HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]: 

Operators vow to raise bus fares, ignoring minister’s plea

Thailand’s largest shopping complex Central World opens its doors

Gold may hit Bt14,000 baht-weight by year-end

PTT named one of world’s 500 largest companies by Fortune

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Operators vow to raise bus fares, ignoring minister’s plea

Operators of Bangkok’s private city buses have vowed to go ahead with plans to raise their fares early next month, defying the Transport Minister’s recent move to shelve the plan indefinitely.
Aphivuth Thongkam, chief of the association of city passenger bus operators, announced last Wednesday that the operators of private city buses would raise their fares between Bt0.50-1.00 from August 1, as approved by the Central Committee on Land Transport.
“We’ll follow the committee’s resolution, as it’s legally mandated to deliberate and approve any proposed city and inter-provincial bus fare plans,” he told journalists.
Aphivuth’s remarks came immediately after Transport Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal’s order to postpone the approved new bus fare hike indefinitely, upon his return from an official visit abroad.
The minister reasoned that passengers had already suffered enough from the rising cost of living, and that global oil prices look likely to remain stable at the current levels.
Pongsak said the government had also implemented several measures to ease the bus operators’ burden from increased diesel prices, including support to convert their buses to natural gas (NGV) and an agreed reschedule of their payments for concessionary fees to state agencies.
Ms. Suchinda Cherdchai, chief of the association of inter-provincial buses’ operators, said she was seeking a meeting with the transport minister to ask for his clarification on the shelved new bus fare hike.
“If the minister insists on his order to shelve the new bus fare rise, inter-provincial bus operators will soon meet to discuss what we should do to cope with the situation,” she told journalists.
Meanwhile, Deputy Transport Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said he would decide by this week whether he would allow a new fare rise for ferry boats in the city, following a meeting with officials of the Marine Department on July 21. (TNA)

Thailand’s largest shopping complex Central World opens its doors

Property development and retail chain Central Pattana opened its Bt26 billion (US$683 million) mega-shopping lifestyle complex CentralWorld in the heart of Bangkok last Friday with hopes of attracting foreign shoppers to spend over Bt7 billion (US$184 million) annually at the prime location.
Occupying the site of the former World Trade Centre in Rajprasong, which changed its name following the September 11, 2001 twin towers attack in New York City, Central World will be going head to head against competing retail shopping complexes in the area which include Amarin Plaza, Gaysorn, Siam Discovery, Siam Square, the vast new Siam Paragon and Central Chidlom.
Central Pattana Plc. president and CEO Kobchai Chirathivat said the grand opening of Central World ushered in a new era for shoppers at what he claims to be Southeast Asia’s largest shopping mega-complex.
Analysts estimate the new centre will require 150,000 walk-in customers per day to meet its business goals of Bt.7.3 billion per year and one-third of those are expected to be foreign tourists.
In addition to the shopping mall, the firm is also building a five-star hotel and convention centre which will be ready later this year.
Mr. Kobchai said the Central Group is hoping that this new facility will help generate an additional 15 per cent in revenue for the group’s business portfolio, which includes both retail outlets and hotels.
He expressed confidence that consumer spending will not be affected by the rising oil prices and that the centre is, in itself, enough of an attraction to draw the required number of visitors and shoppers. The mall section inaugurated last week occupies just 60 per cent of the total floor space of the complex. (TNA)

Gold may hit Bt14,000 baht-weight by year-end

The global price of gold, currently highly volatile due to profit-taking by hedge funds, could hit Bt14,000 per 15.16 grams (Thai baht weight) on the domestic market by the end of 2006, according to the President of the Gold Trading Association Jitti Tangsitpakdi.
Jitti said that actions by world hedge funds, rather than tension in the Middle East, had pushed the global gold price up to US$650 per ounce recently and it may continue to rise up to US$800 by year-end.
Likewise, the domestic gold price is in an unpredictable period and although the commodity is now locally priced at round Bt.12,000 per Thai baht weight, it could rise to nearer Bt.14,000 by year end if the world price climbs to US$800 per ounce, according to Mr. Tangsitpakdi
At present more people are selling gold due to its attractive price, but speculation on gold still contains a high element of risk and both buyers and sellers should remain cautious, said Jitti. (TNA)

PTT named one of world’s 500 largest companies by Fortune

PTT Public Company Limited (PTT), Thailand’s petroleum giant, has been named one of the world’s top 500 companies in terms of corporate scale for 2006 by the US-based Fortune Magazine.
PTT’s President Prasert Bunsumpun revealed that the globally recognized magazine had notched up PTT by 108 places to the 265th largest company from 373rd position last year, and making PTT the only Thai company named in the top 500.
Last year, the company earned total revenues of Bt.878 billion, (US$23.11 billion), up 44.2 per cent from the previous year, and reaped profits of Bt.81 billion, (US$2.13 billion), up 36.5 per cent from the year before.
Prasert said the higher notch-up of the company’s rating is the result of hard work and diligence by the executives and staff of PTT and its affiliates, as well as the performance efficiency of the board and support given by shareholders and all parties concerned.
The nomination of the company had also reflected the potential of Thailand to instill confidence in local and foreign investors, said the PTT president. (TNA)

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