Nation Multimedia Group steps up with free Moderna jabs for employees
Shine Bunnag, chairman of Nation Multimedia Group (NMG)s executive committee, has announced that 1,200 doses of Moderna mRNA vaccine will be provided for free immunisation of all NMG employees, under a budget of about 2 million baht.
The vaccine doses will be procured through Prince Suvarnabhumi Hospital, while NMG will bear all expenses. The company considers it has a social responsibility to provide the free shots, which it said will help strengthen immune systems in the fight against the Covid-19 crisis.
NMG has also launched continuous relief missions for people suffering under the impact of the pandemic. Among them are the “Nation Kitchen” project to set up a kitchen to prepare food boxes for affected people, the “Nation Sharing Kindness” activity to donate survival bags and, most recently, the “Bringing Hearts to Home” project to deliver boxes of relief supplies directly to households.
Thailand sees 23% rise in new businesses in first half
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the first half of 2021 saw 41,022 new businesses established, or 23 per cent more than the same period last year. In comparison, only 4,930 businesses shut down or 21 per cent fewer than last year.
The top three sectors that attracted entrepreneurs this year were construction (3,539 companies), followed by 1,844 real-estate businesses and 1,132 ventures in the logistics sector.
Of the 41,022 new businesses, 31,380 ventures had an investment of no more than a million baht, followed by 8,976 companies investing between 1-million- and 5-million-baht, 592 investing between 5 million-plus and 100 million baht, while 74 firms went beyond the 100-million-baht range.
This growth in new businesses can be attributed to several factors such as an increase in exports thanks to the recovery of the global economy and government stimulus measures.
The Bank of Thailand’s Business Confidence Index in June stood at 46.5, slightly higher than the previous month but still below 50 – an indication that most businesses are the pandemic may last longer or worsen.
Xayaburi Power explains the flow rates of Mekong are affected by Tropical Storm Cempaka
The rise can be attributed to Tropical Storm Cempaka, which has now weakened into a tropical depression, bringing heavy rain to Northern Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin during the past few days, coupled with the scheduled release of water from the Nam Ou Hydropower Dam.
Mr. Thanawat Trivisvavet, Managing Director of CK Power Public Company Limited (CKPower), the company that manages the Xayaburi Hydroelectric Power Plant in the Lao PDR, stated that on July 25, 2021, the flow rate of the water that ran through the Xayaburi Hydroelectric Power Plant was 8,000 cubic meters per second, an increase from the average of 3,588 cubic meter per second during the period from July 1 to 24, 2021. The rise can be attributed to Tropical Storm Cempaka, which has now weakened into a tropical depression, bringing heavy rain to Northern Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin during the past few days, coupled with the scheduled release of water from the Nam Ou Hydropower Dam. It is expected that on July 27, the power plant will record 7,200 cubic meters per second in the volume of water passing through its system, which will then gradually drop to 6,400 and 5,600 cubic meters per second on July 28 and 29, respectively.
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“The power plant is managed in such a way that it releases the same amount of water downstream as the natural flow that goes into the power plant. This is because the Xayaburi Hydroelectric Power Plant has no water storage capability nor reservoir; it is a run-of-river hydroelectric power plant. In other words, the amount of water that flows into the power plant is invariably equal to the amount released out of the power plant into the river, and the natural flow of the Mekong is not affected,” said Mr.Thanawat.
A comparison of the average monthly volumes of water passing through the power plant against the highest and lowest flow rates over the past 80 years (1940-2020), dating back to the period prior to the establishment of the power plant, demonstrates that the current volumes are within the recorded range and that flow rates can vary, with higher volumes in wet years and lower in dry years. The average volume of 2021 is projected to be similar to that of 2018 which was recorded as a wet year.
Xayaburi Power explains the flow rates of Mekong are affected by Tropical Storm Cempaka
Bangkok Airways to resume its first international flight (Samui – Singapore)
Bangkok Airways to resume its first international flight (Samui – Singapore), starting from 1 August 2021 onwards
Starting from 1 August 2021, Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited will resume its first international service between Samui and Singapore in order to support Thailand’s re-opening project and the Samui Plus Model project.
The resumed services between Samui and Singapore will be operated by an Airbus A319 aircraft, starting with three flights per week (Monday, Thursday and Sunday). The outbound flight PG961 departs Samui Airport at 15.05hrs. and arrives Singapore International Airport at 18.00hrs. The inbound flight PG962 departs Singapore International Airport at 19.30hrs. and arrives Samui Airport at 20.35hrs.
Passengers entering Thailand are required to follow guidelines issued by the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) directive No. 7/2564 on 24 June B.E. 2564 (2021) which requires that each passenger entering the country must possess the complete set of the relevant documents. The documents include: Certificate of Entry (COE), Medical certificate with a laboratory result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected (done by RT-PCR technique and issued no more than 72 hours before traveling), Vaccine Certificate or proof of vaccination. Additionally all passengers must undergo required COVID-19 tests (RT-PCR method) during their stay in Thailand. Travelers with a certificate of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test are exempt from compulsory quarantine if travelling to the following islands: Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao. They must stay on the island for at least 14 days before travelling to other regions in Thailand.
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Bangkok Airways to resume its first international flight (Samui – Singapore)
Mr. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, president of Bangkok Airways said, “We are more than delighted to announce the resumption of our first international flight after being on pause for a long while due to the pandemic. The Samui – Singapore route is anticipated to bring back confidence to Thailand’s tourism. We have assured that both Samui and Singapore have robust processes in place to ensure travels between the two cities can be undertaken safely.”
“At Bangkok Airways, we remain committed to the safety and hygiene of our passengers and employees as the highest priority. The airline and Samui airport strictly implement surveillance measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. At Samui airport, we have put in place health and safety measures and social distancing practice in compliance with the regulations by the Ministry of Public Health and the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand to ensure highest level of safety for all passengers and staff. The measures include passengers and staff screening, health and body temperature checks, passengers and staff are required to wear protective masks at all times. Moreover, airport disinfectant cleaning is set to be done on an hourly basis in common service areas and high-traffic areas such as check-in counters, baggage store, and wheelchairs and office spaces,” added Mr. Puttipong.
For more information and/or reservations, passengers can contact the airline via the following channels;
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,537.63 on Tuesday, down 7.47 points or 0.48 per cent. Transactions totalled THB70.26 billion with an index high of 1,551.43 and a low of 1,531.81.
In the morning session, Krungsri Securities predicted the index on Tuesday would fluctuate between 1,535 and 1,555 points after the oil price rose above US$71 per barrel.
Uncertainty over the surge in domestic Covid-19 cases would pressure the index, while investors would delay trades to follow the US Fed’s Open Market Committee meeting on July 27-28, it added.
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The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were KBANK, RCL, CPF, 7UP, EA, PSL, PTTGC, SCB, PTT and KCE.
Other Asian indices were mixed:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 27,970.22, up 136.93 points or 0.49 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index closed at 3,381.18, down 86.26 points or 2.49 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 14,093.64, down 537.21 points or 3.67 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 25,086.43, down 1,105.89 points or 4.22 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI closed at 3,232.53, up 7.58 points or 0.24 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX closed at 17,269.87, down 133.69 points or 0.77 per cent.
SET in wait and watch for domestic Covid situation, Fed meeting
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index rose by 0.62 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 1,545.72 on Tuesday morning.
The SET Index closed at 1,545.10 on Friday, down 7.26 points or 0.47 per cent. Transactions totalled THB59.50 billion with an index high of 1,553.25 and a low of 1,540.35.
The index on Monday was closed for substitution for Asalha Puja Day.
Krungsri Securities predicted the index on Tuesday would fluctuate between 1,535 and 1,555 points despite the rise in regional indices after oil price has risen to over US$71 per barrel.
It forecast uncertainty that higher domestic Covid-19 cases would pressure economic recovery and the index, while investors would delay their investment to follow the Federal Open Market Committee session on July 27-28.
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It recommended that investors buy:
▪︎ HANA, KCE, TU, CPF, ASIAN and EPG, which benefit from the weakening baht.
▪︎ BCH, CHG, BDMS, HMPRO, GLOBAL, DOHOME, BEM, CKP, CBG, OSP, ICHI, GPSC, BEC, GUNKUL, JWD, WICE, SONIC and NER, whose second-quarter business turnover is expected to improve.
Covid situation and US Fed move could decide bahts direction
The baht opened at 32.90 to the US dollar on Tuesday, strengthening from last week’s closing rate of 32.92.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 32.85 and 33.00 during the day and between 32.70 and 33.20 this week, Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool said.
Poon explained that there were two factors affecting the baht — the dollar’s direction and the Covid-19 situation all over the world, especially in Thailand.
The baht could weaken if the US Federal Reserve relaxed monetary policy.
Poon explained that the dollar would strengthen if the Fed signalled it was confident about the US economic recovery and decided to decrease quantitative easing.
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The baht could fall to 33 to the US dollar if the Covid-19 situation worsened. However, Poon expected the Bank of Thailand to help decrease the baht’s volatility and reduce risks for the business sector.
He recommended that investors use various hedging tools such as options.
The price of gold in Thailand dropped by THB200 per baht weight on Tuesday morning.
The Gold Traders Association report at 9.24am showed buying price of a gold bar at THB27,900 per baht weight and selling price at THB28,000, while gold ornaments were priced at THB27,394.12 and THB28,500, respectively.
At close on Monday, tye buying price of a gold bar was THB28,100 per baht weight and selling price THB28,200, while gold ornaments were priced at THB27,591.20 and THB28,700, respectively.
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Spot gold on Tuesday was US$1,797 (THB59,081) per ounce after Comex gold on Monday dropped by $2.6 to $1,799.2 per ounce as investors are holding back to follow the Federal Open Market Committee session on July 27-28.
Hong Kong gold price, meanwhile, dropped by HK$110 to $16,670 (THB70,471) per tael, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society reported.
Coffee surges to 7-year highs with more cold headed for Brazil
Arabica coffee futures are hitting fresh highs and extending a dramatic rally with more crop-destroying cold temperatures heading to Brazil, the worlds top grower.
Prices for the high-end beans favored by Starbucks Corp. and other cafe chains have surged more than 30% in a week, and will eventually top $3 a pound, according to Judy Ganes, a consultant with decades of experience in the industry. The last time prices topped $3 was in 2011.
Those sky-high prices are because coffee trees in Brazil were weakened by a drought and then pummeled by two frosts in less than a month. Freezing temperatures last week especially hurt young trees, which will need to be trimmed or replanted. That could affect output for years to come, including slashing next year’s harvest by as much as 5.2 million bags, according to an Ecom Research report seen by Bloomberg. A bag weighs 60 kilograms, or 132 pounds.
Other major growers are going to reap less coffee than expected, too, like Indonesia, which is also seeing a light crop.
“Where is the coffee going to come from” if not from Brazil, which accounts for 40% of world output, Ganes said.
Futures rallied as much as 14% to $2.152 a pound, the highest since October 2014.
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Forecasters expect more low temperatures in coming days, potentially damaging crops. The chance of frost has increased for Sao Paulo and south of Minas Gerais during a cold spell expected July 29, Somar Meteorologia said in a report.
The surge in arabica is translating into higher prices for consumers at supermarkets and coffee shops. This adds to global food inflation worries, exacerbated by surging shipping costs and supply chain disruptions as economies reopen.
“It looks like we’re set for another explosive week ahead, with cold weather coming back into coffee-growing regions from midweek onwards,” Alex Boughton, a broker at Sucden, said in a note.
Frost is expected across southern Minas Gerais through central Sao Paulo, and east central and southern Parana, from Wednesday to Friday, according to Maxar meteorologist Donald Keeney.
“Cool temperatures will continue early in the 6-10 day period as well, so there will be additional frost threats in the same areas over the next weekend,” Keeney said.
Prices were also supported by a move from the ICE exchange to almost double initial margin requirements for arabica futures, encouraging traders to cover their short bets, Boughton said.
Published : July 27, 2021
By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Marvin G. Perez, Fabiana Batista
Blue Origin offers to waive $2 billion in NASA payments in bid for moon landing contract
Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin spaceflight company has publicly offered to cover up to $2 billion in NASA contract fees so it can remain involved in the U.S. governments effort to return astronauts to the moon.
The long-shot bid to persuade the space agency to change course comes after Elon Musk’s SpaceX was selected in April as the primary contractor to build the moon lander and given a $2.9 billion contract for the work.
Blue Origin countered Monday with a highly unusual open letter signed by Bezos, who owns The Washington Post. In it, he criticized NASA’s decision to rely on a single company for the moon lander, an approach he said would “put an end to meaningful competition for years to come” by locking the government into SpaceX’s rocket technology.
He offered to pour billions of dollars in company funding into the effort in exchange for a seat at the table.
“Without competition, NASA’s short-term and long-term lunar ambitions will be delayed, will ultimately cost more, and won’t serve the national interest,” Bezos wrote in the letter.
It’s unclear whether and how NASA will respond. As of late afternoon, NASA had not commented on how it might proceed. A NASA spokeswoman said the agency was aware of Bezos’s letter but declined further comment, citing pending litigation.
The open offer from Bezos marks a significant departure from the normal pace of government procurement, which usually happens behind closed doors through a scripted, bureaucratic process. It is rare for the details of contract negotiations to spill into the public domain, and rarer still for interested bidders to throw out offers and counteroffers in pointed corporate blog posts.
The $2 billion olive branch is also abnormal. Although it’s common for aerospace companies to invest corporate funds in technologies they intend to sell to the government, they typically prefer the government to underwrite as much of the development expenses as possible.
“I’m not sure there’s any precedent for this,” said Alan Chvotkin, a partner with the government contracts law firm Nichols Liu who is not affiliated with either Blue Origin or SpaceX. “It’s of a magnitude that we rarely see . . . they’re essentially putting $2 billion on the line.”
NASA is in a unique position because both SpaceX and Blue Origin are deep-pocketed commercial spaceflight companies that are comfortable with paying to develop their own technology. And Blue Origin can argue that NASA strayed from its original vision by going with a single contract.
The “human landing system” was initially supposed to involve two manufacturers, something that would let the government benefit from redundancy across systems and also give it leverage in any future negotiations. But the agency said it did not have enough room in its budget to issue more than one contract. The $2.9 billion contract given to SpaceX fit within the agency’s budget only because SpaceX agreed to modify its payment schedule, according to a NASA document obtained by The Post.
Blue Origin already has formally challenged the award to Space X.
In a solution offered “for [NASA’s] consideration” on Monday, Bezos said Blue Origin would effectively pay for the first two fiscal years of technology development itself by waiving up to $2 billion in fees, while “government appropriation actions catch up.” Bezos also offered to cover the costs of an un-crewed test mission to prove its lunar lander is safe. In exchange, Blue Origin would get a contract with a fixed price and cover any cost overruns, according to the letter.
“NASA veered from its original dual-source acquisition strategy due to perceived near-term budgetary issues, and this offer removes that obstacle,” Bezos wrote.
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Two procurement experts contacted by The Post said NASA probably could issue a contract under the terms spelled out in Bezos’s letter. The Federal Acquisition Regulation, which governs most large purchases made by government agencies, does provide a framework for building procurements around “unsolicited proposals.” And the specific structure of the moon lander contract, carried out through a “broad agency announcement” rather than a typical request for proposals, might provide the government leeway.
But it would be highly abnormal for a government agency to suddenly change course in response to a public pronouncement from someone interested in selling something to the government. Such an action could become fodder for future bid protests.
Franklin Turner, a government contracts attorney with the law firm McCarter & English who is not affiliated with either Blue Origin or SpaceX, said it would be highly unusual for NASA to reshape its plan after receiving a public request from a prospective bidder.
“It is entirely up to the agency as to how it’s going to define its own requirements,” Turner said. “But I would be very surprised to see NASA turn a dime in response to a proposal like this one.”
Xayaburi Power explains the flow rates of Mekong are affected by Tropical Storm Cempaka
Bangkok Airways to resume its first international flight (Samui – Singapore)
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