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Thailand hopes to explore natural gas in overlapping zone
Thailand needs to urgently negotiate with Cambodia to exploit oil and gas
reserves affected by the disputed maritime boundary, or overlapping claims
area (OCA), given its increasing domestic energy consumption, according to a
senior Energy Ministry official.
Songpope Polachan, director general of the Mineral Fuels Department, said
natural gas in the Gulf of Thailand will be exhausted in the next five years
and additional supply is necessary to cope with the rocketing consumption.
The Foreign Ministry is duty-bound to negotiate with Cambodia on the OCA,
covering 26,000 sq km, to launch exploration and production of natural gas
in the area for the benefit of both countries, he said.
He said Thailand’s production of natural gas has reached its peak of
3,600-3,800 million cu ft/day while the total domestic demand is 4,800
million cu ft/day.
The Mineral Fuels Department predicted that Thailand will be able to
maintain the highest production level for the next five years, he said,
adding that the department looks forward to extending the highest production
level to 10 years by investing in exploration of smaller-scale gas reserve
sites.
Production will be reduced to 1,000 million cu ft/day in the next 20-30
years, he said.
Songpope insisted that the OCA negotiation is unrelated to the
Thai-Cambodian dispute on Preah Vihear temple which is pending a ruling of
the International Court of Justice.
The OCA issue, in which both countries claim rights within the disputed
boundary, is under maritime law while the Preah Vihear conflict is under the
Siamese-French treaty, he explained.
“We are waiting for the Foreign Ministry’s negotiation on the OCA after
which the issue will be tabled to the cabinet and parliament as required by
Section 190 of the constitution,” he said.
If an agreement is reached, it will take at least 10 years before natural
gas can be supplied, he said, adding that Thailand’s demand for natural gas
has increased at least 5 percent each year, mainly for electricity
generating (62.6 percent), industrial consumption (17.7 percent), vehicles
(5.2 percent) and gas separation plants (13.9 percent).
The Energy Ministry, he added, is negotiating for gas reserves from
neighboring countries including Myanmar. (MCOT)
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2013 Money Expo Pattaya
to be held at PEACH
The 2013 Money Expo Pattaya, the 3rd time the event will be held, this year
with the theme “Unlimited Future” is to be held at the Pattaya Exhibition
And Convention Hall (PEACH) from February 15-17.
Over 3,000 sq.m. of PEACH floor space will be utilized as a market channel
for finance and investment among commercial banks, financial institutions,
franchisers, entrepreneurs, SMEs and interested members of the public.
Moreover, it will offer an opportunity for citizens or entrepreneurs who are
living in Pattaya City, Chonburi, Rayong, Chachoengsao and Chantaburi to get
quality financial and investment service and advice.
During this 3-day event, there will be 37 well-known commercial banks,
financial institutions, security firms, gold companies and gold futures
traders available to provide every type of lending and investment service.
Furthermore, they will offer counsel and may even arrange special conditions
for customers such as 0% interest (within 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months),
long-term payment or low principle payment terms.
As usual, entertainment will be provided by quality artists and super stars.
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Pattaya workers applaud higher salaries with eye on economic storm clouds
Thai workers working hard to build projects in
Wong Amat, Naklua: their income depends on the contractors, who pay
professional technicians above 300 baht.
Vittaya Yoondorn
The majority of Pattaya’s businesses are complying with the nation’s
newly raised minimum wage, but an increasing number of layoffs and factory
closures loom like worrying storm clouds on the horizon.
Most gas station, hotel and construction employees surveyed Jan. 5 say
they’ve already been given raises to 300 baht per day, the second salary
increase to boost minimum-wage workers in Chonburi and six other provinces
since April. The Jan. 1 increase this time also applied to the kingdom’s 70
other states, standardizing wages nationwide.
One worker at PTT Co.’s Jiffy service station in North Pattaya said he
already has seen his pay rise, but acknowledged not all companies will be
able to handle the added expense. Thai companies facing higher production
costs can succeed, he said, by better training workers and improving their
skill level.
Some employers, however, say the solution to paying workers more simply is
to replace them with technology or migrant workers.
In Ranong, 32 companies are planning to import machinery to replace people.
While the capital expenditure for the equipment is high, the long-term cost
is lower than paying workers the new wage rate, the head of the province’s
Federation of Thai Industries told the media.
Elsewhere, companies have begun importing Cambodian workers. More than 150
Khmer laborers with work permits crossed the border in Srakaew last week
headed for guaranteed Thai factory jobs. While they must too be paid 300
baht per day, employers can deduct the cost of accommodations and utilities
from their pay.
In all, 5-10 percent of Thailand’s labor-intensive businesses will close in
the next three months due to higher wage expenses, national Federation of
Thai Industries Vice Chairman Taweekit Chaturacharoenkhun predicted to the
media. Some textile, agricultural and service businesses are already
relocating to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, while others are cutting work days
to survive.
Pattaya hotels, some with hundreds of workers, are again feeling the pinch
of higher labor costs, after raising wages 40 percent to 273 baht in April.
Most, however, can escape paying the full 300 baht flat salary by offering
minimum wages of 6,500-7,000 baht per month, supplemented with tips that
take salaries to up to 10,000 baht per month.
The wage increase is also the hot issue in the many construction camps in
Wong Amat. Workers said day laborers are still being paid 280-290 baht per
day - although those wages may be affected by accommodations deductions -
but professionals are earning as much as 380 baht per day already.
One job foreman acknowledged that Thailand’s promise to pay even legal
migrant workers 300 baht per day may make the kingdom even more attractive
than working in Cambodia, where the minimum wage is a third of Thailand’s.
Thai politicians know that all too well. So, the same time as they raised
migrant workers’ wages, they imposed a deadline for illegal foreign workers
to register for a new “national verification” program designed to pursue
legal status. International civil rights advocates claim the kingdom is now
set to forcibly deport 1 million migrant workers, partly to create demand
for Thai workers.
Of course, not all Pattaya companies are adhering to the new rules. The
city’s hundreds of bars and go-go clubs are using loopholes - both genuine
and contrived - to keep their mostly female workforce on a pay system that
has existed since Pattaya serviced the rest-and-recreation needs of Vietnam
War soldiers.
One Walking Street beer bar owner said he isn’t subject to minimum wage
rules because he pays employees monthly based on a combination of flat
wages, drink and “entertainment” quotas and punitive measures to eat away at
salaries throughout the month.
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