Economy News
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With World Kindness Day just two days away on November 13, it’s the perfect time to reflect on how empathy and care can make a real impact, not just in our relationships but in our health, too. This day is...
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Thailand’s manufacturing production highest in 23 months
After 2 years of falling, largely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Thailand’s manufacturing production index has grown for the first time in 23 months. The index, which measures manufacturing activity, hit 107.73 last month, which is the highest it has been since April of 2019. With a growth of 4.12% in the last year, the index had its strongest performance…
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Foreign investors eye business in Thailand as hotels face closure during new outbreak
The new wave of Covid-19 infections this month has led to a drop in occupancy rates at Thailand hotels, some reporting drops of 5% to 30%, battering hoteliers that have already been struggling from a year of little to no foreign tourists. Some hotel operators have been forced to sell their businesses, according to the president of the Arjarnnar Asset…
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Shopping centres, supermarkets and convenience stores to close an hour earlier in Red Zones
With the rising reported cases in Thailand, The Thai Retailers Association and Thai Shopping Centre Association has adjusted closing times for shopping centres, supermarkets and your local convenience stores. The situation applies for red zone provinces only at this stage. The new closing times will operate until at least May 2. • Shopping centres will close at 8pm • Supermarkets…
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New Covid-19 wave could cause the Thai economy to lose 100 billion baht per month
With more than 18,000 Covid-19 cases in 22 days, the new wave of infections may have a dramatic impact on the Thai economy… possibly a 100 billion baht loss per month, according to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. They say the outbreak is likely to primarily impact the service sector and the number of workers is expected…
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Thai hotels consider temporary shutdown amid low tourist demand
The president of the Thai Hotels Association says many properties are considering shutting down for the low season as a result of the Covid-19 resurgence. Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi says smaller hotels that don’t necessarily have the resources of the large chain properties are struggling with cash flow and crippled by low tourist demand. Many are considering shutting up shop between…
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Officials not worried Thailand remains on US currency watch list
Thailand remains on the United States Treasury’s “Monitoring List” of countries whose currency trade practices need to be watched, though Thai officials say they are not worried. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen releases a foreign exchange report twice a year including labelling alleged currency manipulators and flagging suspect trading partner countries to be monitored. The Bank of Thailand said remaining…
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Covid-19 brings surge in gold and cryptocurrency investment
In the uncertain times of the Covid-19 pandemic, investors are leaning towards safe investments like gold and also the emerging cryptocurrency market. Gold prices hit a 7 week high at over 55,000 baht on Thursday and around April 15 online gold transactions in Thailand doubled. One reason for the rise in gold price is uncertainty, with tensions growing between the…
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China grows 18.3%, the only major economy to grow in 2020
China’s economy set a record for growth in Q1, 2021, marking an 18.3% jump in year-on-year figures, the biggest quarterly growth in almost 30 years. China only started publishing growth statistics in 1992, and this drastic increase is the fastest growth recorded since then. The figures, however impressive, are mainly due to what is called a “low base effect” where…
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2 emergency decrees provide businesses financial help
Thailand enacted 2 new emergency decrees today aimed at providing assistance to businesses and reducing default interest rates to help people affected by Covid-19. A deputy government spokeswoman confirmed the needed action was critical to protect and aid entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises during the time of pandemic-driven economic crisis. The goal was to combat unfair interest rates on…
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Unemployed elephants walk 500 kilometres from Pattaya to Surin
A group of 5 elephants and their owners began the long walk today from Pattaya to Surin after giving up on the return of tourism anytime soon. The 500 kilometre journey has to be done on foot as they couldn’t afford to hire trucks large enough to carry each elephant. After waiting a year for the Chinese tourists that make…
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Southern Thai people turn from tourism to gold panning
Thars gold in dem hills! With tourism in Thailand struggling due to Covid-19, and an economy needing some help, some people in the southern Thai region of the country have found income in an unusual source: panning for gold. The Sukhirin region close to the Malaysian border is known for gold deposits in the Sai Buri River and surrounding mountains.…
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Thai baht performs worst of all Southeast Asian currencies
Among common currencies in Southeast Asia, the Thai baht was the worst performing in the first quarter of 2021, mostly due to Covid-19’s effect on tourism in Thailand. This week the baht hit its lowest point in half a year, falling 4% against the US dollar to 31.24. The decline was the sharpest in all of the Southeast Asian nations.…
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Thailand jobs listings rise in February, labour force recovering from pandemic
After a pandemic-fueled unemployment freefall over the last year, costing 3 million people their jobs, February saw a big jump in employment demand for Thailand. Most job listings on the search platform JobsDV are for positions in the sales and customer service fields, followed by positions in the information technology field. Employment demand rose nearly 25% from the lowest periods…
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Thai Chamber of Commerce calls for vaccine delivery to be speeded up
The chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce says officials hope to reinvigorate the economy within 99 days, through a “Connect the Dots” policy. Sanan Angubolkul adds that the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines must be speeded up if the economy is to recover in that timeframe. “Thailand is slow in distributing vaccines. This will result in a slow economic recovery.”…
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Government ready to assist Thai businesses affected by Suez Canal blockage
The Thai government says it’s ready to help businesses affected by the blockage of the Ever Given cargo ship in Egypt’s Suez Canal. The 400-metre container ship was blown off course and got stuck sideways in the canal last Tuesday, leading to chaos in world shipping. The blockage in one of the world’s most significant trading routes has caused a…
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Bank of Thailand wrestles with cryptocurrency adoption
The Bank of Thailand is wrestling with cryptocurrency – how to adopt its usage and how to regulate it in the face of growing popularity, along with all the dynamics surrounding the new ‘currencies’.. The BOT admits they’re struggling with balancing the innovation in the financial world and protecting investors in a volatile and unstable market. Digital currency fluctuates much…
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The cost of one stuck ship in the Suez Canal – rising costs of fuel, household goods, food
That container ship is still stuck in the Suez Canal. It’s created a huge traffic jam at either end – some 240 ships. Even if they clear the blockage (get the ship out of the way to let other ships pass) soon, it’s predicted to take most of April to clear the backlog. The cost to world shipping has been…
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Thai lingerie manufacturer ordered to pay workers
A Thai lingerie manufacturer must pay workers that were laid off without compensation, according to the Labour Protection and Welfare Office. More than 1200 employees of Brilliant Alliance Thai Global received no warning when the factory suddenly closed in Samut Prakan province on March 10th. The company blamed Covid-19 for financial failings leading to the closure, but workers were given…
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Thailand’s PM speeds up stimulus measures to boost domestic spending
Thailand’s PM is speeding up economic stimulus measures to continue the effort to boost domestic spending throughout the year. In a meeting yesterday, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha told the Finance Ministry to push forward the rollout of the 3rd phase’ co-payment scheme, financial relief scheme and the Section 33 We Love Each Other programme. Deputy PM Supattanapong Punmeechaow, noted that the…
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Civil Aviation Authority to consider airlines’ requests to ease some Covid measures
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has singled out 8 Thai airlines it still has faith in and believes will stay afloat. The CAAT says that without the Covid-19 crisis, none of the carriers risked going bankrupt and the tough financial situation they find themselves in is solely due to the pandemic. The Bangkok Post reports that the 8 airlines,…
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Finance Minister says vaccination rollout will drive economic recovery
Thailand’s Finance Minister is pinning his hopes on the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to kick-start the decimated economy. Arkhom Termpittayapaisith says the economy should begin to recover in the last quarter of the year, saying the government’s vaccination drive will boost the public’s confidence, leading to more domestic travel. The minister adds that he experienced no problems after receiving the…
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Government opening up another round of welfare registration to include more recipients
The Thai government is opening up another round of welfare card registration, with the possibility of more people being eligible for financial help. The Finance Ministry says it expects the latest round of recipients will outnumber the previous round, due to increasing unemployment rates. An unnamed source told Bangkok Post that the inclusion of more recipients is due to the…
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Economic think-tank says the future of tourism in Thailand hangs on vaccination
The research division of Thailand’s Kasikorn Bank says everything hangs on vaccination strategies, both here and abroad. Kevalin Wangpichayasuk from the Kasikorn Research Centre says the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines globally will have a significant impact on the recovery of tourism in the Kingdom, with 2 million foreign tourists expected to arrive in the last quarter of the year. However,…
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Slow return of foreign tourism makes more redundancies inevitable – Airlines Association of Thailand
The president of the Airlines Association of Thailand says further layoffs in the sector are inevitable, due to the slow return of international tourism. In a Bangkok Post report, Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth says the sluggish revival of foreign tourism, now not expected until the last quarter of the year, means all carriers continue to face financial hardship. And while there was…
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Cannabis could generate 8 billion baht for Thai pharmaceutical industry by 2025, expert says
Cannabis could become a major cash crop in Thailand. An expert says the cannabis-based medicinal products could generate up to 8 billion baht for the Thai pharmaceutical industry by 2025. Medical cannabis has been legal in Thailand for the past couple years, but recently the government agreed to allow parts of the plant with very, low traces of the “high-inducing”…
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The social media giants in battle with ‘old’ media and world governments | VIDEO
https://youtu.be/HKKIuWHw_t8 “The rules signal greater willingness by countries around the world to rein in big tech firms such as Google, Facebook and Twitter that the governments fear have become too powerful with little accountability.” India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take…
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Long Buddhist holiday to see over 40 percent reduction in domestic tourism
The long Buddhist festival holiday, which starts today, is set to see over a 40% reduction in domestic tourism. The Tourism and Transport Authority of Thailand has made the estimation which tallies around 1.09 million domestic trips, a number that is down 44% from last year’s Makha Bucha Day. The 2nd wave of the Covid pandemic this year has made…
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Thailand’s passenger car sales drop by over 44% year-on-year
Thailand’s domestic car sales dropped by over 21% last month, with passenger car sales plummeting by over 44% year-on-year. The Bangkok Post reports that the resurgence of the Covid-19 virus late last year has affected consumer confidence and buying power. The sale of commercial vehicles is also down by 5.4% year-on-year. Surasak Suthongwan from Toyota Motor Thailand, says people are…
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Thai industry leaders warn economy on brink of collapse
Thai industry leaders are warning that if tourists don’t return soon, the economy will soon collapse with daunting consequences. And, as the Covid-19 vaccination programme is slow to take off, the window is closing for this year to make any kind of substantial recovery through reopening the country. Just this week, an opposition MP drew the government’s attention to the…
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Government think tank says vaccine rollout vital to tourism recovery
The National Economic and Social Development Council says the recovery of Thailand’s tourism sector is heavily dependent on the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and the establishment of herd immunity in the Kingdom. The Bangkok Post reports that Danucha Pichayanan from the NESDC says the government needs to come up with a better plan for the rollout, including prioritising workers in…
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