Chi Minh City in preparation for the return of foreign tourists. The new planes would add increase Nok Air’s fleet to 17, he said.

He said Nok Air would resume flying to international routes in June depending on the travel restrictions of the destination countries.

Teerapol Chotichanapibal, the chief commercial officer of Nok Air, said Nok Air hoped the daily number of its passenger would rise to 12,000 to 13,000 later this year when several countries lift Covid restrictions. Currently, the airline has about 10,000 passengers a day, he added.

Published : April 19, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40014693

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has relaxed foreign exchange regulations in a bid to ease capital flows and curb baht volatility amid its slide against the dollar.

The move is designed to make investment and transactions in foreign currencies more convenient. It should also help the Thai private sector manage risks and reduce transaction costs.

The BOT announced three measures to further ease forex rules on Monday.

First, the yearly US$50-million cap on lending to unaffiliated companies and for purchase of property abroad will be removed.

Thai companies will also be able to purchase foreign currencies for transfer domestically as necessary, aiding payment for goods whose price is linked to the global market. Previously, transfers were allowed only through foreign currency deposit accounts.

Second, resident companies will be able to manage their foreign exchange risk in a broader scope, such as by hedging foreign exchange exposures arising from domestic payment for goods whose price is linked to the global market, hedging on behalf of other resident affiliated companies, hedging of anticipated foreign exchange revenues or expenses with a tenor longer than one year, and hedging balance sheet exposures.

Third, the burden of providing documents for foreign exchange transactions will be eased for Thai residents. Bank customers will no longer be required to submit underlying documents when undertaking regular foreign exchange transactions.

The changes will go into effect the day after being published in the Royal Gazette.

Published : April 19, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40014684

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index is expected to fluctuate between 1,660 and 1,680 points on Tuesday amid a rise in the oil price due to the intensifying Russia-Ukraine conflict and Libya’s production halt due to a protest, Krungsri Securities said.

It added that uncertainty over the US Federal Reserve’s move to shrink its balance sheet and raise the interest rate to deal with inflation would pressure the index.

It recommends the purchase of the following as an investment strategy:

• PTTEP, TOP, IVL, SPRC and BCP would benefit from the rising oil price.

• AOT, AAV, BA, MINT, CENTEL, ERW, CPN, CRC, HMPRO, CPALL, MAKRO, AMATA and WHA would benefit from countries reopening.

• BDMS, BH, INTUCH, ADVANC, BTS and BEM which can tolerate market volatility.

The SET Index closed at 1,668.06 on Monday, down 6.28 points or 0.38 per cent. Transactions totalled 64.43 billion baht with an index high of 1,675.95 and a low of 1,665.25.

Published : April 19, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40014682

The baht opened at 33.71 to the US dollar on Tuesday, weakening from Monday’s close of 33.66 and sliding towards the key 34 per dollar level. Breaching that closely watched resistance level would invite further losses for the Thai currency.

Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool predicted the baht would move between 33.65 and 33.80 per dollar during the day.

Poon said the Thai currency would likely continue to swing sideways, pressured by the strengthening dollar after the US Federal Reserve signalled it would hasten to tighten monetary policy, as well as short-term demand for safe assets.

Meanwhile, dividend transactions worth 4-5 billion baht this week could add pressure on the baht.

However, sales of gold after its price increased to the key resistance level might support the baht, limiting losses in this period.

He expected exporters to sell the dollar at 33.70 to 33.80 as long as the market does not turn heavily risk-averse, which would add pressure to the baht.

With high volatility in the currency market, businesses should use hedging tools like options to manage risks, he said.

Published : April 19, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40014674

The Agriculture Ministry has reached an agreement with durian exporters in Chanthaburi province to clean up their warehouses on Friday after an export container to China was found contaminated with Covid-19 virus.

Alongkorn Pollabutr, an adviser to the agriculture minister, said he has visited the warehouses of durian exporters in Chanthaburi and reached an agreement on carrying out a big cleaning day on Friday.

He said the exporters from now on would conduct rapid antigen tests on workers regularly to prevent more contamination of the coronavirus.

China suspended import of durians from Thailand at its Mohan checkpoint for three days from April 12 to 14 after a container of durians on a trailer truck from Thailand was found contaminated.

Alongkorn said although the Chinese authorities allowed the import of Thai durians to be resumed on April 15, the exporters of Thai fruits could not be complacent.

Alongkorn said the peak season of fruit in the eastern provinces would soon arrive with over a million tonnes of durian, rambutan, mangosteen and southern langsat ready for harvesting and export so the exporters must make sure that their fruit would be free from contamination.

The adviser said the export of durians from Chanthaburi would be resumed in the middle of next week using the Laos-China high-speed train so the Thai authorities and exporters must step up measures to prevent contamination of the fruit.

Alongkorn said the export by train has been successful after two containers of durians and one container of coconuts were dispatched early this month. The durians would be transported on trucks from Thailand to the railway station in Laos to be sent aboard the train.

Published : April 18, 2022

The Commerce Ministry on Monday praised Danupha “Milli” Khanatheerakul for using mango sticky rice as soft power at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California.

Mango sticky rice shot to global fame after Milli ended her set at the Coachella on Sunday by eating the traditional Thai dessert.

Commanding the stage in a skimpy red outfit, Milli took a break from her twerk-heavy dance routine to grab a bowl and take a mouthful.

Mallika Boonmeetrakool, the adviser to the commerce minister, said using mango sticky rice as soft power is a good idea as it is considered one of the world’s 50 best desserts.

She said the Commerce Ministry is focusing on using soft power to promote trade in line with the Creative Economy concept. She added that the ministry is willing to promote this soft power.

Thailand exported sticky rice and mangoes worth more than 7.5 billion baht last year, according to the Department of International Trade Promotion.

Thailand exported 150,570 tonnes of sticky rice worth THB3.10 billion in 2021 and 29,312 tonnes worth THB594.56 million in the first two months of this year. The country’s main sticky rice export markets are China, US, Laos, Vietnam and Japan.

Meanwhile, Thailand exported mangoes worth THB4.44 billion last year, of which THB2.93 billion were fresh mangoes and THB1.50 billion were canned mangoes.

The country exported mangoes worth THB403.51 million in the first two months of this year, of which THB177.96 million were fresh mangoes and THB225.55 million were canned mangoes.

Thailand’s top 10 mango export markets are Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Myanmar, Laos, Singapore, Russia, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates and China.

Published : April 18, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40014667

Over the years the demand for durian has been exceptionally high, especially in China where Thai durians are always in demand. But the Covid outbreak led to many restrictions on import of goods into mainland China, and durian farmers are facing the heat of these policies.

The Nation Thailand spoke to Sanchai Puranachaikere, president of the Thai Fresh Fruit Traders and Exporters Association, on the problems arising from China’s zero-Covid policy.

“We still have no clue in which direction we should go because China has a zero-Covid policy. Which means, there can be no traces of Covid infection on the durian at all. In reality, it’s impossible because zero Covid means not ignoring even dead vestiges of the virus,” says Sanchai.

“Due to China’s strict Covid restrictions on imports, we are facing problems. Thai goods or goods from any other country imported into China will have to be tested for Covid.

“The testing process cannot be hurried, it takes time. Some Customs offices can only check 50 containers out of some 200 containers. But those 200 containers aren’t only from Thailand. So the Customs officials might be able to check 200 containers. But they may have up to 500 containers. So the containers that can’t make it now become a part of 1,000 containers in the queue.”

These underlying issues are likely to peak in May and the beginning of June, in just around 45 days, when popular Thai fruits such as durian and mangosteen are ripe. This might increase the number of containers to about 700-800.

But if strict Covid restrictions in China are not resolved, the burden might be too hard to bear for Thai exporters, he said.

Sanchai added that “The problem with fruit prices is when it can’t be exported, the fruit becomes ripe and people can’t buy it. So the question is which direction do we go? If there is a delay in the beginning, we can encourage Thai people to consume more of these fruits, or we can process it into products. However, if there’s huge supply we don’t know how the problem can be resolved if the Covid issue in China is not solved. Some 60-70 per cent of Thai fruit is exported to China, while 20-25 per cent are eaten by Thais and no more than 10 per cent are exported to neighbouring countries.”

Despite the obstacles, Thai exporters in Chantaburi province are still finding a way to be Covid-free. They’ve started the GMP+ in Chanthaburi, working with government officials and the public health sector to help create bubbles and collective measures to prevent Covid. They are hoping that these measures could help ease the policies in importing Thai fruits into mainland China.

But will China ease its zero-Covid policy in May? Because if it doesn’t, that would mean 60-70 per cent of Thai durians would be left waiting at Customs in mainland China, leaving them ripe and maybe inedible, Sanchai said.

Published : April 18, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40014653

The Finance Ministry said on Monday that it has lowered Thailand’s growth forecast for 2022 to 3 to 4 per cent from its earlier 3.5 to 4.5 per cent prediction.

Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said the estimate was being reduced because the country’s economy has been hit by several factors. However, he said, the country will still enjoy sustainable economic growth compared to last year.

“There will be a reduction in the range but the average growth forecast will remain at 4 per cent,” Arkhom explained. “If our economy is badly hit, then GDP may go down to 3 per cent. Either way, growth will be continual, which is stronger and better than fast growth, which can slow down later. We are confident we can reach the target of 3 to 4 per cent.”

The minister said the government was also looking into how the price of animal feed and fertiliser can be brought down to help farmers.

“The Finance Ministry is waiting for reports from the Agriculture and Commerce ministries, so we can come up with new tax measures to help farmers,” Arkhom said.

He added that his ministry will also ensure the tax measures really benefit farmers, not just large corporations.

Arkhom added that the factors contributing to economic growth in the second half of the year will be government spending and exports.

He said the Customs Department reported that exports and imports showed a growth of about 12 to 15 per cent in the first quarter.

Arkhom added that though the Thai National Shippers’ Council has forecast a 5 per cent growth in exports, the Finance Ministry wants to push it to 10 per cent by clearing bottlenecks like tax refunds for exporters.

The finance minister added that the baht has dropped when compared to 2020 and 2021, and though this bodes well for exports, it is affecting imports.

Arkhom said the weaker baht is also making it tough for Thailand to reduce retail oil prices in the country to match the drop in global prices.

He said the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Thailand would work in tandem to stabilise the currency’s value and prevent its fluctuation from affecting the business sector.

Published : April 18, 2022

By : THE NATION