October 8, 2020 Thai Enquirer Summary Economic News The government plans to offer tax incentives known as the “Chop Dee Mee Kuean” (Shop Well Get Refund” scheme to boost domestic consumption and revive an economy stumbling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic following the Center for Economic Situation Administration (CESA)’s giving the greenlight for the government to give a tax deduction of up to 30,000 baht on purchases of goods and services starting from October 23 to December 31, according to Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow, also the Energy Minister. The committee expected 4 million people will take part in the scheme, which will spur spending but reduce state tax revenue by around 11 billion baht but generate a cash flow of at least 200 billion baht for the economy between October and December this year. The measure will need cabinet approval. The proposal is to give tax breaks depending on how much taxes one pays. If a person pays 5 per cent taxes on their annual income then they would get back 1,500 bath on their spendings
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October 8, 2020 Thai Enquirer Summary · to acquire TKN shares to form a business alliance with TKN. The news drove TKN shares to rise on bargain-hunting. TKN shares jumped to the
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October 8, 2020
Thai Enquirer Summary
Economic News
The government plans to offer tax incentives known as the “Chop Dee Mee Kuean”
(Shop Well Get Refund” scheme to boost domestic consumption and revive an economy
stumbling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic following the Center for
Economic Situation Administration (CESA)’s giving the greenlight for the government to
give a tax deduction of up to 30,000 baht on purchases of goods and services starting
from October 23 to December 31, according to Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong
Punmeechaow, also the Energy Minister.
The committee expected 4 million people will take part in the scheme, which will
spur spending but reduce state tax revenue by around 11 billion baht but generate
a cash flow of at least 200 billion baht for the economy between October and
December this year.
The measure will need cabinet approval.
The proposal is to give tax breaks depending on how much taxes one pays.
If a person pays 5 per cent taxes on their annual income then they would
get back 1,500 bath on their spendings
On the same level if a person pays 35 per cent taxes on annual income of
more than 5 million baht, then they would be eligible to get a total return
of 10,500 baht for their spendings.
The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) sees
slightly improvement in the country’s economy as it forecast that the country’s GDP will
contract by 7-9 per cent this year and inflation fall 1-1.5 per cent this year, citing that the
Thai economy has passed through its lowest point in the COVID-19 crisis.
The JSCCIB sees a rosier outlook for Thailand’s exports, raising the 2020
forecast from a drop of 10-12 per cent to a drop of 8-10 per cent.
Kalin Sarasin, JSCCIB chairman, said economic momentum would continue
through the end of the year after hitting rock-bottom in the second quarter.
Thailand recorded its worst slump since the 1997 financial crisis earlier this year
as the lockdown and travel ban battered the economy.
Kalin said the recovery was down to Thailand’s success in dealing with the virus,
plus government stimulus measures such as schemes to boost domestic tourism.
However, he also warned that recovery in the 4th quarter would be disrupted if
there was a 2nd wave of infections while other factors that could affect the Thai
economy were a strong baht and foreign politics, especially in the US where the
presidential election is due next month.
As Thailand is scheduled to open the country to receive the first batch of long-stay
foreign tourists under a special tourist visa (STV), the Ministry of Public Health is set to
propose a reduction in the mandatory quarantine period for foreign tourists from 14 to 10
days and then 7 days, in line with the COVID-19 situation in visitors’ home countries to
the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) in the next week.
Koh Samui in Surat Thani, Phuket, Buri Ram and Chon Buri have been chosen as
alternative local state quarantine centres for long-staying foreign tourists.
There are altogether 84 alternative state quarantine locations, 12 alternative local
state quarantine facilities plus alternative hospital quarantines to accommodate
foreign tourists.
A majority of Thais do not agree with a government plan to reopen Thailand's
borders to foreign tourists, a survey showed, as the nation prepared to receive its
first group of visitors in almost seven months.
About 57 per cent of respondents were concerned that the reopening would
increase the risks of coronavirus infections and disagreed with the plan,
according to the poll conducted by the Bangkok-based National Institute of
Development Administration.
The survey of about 1,300 people also found that 62 per cent were not confident
that the government can avoid a re-emergence of Covid-19 once the country
reopens to holidaymakers.
Another hotel is set to close down in times of the COVID-19 outbreak. Sripattana Hotel,
a well-known hotel in Nakhon Ratchasima that operated more than 50 years, was forced
to close down temporarily.
Sripattana Hotel is a 3.5 star hotel with 183 rooms. The hotel was founded by Gen
Kris Srivara, a former army chief and former defence minister, and started
operations in 2008.
The hotel was then acquired by Ratpratheep Keeratiurai, a founder of the Nakhon
Ratchasima Chamber of Commerce, in 2011.
Shares of SET-listed Taokaenoi Food & Marketing Plc (TKN), the maker of Tao Kae Noi
seaweed snacks, saw its shares rise by 26 per cent with heavy trading volumes in the
afternoon trading session yesterday (October 7) on news that “Pepsi” Group is planning
to acquire TKN shares to form a business alliance with TKN.
The news drove TKN shares to rise on bargain-hunting. TKN shares jumped to
the highest level at 12.80 baht before closing at 12.60 baht, up 2.60 baht or 26
per cent, in trade worth more than 2.432 billion baht, the single highest day
surge in the stock price in nearly 12 years.
TKN executives came out to dismiss the report.
Koosoon Rattanaporn, TKN’s Chief Financial Officer, denied that the company
has made any deal with Pepsi and said he had no idea why TKN share prices
shot up yesterday.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand has already put TKN on Cash Balance list,
which means that the active trading of the shares are likely to be only for
clients who have the cash and those trading on margins will not be able to trade
the shares.
5-years performance of TKN shares
The Finance Ministry came out to defend Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan’s Facebook
criticism that the government failed to provide ample assistance for small and medium-
sized enterprises (SMEs) by pointing to various measures to support struggling firms.
Sudarat, a veteran politician known for her affiliation with the defunct Thai Rak
Thai Party and a former Pheu Thai Party chief strategist, posted on her Facebook
page, urging the government to respond to the plight of SMEs, saying that they
are at risk of shutting down because of low liquidity and weak consumer
spending.
Sudarat called for the government to proceed with debt restructuring, reduce loan
guarantee conditions for SMEs, expand the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation’s
(TCG) credit guarantee for SMEs to 50-75 per cent and establish an SME fund
managed by the private sector.
In response, the Ministry said it already provided a 6-month suspension of
repayment of principal and interest for firms whose credit limit does not exceed
100 million baht as of December 31, 2019 and some 57 billion baht worth of loan
guarantees provided by Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) for SMEs
qualifying under the central bank’s soft loan scheme.
Political News
The fate of 64 parliamentarians facing eligibility reviews by the Constitutional Court over
media-shareholding cases hangs in balance as the Court is set to rule in the cases by
October 28.
The court announced yesterday (October 7) that it will rule by October 28
whether 32 MPs from the opposition parties and 32 MPs from the ruling coalition
are guilty of breaching the charter’s rule on holding shares in media firms.
Of the 32 MPs from the ruling coalition, 21 are from the Phalang Pracharat Party
(PPRP) and 8 from the Democrat Party.
Of the 32 MPs from the opposition, 20 are from the Move Forward Party and 4
from the Pheu Thai Party.
On protest news, there are reports that residents of red-shirt villages have announced
stance against the upcoming anti-government rally scheduled for October 14.
The planned major rally led by pro-democracy students would not receive support
from red shirt villages in 20 northeast provinces as the red shirt villages uphold
the democratic system and the monarchy, announced Anon Saennan, secretary of
the Udon Thani red-shirt movement and former president of red shirt villages in
20 provinces in the northeast.
Anon declared the group’s stance against anti-monarchy movement and its
principle to defend the Monarchy. He said his group has never planned to join the
protest planned for October 14.
Meanwhile, the “Thammasat Phitaktham Group” comprising around 100 former
students demanded student activists to stop carrying out its anti-monarchy
movement under the University’s name.
The group will hold a press conference tomorrow (October 9) at Ibis Styles
Bangkok Khaosan Viengtai and submit a letter to the University Rector at 14.00
hrs.
Speaking while joining the 12th
anniversary of the police crackdown on yellow-
shirt People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters in front of parliament on
Oct 7, 2008, Pichai Rattanadilok Na Phuket, a political science lecturer at the
National Institute of Development Administration (Nida), said he did not believe
that the planned student-led rally on October 14 will be a prolonged one because
younger-generation protesters are not as tough as PAD or United front for
Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) supporters.
Pichai warned that the student-led rally is likely to escalate but said thatd the
scope of the rally will expand larger than previous ones if senators decide to vote
against charter amendments. He predicted that the government’s failure to keep its
pledge for charter amendments will provoke the Democrat and Bhumjai Thai
parties to withdraw from the coalition, causing the government’s stability to
weaken.
The Constitutional Court was criticised by opposition party members for ruling in favour
of embattled Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The Charter Court ruled unanimously against the Lower House’s and the Senate’s
procedures to issue summonses. The court said the summonses issued by both
Houses violated the constitution.
The Court’s ruling was a result of the Office of the Ombudsman’s request for it to
ask the Court to rule whether recent summonses issued by the Sereepisuth
Temeeyaves led House committee on corruption violated the charter. The
summonses in question were issued for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. The
House committee on corruption pressed Gen Prayut to clarify why he failed to
complete reciting the oath of office in July and issues regarding the 2020 budget.
The Court said the summonses violated Section 129 of charter relating to Lower
House and Senate procedures allowing it to do so.
Following the court’s decision, Kao Klai (Mover Forward) Party list MP
Rangsiman Rome came out to criticise the court’s ruling. Rangsiman said the
ruling had made the House be only a “paper tiger”.
The Move Forward MP went on to complain that the ruling is not in favour of the
Lower House because House committees have been granted little power under the
present constitution to carry out their duties.
The eager moves of political groups to register new parties were seen amid uncertainty
over the opposition camp’s charter amendments and a lack of clarity over the call for a
new constitutional drafting committee (CDC) to be set up to pave the way for charter
amendments and changes to the current single-ballot system of elections specified by the
current charter.
Among these is Panatchakorn Tulanont who plans to register a new party called
“Ruam Thai Sang Chart” (Gather Thai Build Nation) Party. It is noted that the
group may have links with some groups of politicians who have left the Phalang
Pracharat Party.
Another party is expected to be formed is called the “Pheu Prachachon” (For the
People) Party with a party meeting set to be held at 10.09 hrs on October 9 to
select the party leader and executive committee. Reports have come out that
Preecha Rengsomboonsuk, former environment minister under the Pheu Thai
government and former Loei MP, will be invited to head the party; former Thai
Rak Thai MP for Roi Et Ekkapap Pholsue is tipped to become party secretary-
general.
The party focuses on campaigning in the upper eastern region. It will be
interesting to see this party’s policy direction.
Meanwhile, the Phalang Pracharat Party (PPRP), the core of the coalition government, is
gearing up for local elections. The party is planning to hold a party meeting at 16.00 hrs
today (October 8) at Amari Watergate Hotel to discuss plan to field candidates
nationwide in coming local elections.
Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan as PPRP leader will hold talks
with heads of the 10 regions along with key members like Santi Promphat and the
party’s deputy leader Thammanat Prompao to lay out a strategy to recruit
candidates.
Gen Prawit came out to say that the party’s readiness for local elections is out of
question because the PPRP is confident in its ability to contest local polls.
However, when asked about how many seats the PPRP expects to win in local
polls, Gen Prawit refused to talk about any expectations and said he is not sure if
the party will field candidates to run in all provinces.
Meanwhile, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, a member of the House committee
studying the amendment motions, came out to say that local elections, expected to
be around the end of the year, may be put off if a referendum on charter changes
is to be conducted at the same time.
Chaiwut warned that a referendum could present a complication for nationwide
local elections to be held for the first time since the May 2014 coup.
Deputy Interior Minister Niphon Bunyamaneewas has been found guilty by the National
Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for his refusal to pay Ponlavit Tech Plus Co 50.8
million baht for repairing 2 multi-purpose vehicles belonging to Songkhla provincial
administrative organisation (PAO) when serving as its president in 2013.
He was found guilty by the anti-graft body under Section 157 of the Criminal
Code, and abused his power under the Anti-Corruption Act, raising the possibility
that he will be forced to halt his duties as a deputy interior minister.
The troubled minister was adamant that there was price collusion in the bidding
process that prevented him from following the contract with the private company.
The NACC’s probe team, however, did not find any evidence of price collusion,
as alleged, and found Niphon to be in violation of Section 157 of the Criminal
Code, according to NACC spokesman Niwatchai Kasemmongkol who told the
media during a news conference yesterday.
The NACC’s findings will be submitted to the Office of the Attorney-General,
who will consider taking the case to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for
Holders of Political Posts.
General News
Thailand confirmed 15 new COVID-19 cases, all quarantined arrivals from Bangladesh,
Hong Kong, India, Myanmar, South Sudan and the United States. The new infections
raised the total to 3,615, with total deaths remaining at 59, according to the Centre for
Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) plans to re-investigate the police's
mishandling of the 2012 hit-and-run case involving Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya after
receiving a copy of an independent committee's report.
The public prosecutors' decision to drop criminal charges against Mr Vorayuth
was blamed mainly on a botched police investigation and the report submitted to
them by officers.
Niwatchai Kasemmongkol, deputy secretary-general of the NACC, confirmed on
Wednesday that he had received a copy of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption
Commission's report and the NACC would compare the new report's findings
with its own plus the accounts of several police officers involved in the high-
profile case.
Police on Wednesday uncovered new links between Suriya Saengphong, director of the
Zoological Park Organisation of Thailand (ZPOT), and his killer Puwadol Suwanna, a
senior veterinarian and head of conservation, research and animal health division at
Songkhla Zoo.
Suriya, who was at the zoo investigating the case of two missing rare albino
barking deer, was shot down on Saturday, and Puwadol was found dead shortly
after in his home on the zoo’s premises. Police said the connection between the
two men can be traced back to September 5, 2018, when Puwadol among those
who accused Suriya of corruption.
Suriya was accused over 21 issues, including building an ocean park without
considering animal welfare and the disappearance of animals from Khao Kheow
Zoo when it was under Suriya’s jurisdiction.
He was also accused of arranging deals that benefited the company he owned
secretly, and attacking wildlife organisations that did not take his side.
Police also said Suriya had ordered some zoos to stop producing animal feed and
arranged for it to be bought from his friends.
On the global front
A week into US President Donald Trump’s COVID infection the US President is
back to normal and has come out to say that the medication he was administered
would now be widely made available to everyone in the United States.
He also added that it was ‘a China virus’ and that ‘China would pay a price for
this move’
VDO link to the recently released statement by Trump