|
Oil prices nudge down industrial confidence
The Thai Industries Sentiment Index (TISI) fell below 100
points for the first time in seven months in February amid fears that rising
diesel prices could play havoc with manufacturing and transportation costs,
according to figures released last month by the Federation of Thai
Industries (FTI).
The figures announced by the FTI’s vice president,
Santi Vilassakdanont, show that the TISI for February stood at 96.9 points -
the lowest in two years - down from 104.8 points in January.
“When we conducted the survey in February, the
government had just raised diesel prices on 22 February by 0.60 baht per
liter, the first rise after subsidizing the price of diesel for a year and
two months,” Santi said.
Warning that the latest 3 bat per liter rise in the
diesel prices last week could cause a further slump in the TISI, Santi
pointed to widespread disaffection among most industrial groupings.
The February index shows that confidence fell in 27 out
of 33 industrial groupings, six more groupings than in January. Of these 27,
15 showed a marked decline, including the glass industry, the chemical
industry, machinery and metals, automobile components, electrical goods and
electronics and petrochemicals. However, this was offset by notable
increases in confidence in the air conditioning sector and the waste
management sector.
Four out of five of the indices used to calculate the
TISI fell in February, including the orders index, the sales index, the
production volume index and the net profits index. Interestingly, however,
the costs index rose from 47.2 points to 50.2 points despite the higher
diesel costs.
Industrialists appear to be concerned about the rising
cost of raw materials, transportation, and public utilities, while pinning
their hopes on the stable borrowing rate to help boost consumer spending.
They have also indicated that the government should
closely supervise fuel prices to ensure that they remain at a level
conducive to industrial growth, and that all fuel price rises should be
considered thoroughly from every angle.
At the same time, they have called on the government to
ensure the stability of the Thai currency to help boost Thailand’s global
competitiveness. (TNA)
Thai economy to peak
in next 4 years, says economist
The Thai economy will peak in the next four years and
will then begin to enter a downward cycle in which the next premier will
experience difficulties administering the country, according to a leading
economist.
Delivering a key-note speech on “ Overall Picture of
Thai Economy in 2005,” Veerapong Ramangkul, executive chairman of Advances
Agro Plc, projected the country’s economy will grow around 7% this year,
higher than forecast by the government.
He said the economic growth will be boosted by the state
investment in developing basic infrastructure such as water, power, and mass
transit system.
At the same time, private investment will increase this
year following a slowdown in the investment last year due to the southern
unrest, bird flu outbreak, upward interest trend, oil price hike, and impact
from tsunami disaster.
“The projected economic growth of 7% is likely to
slightly decline. But it won’t definitely be higher than expected because
there are many risk factors, particularly the violence in the three
southernmost provinces. The government needs to contain the violence to
ensure it won’t spill into other key cities such as Phuket and Bangkok.
Equally important, it must try not to blow the situation into an
international problem. ”Veerapong said.
Veerapong said the oil price hike and upward interest
trend also pose a grave threat to the economic growth. He believes fuel
prices will definitely increase this year. But the volatility will not be
higher than that of last year.
He projected oil prices in the United States market would
surge to around US$80 per barrel and crude prices in Dubai would reach
$45-50 per barrel. He said local interest rates will edge up late this year
because the Bank of Thailand had purchased more dollars to maintain the
stability of baht.
He suggested the government attempt to narrow interest
margins of the US and Thailand to no more 25 basis points from the current
50 basis points.
“It is difficult to forecast the economic direction in
the next 4-5 years. But in the economics theory, the economy will be in the
upward cycle for 6 years and downward cycle for 6 years. For Thailand, the
economy has been in the growth cycle for 2 years. It will continue in 4
years ahead and will then enter the downward cycle. It is likely the economy
will peak in the next general election. So, whoever succeeds Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra will be in difficulties,” he said. (TNA)
Export-import sector
in 10-15% transport cost hike
The Association of Export-Import Transporters recently
threatened to derail Thailand’s thriving export sector by raising
transportation costs by 10-15 percent, citing the government’s recent 3
baht per liter rise in the price of diesel.
The move, announced by the association’s president
Thongyu Khongkhan, comes amid fears among transport operators that they will
find themselves unable to bear the burden of soaring fuel costs.
Thongyu, who noted that fuel costs for the
association’s members had risen by as much as 24.5 percent as a result of
the government’s move. He said new prices would come into force from April
onwards. However, he confirmed that the association would continue to bear
the burden of other costs that had risen recently, including administrative
costs. At the same time, he promised that any further rises in
transportation costs will be made on a quarterly basis, rather than
immediately after government fuel price rise announcements.
The association currently has 79 members who operate
8,000 container trucks and another 12,000 articulated trucks.
Each year, the association’s members are responsible
for transporting around 60-70 percent of Thailand’s exports. (TNA)
Farmers’ debts to be suspended
A Thai government committee overseeing the farmers’
rehabilitation fund plans to negotiate a debt moratorium between farmers and
their creditors, Deputy Prime Minister Pinij Jarusombat revealed.
The scheme, initiated by Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, aims to ease the financial burdens of around 250,000 farmer
households throughout the country. They owe 110 billion baht to financial
institutes and agricultural cooperatives.
The month of April is when auctions of the assets of more
than 10,000 indebted farmers, worth around 700 million baht, were earlier
scheduled.
The committee, chaired by Pinit, will then manage the
debt-restructuring plan to help the farmers repay their loans.
PTT to issue new
dollar-term debentures
PTT Public Company Limited is to issue and offer
dollar-denominated debentures in an amount of US$600 for sale to foreign
investors so it could use the proceeds to refinance and reschedule existing
debentures.
Pichai Choonhavajira, the company’s senior executive
vice president, said the existing debentures issued by PTT had a maturity of
six and a half year on average while the new debentures would mature in the
next 7-10 years. An interest rate of the existing debentures averages 6%
while that of the new ones stays at around 5.5%.
On a progress in the merger of National Petrochemical Plc
and Thai Olefins Plc, which are subsidiaries of PTT, he said the process
would not complete within this April because it needed to take time given
the sizable business value of the two giant firms.
He projected the amalgamation of NPC and TOC would be
slower than that of Petroleum Refining Co and Rayong Refinery Co, another
subsidiary of PTT. (TNA)
Economic figures continue
to improve in February
Economic figures in February continue to improve with
employment in the non-agricultural sector increasing by more than 500,000,
according to the Fiscal Policy Office. Naris Chaiyasutr, director-general of
FPO, said the economic conditions in February continued to be favorable with
the new employment rising by 504,000 or 1.5% per annum.
Employment in the non-agricultural sector increased by
3.1%, particularly in the industry, construction, and trade segments, while
that in the agricultural sector reduced by 1.7% due to the drought.
Unemployment declined to 2.3% compared with 3.3% in January, reflecting the
country’s economic sector is in greater need of labor.
The capacity utilization in the industrial sector stood
at 71.2% close to that of the previous month and the industrial output
increased by 3.9% annually.
Industries that expanded considerably include textile,
automobile, electronics, and building material.
The value-added tax collected in February increased by
33.3% compared with 7.3% in January, indicating that the economy continued
to grow satisfactorily, particularly in the Lunar New Year period when
Chinese descendants spent a lot.
He said the hotel business had improved since the tsunami
disaster late last year. In January, the employment reduced by 3%, but
turned to rise by 1.3% in February.
Still, tourist arrivals continued to decline by 0.6% to
650,000 compared with a drop by 18.8% of the previous month. The hotel
occupancy in January remained stable at 65.4%. (TNA)
Government gets tough on alms
The government has pledged to get tough on the alms
trade, warning traders who sell dirty or rotten food to members of the
public wishing to donate it to monks that they could face prison sentences
of up to two years.
The move follows a request to the FDA from the Bureau of
National Buddhism for FDA officials to inspect ready-prepared food sold in
areas near to where monks make their morning alms rounds, as many monks have
apparently complained of being offered food that is dirty or has been left
to stand overnight.
FDA Secretary-General Pakdee Pothisiri said that the FDA
is now sending out mobile inspection units to morning markets across the
country, and was asking provincial public health officials to conduct
stringent inspections of the food being sold.
But he warned market traders who sold dirty or bad food
that they were not only committing a sin, but also facing criminal charges,
with custodial sentences of up to two years and fines of up to 20,000 baht.
(TNA)
SCG to make major change in management team
The Siam Cement Group (SCG) plans to make a major change
in its management team, aimed at giving executives of new generation an
opportunity to steer the group toward the future of stability.
Abhiporn Pasawat, President of Cement Thai Chemical
Product Co, an SCG affiliate, disclosed that many top executives of the
group had enrolled in the mutual separation program (MSP) to allow the
new-generation executives to manage the business to ensure steady
performance of the group in the future.
Among the participating executives are Chumpol Na
Lamliang and Abhiporn, himself, effective on January 1, 2006, as well as
Dusit Nonthanakorn, president of Cement Thai Product Co, Apivuth
Wongphuttapitak, president of Cement Thai Property 2001 Co, and Chalalux
Boonnak, president of Cement Thai Holding Co, effective on July 1, 2005.
Somboon Chatchaval, President of Siam Pulp and Paper Co,
did not join the MSP because he was due to retire late this year.
“Although many top executives participate in the
voluntary early retirement program, the business management of the group
won’t be affected because the strong foundation has already been laid.
With the well-established working culture, the new-generation executives
aged 45 or more can perform to forge ahead our business steadily,”
Abhiporn said. (TNA)
Cash injection to halt
labor migration
The northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani has
announced a series of plans aimed at halting the migration of labor during
the current drought season.
Noting that the severe drought conditions were likely to
force farmers off the land, provincial governor Jirasak Kesaniyabutr said
that the province had laid down plans to prevent labor migration, with
measures ranging from financial support to housewives making silk and the
provision of tuition in dressmaking and other professions.
The province is also working to hire the elderly and
poor, who would be paid the local minimum wage, he said.
Tens of thousands of workers have migrated to Bangkok,
particularly from the largely agricultural northeast, to beat this year’s
drought. (TNA)
Online tax payments nearly double
Government efforts to encourage the public to file tax
forms via the internet have been hugely successful, with the number of
people posting their forms online nearly doubling over the past year.
Figures released by the Revenue Department today show
that 3.9 million people filed their tax forms via the Internet last year, up
from only 2 million the previous year. The department attributes this
increase to the ease of online applications.
Last year also saw over 2 million people file for tax
returns, up from 1.4 million the previous year, due to a change in
government tax regulations. (TNA)
7 Eleven agrees
to halt sales of sex aids
Last month Thailand’s convenience store chain 7 Eleven
bowed to pressure from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and agreed to
halt sales of sex aids, but was warned that it could, nonetheless, face
tough legal action.
The convenience store was brought to the attention of the
FDA for illegally selling a range of products, including herbal medicines,
claiming to act as slimming aids, food supplements, medical equipment, and
cosmetics, including a gel claimed to cure erectile dysfunction.
FDA Secretary-General Prof. Pakdee Pothisiri warned that
the multiple nature of the offences could see 7 Eleven come in for hefty
fines and custodial sentences. “We can’t at present say what the
penalties will be, as officials first have to first reach a conclusion,”
he said.
Mr. Suwit Kingkaeow, deputy managing director of 7
Eleven, confessed to all the charges against the company and promised that
the 7 Eleven would immediately cease retailing all the offending products.
(TNA)
SET raises target number of newly
listed firms to 100 this year
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has increased the
target number of newly listed companies to 100 this year upon finding many
companies have applied for share offering to mobilize fund for business
expansion.
The SET’s president Kittirat Na Ranong disclosed the
target number of companies to be listed this year was raised to 100 from 90
since there are more companies wanting to distribute shares on the bourse
than expected. He said the number excluded Thai Beverage Plc, producer of
Chang-brand beers, and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.
Kittirat said the structure of the capital market has significantly changed
in the past four years.
The market capitalization has risen from 1.1 trillion
baht to 4.6 trillion at present since the country’s economic conditions
improved and many companies realized the importance of funding through the
capital market. At the same time, the daily trading value increased to
around 20 billion baht from less than 10 billion.
He said the investor category proportion had also changed
to a more stable direction as the portion of foreign investors had increased
to 27% at current from 19% in 2001. It showed more foreign investors have
confidence in the Thai bourse.
Simultaneously, the portion of institutional investors
had risen to 10% from 4% as the small investor base doubled to 400,000
accounts.
Kittirat conceded the country’s economy and the bourse
remained engulfed with negative factors such as the oil price hike and the
upward interest trend. Personally, he believes, local lending rates will not
considerably increase while deposit rates will stay low for a while because
competition in the banking sector is still high. (TNA)
Royal Cliff appoints Trevor McCartney to director of sales at PEACH
Panga Vathanakul, managing director of the Royal Cliff
Beach Resort, recently announced the appointment of Trevor McCartney as the
director of international sales & operations, PEACH. McCartney will be
responsible for global sales of meetings, incentives, conferences and
exhibitions for the Royal Cliff Beach Resort as well as management and
operations of the largest convention centre in Pattaya - PEACH (Pattaya
Exhibition and Convention Hall).
 Trevor
McCartney
Originally from the United Kingdom, McCartney brings with
him extensive industry experience. Prior to his appointment McCartney was
employed as sales and marketing consultant with the NEC Group, Birmingham,
where he worked on projects as diverse as the National Exhibition and
Conference Centre, Kuala Lumpur, AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong and Wales
Millennium Centre, Cardiff.
Previously, McCartney worked as sales & marketing director for the
Edinburgh International Conference Centre and marketing director at “Our
Dynamic Earth”, a major Millennium project for an educational visitor
attraction in Edinburgh.
Vineyard to be promoted at fair as part of nature tourism
Suchada Tupchai
Silverlake Vineyard and Golden Ax Promotion Co Ltd are
proposing using the 1st Pattaya-Jomtien International Beach – Pattaya
Motor Show & Country Fair 2005 event to promote new nature tourism
activities.
Iti
Puknilratana, president of Golden Ax Promotion Co Ltd, introduced the 1st
Pattaya-Jomtien International Beach – Pattaya Motor Show & Country
Fair 2005, which runs until April 17.
Iti Puknilratana, president of Golden Ax Promotion, spoke
to Pattaya City representatives, led by council member Sanit Boonmachai,
about promoting Silverlake Vineyard as a tourism destination in cooperation
with Pattaya City and the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The vineyard is
near Khao Cheechan. The schedule is set for April 13-17, one of the peak
tourist periods. Many visitors come to Pattaya for the Songkran period.
Iti said that this is a good opportunity to introduce a
new and natural tourism attraction such as Silverlake. Until now, only
casual visitors have been to the vineyard, and it is still largely unknown.
For the five days of the festival there will be many
activities. Opening day was on April 14 and was highlighted by a parade of
cars under the campaign slogan “No driving when drunk.” Other days will
include activities such as a show with cars and car audio equipment, jet
skis, water sports equipment, a small airplane, a glider, and many booths.
Family activities at the fair include flower arranging,
handicrafts, riding bicycles, live music, dancing to country music, a wine
and beer corner, and food stalls. The fair is open from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
every day. Entry is free.
For further information about visiting please contact 06-3376593,
06-7781224, 09-9683073 or the TAT Internal Information Department at tel.
0-2250-5500 ext 1555-1563.
|
