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MRT ready to develop subway’s extended purple and blue routes
The state-run Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand
(MRT), which oversees Bangkok’s subway system, is now ready to launch the
underground train’s extended purple and blue route projects.
Ms. Anchalee Chavanich, Chairman of the MRT board, said last week that the
two extended route projects would be launched once the MRT gets official
approval from the cabinet.
 “Once
the cabinet approves the projects, MRT will call a meeting of all agencies
concerned to prepare for bidding to be opened for construction firms
interested in the two projects,” she told journalists.
The subway’s purple route will be extended from the Bang Sue Station to the
Bang Yai area in Bangkok’s suburban Nonthaburi Province, according to Ms.
Anchalee.
The extended blue route will, on the other hand, start from the Hua Lampong
Station to Ta Pra and Bangkae in the city’s Thonburi district.
Earlier last week, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), said it would open
bidding for the construction of the subway’s extended red route project by
September.
The SRT has been authorized by the government to implement Bangkok’s two
extended electric train projects - the red route from Rangsit in Bangkok’s
suburban Pathum Thani Province to Mahachai in Samut Sakhon Province and the
light red route from Talingchan in Thonburi to Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The extended mass rail transit projects of both the SRT and MRT are part of
the government-supported mega infrastructure projects, aimed at easing
traffic congestion and to reduce Thailand’s energy consumption. (TNA)
Thailand won’t
increase minimum wage,
says Labour Minister
Thailand’s Minister of Labour Somsak Thepsuthin said last
week that the government would not increase the minimum wage any time soon
as earlier demanded by labour leaders, saying the increase would impose too
heavy a burden on employers.
Instead of raising the minimum wage, the labour ministry asked the Social
Security Office (SSO) to find other ways of providing additional welfare to
help workers who earn less than Bt7,000 (about US$185) a month, he said.
Earlier, labour leaders asked the government to increase the daily minimum
wage to a standard rate of 233 baht nationwide, reasoning that the money
currently earned by labourers was insufficient for making a living.
Thailand currently has various minimum wages in different parts of the
country depending upon the local average cost of living.
“Last year the minimum wage was increased twice,” Somsak said. “With the
present circumstances if it were raised again, employers would not be able
to bear the burden and all businesses would be closed.”
Mr. Somsak said the minimum wage will remain at the present rate until the
end of this year when a major wage adjustment will be considered.
He said the government is well aware that the current economic
circumstances, with surging oil prices, inflation and high cost of living,
are affecting workers who must pay at least Bt200 for daily expenses. In the
meantime, he said, the employers themselves are suffering.
Somsak said he would urgently be seeking other ways to help low-paid workers
and that he would, initially be looking to the Social Security Office to
provide assistance. However, Social Security Office Secretary, General
Pairote Sooksamrit said that if asked to use money from the Social Security
Fund to subsidise workers, the agency would refuse, as it would be opposed
by many critics who claim that the agency is being manipulated by
politicians.
Pairote suggested that instead, the government should look for other sources
to meet the needs of minimum income workers. (TNA)
Thailand’s exports of vehicles and parts surge 36% in January-April period
Thailand’s total exports of vehicles and parts, including
automobiles and motorcycles and parts, reached more than Bt122.03 billion in
the first four months of this year, a surge of 36.95 per cent from the same
period of last year, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
An FTI report last week said that the country’s total production of
automobiles in the January-April period accounted for 389,584 units, an
18.43 per cent increase from the same period of last year.
Most of the automobiles manufactured in the first four-month period were
trucks, particularly pick-up trucks accounting for 73.59 per cent of the
country’s total automobile production.
Thailand’s production of motorcycles during the period totaled 1,195,463
units, an 8.03 per cent increase from the same period of last year.
The country’s total exports of automobiles reached 174,674 units, a surge of
48.95 per cent on the year on year basis, accounting for Bt77.80 billion, an
increase of 42.78 per cent from the same period of last year; while exports
of motorcycles totaled 499,823 units, accounting for Bt8.13 billion, an
increase of 15.40 per cent on the year on year basis.
However, the country’s total exports of vehicles and parts, including
automobiles and motorcycles and parts, reached more than Bt122.03 billion in
the first four months of this year, a jump of 36.95 per cent from the same
period of last year, according to the FTI report. (TNA)
World Bank 5% GDP growth for Thailand
Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) will grow 5 per
cent this year despite the oil price hike crisis, according to a World Bank
(WB) report.
The World Bank’s leading economist for Southeast Asia, Kazi Matin, based in
Bangkok said in a statement released here last Wednesday that he expected
Thailand’s GDP growth in 2006 to rise to 5 per cent, with better performance
in Thai exports of goods and services and a slowdown in import growth in
line with the country’s slower growth in investment.
Mr. Matin added that private investment growth was projected to fall for the
second year running, and that, in the face of higher oil prices, priority
should be given to action to raise the country’s investment level and its
productivity.
The World Bank’s 2006 Global Development Finance report said that investment
in the developing economies of East Asia and the Pacific region grew 8.4 per
cent last year, down only slightly from 2004, and while higher oil prices
have cut into incomes and contributed to the slowing of private consumption,
the region was “surprisingly resilient” to the shock.
Of the larger countries in the region, only Thailand saw its current account
balance deteriorate significantly last year - by more than 3 per cent of
GDP, the statement said.
Thailand’s real GDP growth slowed to 4.5 per cent in 2005, from 6.1 per cent
in 2004, with the tsunami, drought and a large rise in oil prices taking
their toll on the confidence of consumers and investors. (TNA)
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