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Government spokesman
to be responsible for misinformation to media
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced that he would
hold newly-appointed government spokesman Dr. Surapong Suebwonglee
responsible for any misinformation provided to the media, following an
erroneous news report about cracks in the runways of Bangkok’s new
international airport, the Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The premier said he had instructed the government
spokesman, who had been in his cabinet for the last four years, to
coordinate with members of the media so that all information be presented
accurately and clearly, otherwise Dr. Surapong, himself, would be held
responsible.
Thaksin said the media were to be blamed for having run
the distorted story about the Suvarnabhumi Airport’s runways only to
gravely damage the reputation of the country.
Without close coordination between the government
spokesman and the media, certain members of the press could possibly turn
facts into fiction, the premier commented.
For instance, Thaksin said, the fabricated news report in
an English-language newspaper that a US engineer had quietly checked the
cracked runways had damaged Thailand’s reputation in the eyes of the world
community. Some people might choose not to visit Thailand due to concerns
based on such a false report.
The media often races against time to present news to the
public, and at times, the premier said, the media may forget to double check
information for accuracy.
For this reason, he said, it is the duty of the
government spokesman to see that only truthful, accurate information is
provided.
Deputy Transport Minister Gen. Chainant Charoensiri has
confirmed that the cracks detected at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport, now
under construction, are not on runway surfaces, but on the slope and do not
compromise airport safety standards. (TNA)
PM seeks to manufacture MIT-inspired notebook for young Thais
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has asked three
government ministries to assess developing and manufacturing in Thailand a
notebook computer similar to a prototype developed by the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.
Government Spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee said the prime
minister’s initiative emerged from talks he had with MIT scholar Nicholas
Negroponte regarding a light and durable notebook prototype developed by
MIT.
He later assigned the ministries of Education, Science
and Technology and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to study
whether the MIT innovation can be produced here in Thailand.
The prime minister wants, if possible, 500,000 such
notebooks to be manufactured and distributed to primary and secondary school
students across Thailand.
Given that each computer costs 4,000 baht, the project
would require a budget of 3.3 billion baht per year.
In addition to the hardware, the government also intends
to develop software and e-books for downloading to promote learning in
Thailand, said Dr. Surapong. (TNA)
Govt extends 7% VAT for two more years
As the Thai economy becomes more sluggish, the cabinet
last week acted to defer the rise of Value-Added Tax (VAT) for another two
years.
Government Spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee said the
cabinet approved a draft executive decree to retain VAT at the current 7
percent until September 30, 2007.
The government was due to increase VAT to 10 percent on
October 1 this year, according to an earlier executive decree, as the
current 7 percent VAT was due to expire at the end of next month.
However, according to the new decree, VAT will stay at 7
percent, not rising to 9 percent until October 1, 2007.
Dr. Surapong said the cabinet’s decision stemmed from a
government move to encourage more spending by the private sector, which is
crucial for the country’s economic recovery. (TNA)
Local communities await boost from enterprise fund
Narisa Nitikarn
Central government strategy is aimed at improving
economic opportunities for citizens beginning from the moo ban, or village,
level. Last week city hall held a brainstorming session with representatives
from the region’s 27 communities. The session was aimed at developing
community-based enterprises at the small, medium and large (SML) levels.
 Mayor
Niran Wattanasartsathorn chaired discussions on the local implementation of
the government’s SML project aimed at boosting income opportunities at a
community-based level.
Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn, who chaired the session,
told attendees that the central government had quantified the amount of
loans applicable for such enterprises according to the number of residents
in each community. “There are three levels for varying sizes of
communities: 1. Communities with up to 500 residents can apply for loans of
up to 200,000 baht, 2. Communities with 201-1000 residents can apply for
loans of up to 250,000 baht, and 3. Communities with over 1001 residents can
apply for loans of up to 300,000 baht.
“It doesn’t matter if all residents are not involved
in the project. What is important is the business plan submitted by the
community,” explained Niran. The mayor added that the project is aimed at
improving income opportunities for community-based businesses. Chawalit
Saeng-utai, Banglamung senior clerk, added that the SML projects needed to
proceed within the next four years, with an annual follow-up report to be
given by community leaders as to the benefits of the project.
“Money will not be handed out to one single person, but to the entire
community based on individual allowances needed to begin respective
businesses. Volunteers from Burapha University have also been assigned to
observe each business project and offer advice where needed,” said
Chawalit.
Existing services are not enough
to cope with rising tide of garbage,
say researchers
Narisa Nitikarn
Disturbing implications for Pattaya’s environment and
the quality of life in the city emerged at a city hall meeting chaired by
Deputy Municipal Clerk Apichart Puetphan and attended by academics and
researchers who have been studying the ongoing environmental research
project.
 Apichart
Puetphan, deputy municipal clerk chaired a meeting with academics and
researchers at city hall concerning the ongoing environmental research
project in the city.
Environmental researcher Khampol Nantpong presented the
current status of the project, which began May 31 and concludes on September
27 this year.
“We have studied all the data and our initial findings
show that because of the increasing number of people in Pattaya, the problem
of waste and garbage appears to be the most critical aspect for the
environment,” said Khampol.
“Figures show that residents currently produce an
average of 0.82 kilograms of waste per day. That’s more than the national
average. This is without taking into account those not registered as living
in Pattaya; that is to say, an additional 300,000 people. “Taking this
into account, the average comes down to 0.68 kilograms per person. However,
while this may be encouraging, there are still large numbers of people and
tourists who discard their rubbish on the ground and in public facilities,
resulting in unsightly areas and foul smells. This has the potential to
damage the city’s tourism trade.”
Khampol added that despite the city and the East Waste
Management Co. collecting garbage twice a day, it is still not enough to
deal with increasing amounts.
Researchers said that once the data has been completely
gathered and tabulated, a number of solutions would be presented at a later
meeting. Officials also raised the topic of cooperation from 109 local
businesses and the lack of cooperation from the general public.
Sunai Leetranont, public health promotion and environment
services supervisor said that these results are less than satisfactory.
“If only 109 businesses are cooperating, that is very little. What I want
to know is whether the research project will be able to give a final
analysis on the average waste generated by each person on a daily basis. We
may need to look at other companies to cope with garbage, specifically
during the high season.”
Researchers agreed that the information they provided was
not complete, adding that the budget and time restrictions concerning the
project were restrictive, but promised to provide full details in future
progress reports.
Wannaporn Jaemjamrat, Pattaya Public Health, Hygiene and Environment
Department director suggested, “To help gather more data, look to the 30
schools in Pattaya and the larger construction sites. You’ll find a great
deal of information on certain groups to start with.”
PM confident Thai economy
will pick up in 4th quarter
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra voiced confidence that
the Thai economy will pick up in the fourth quarter of this year since
speculation on the value of the Thai baht and prices of fuel and other
products have eased.
He said he had confidence in Deputy Prime Minister and
Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak’s ability to oversee the oil price
surge and ease the country’s trade deficit.
He conceded that local businessmen rushed to import
products so that they could stock large amounts on the belief that the Thai
currency would strengthen.
The Thai baht had previously depreciated uninterruptedly,
causing local businessmen to speculate by stocking products such as fuel in
large quantities.
He believes the situation has now eased because
businessmen no longer see a need to stock large amounts of products.
Additionally, their capital circulated for speculation has been used up.
Once the speculation eases, the import of products will
decline accordingly. To a certain extent, this will help boost the Thai
economy.
“We won’t come up with any drastic measures to cope
with businessmen who import products for speculation. Instead, we will talk
with them and request that they stop doing so. However, anyone found
breaking laws will be legally punished,” said the premier. (TNA)
Major steel importers ready
to cooperate, says DPM
Major operators in Thailand’s steel industry are ready
to cooperate with government efforts to address the country’s trade
deficit, Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak
said.
Speaking after a meeting with 37 major steel importers,
he said that all had understood the cause of the country’s trade deficit
and were willing to cooperate with the government by importing steel in
reduced amounts to meet production goals only, and refrain from keeping
steel in stock.
He said the Commerce Ministry would accelerate the export
of locally made steel in a bid to ease the deficit.
Permanent Secretary for Commerce Karun Kittisataporn and
Director-General of the Department of Foreign Trade Rachane Potjanasuntorn
were assigned to discuss the best way to manage the import of each product
efficiently and systematically.
He said importers of fuel, gold and steel promised the
ministry they would attempt to manage imports more efficiently.
“We want to reiterate that our request is not to delay
the import of products for production or export,” Mr. Somkid said.
“Instead, we want operators to import products to produce items for
export, not for speculation. We believe the deficits will ease from now on
since importers of these three products are ready to give full cooperation
to the government.”
Sawasdi Horrungrueng, president of the Thai Industrial
Estate Association, said the 37 steel importers are willing to work out a
plan to identify how much steel they would import in the second half of this
year and submit the exact import figure to the ministry for acknowledgement.
(TNA)
Cigarette display, advertising ban meant
to reduce number of new smokers
Disease Control Department Deputy Director General Dr.
Narong Sahamethapat assured an audience that a government plan to prohibit
display of cigarettes in stores can significantly reduce the number of new
smokers each year.
The ban is designed to protect the health of the public,
the doctor said, especially youths and others who are attracted to smoking.
Dr. Narong said an estimated 10 million Thais are
cigarette smokers, while perhaps 100,000 others become smokers every year.
Adolescents have become a prime target for local and
foreign cigarette manufacturers, he said.
The government’s ban on prohibiting cigarette displays
and tobacco ads at selling points will take effect on September 24.
A survey conducted abroad recently showed that the number
of smokers dropped as much as 60 percent as a result of such bans. (TNA)
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