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Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha approved an extension of the state of emergency for another month, maintaining that such an extension has nothing to do with anti-government protests.
The state of emergency is due to expire at the end July, but the CCSA’s subcommittee agreed at a meeting yesterday to propose extending the state of emergency until the end of August.
Government officials insist the emergency measures are for guarding against the resurgence of the coronavirus and unrelated to the ongoing protests.
A large anti-government protest on Saturday drew 2,500 people around the Democracy monument in Bangkok. Student activists announced that more rallies will take place from this week through August.
With the COVID-19 pandemic having devastating effects on the economy, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) has warned that recent protests by youth movements could increase the risks to the economy, with the annual economic performance this year now expected to shrink by 8-10 percent.
BANGKOK (NNT) – In addition to several projects and agreements approved in the Cabinet meeting yesterday, the government has agreed to accept a 5 million dollar U.S. grant from the World Bank to reduce emissions of hydrofluorocarbon gas (HFC), which is one of the greenhouse gases affecting the globe’s ozone layer.
A Deputy Government Spokesperson, Rachada Dhanadirek, disclosed that the Cabinet, at its meeting yesterday, approved an acceptance draft for a 5.084 million dollar grant from the World Bank, to fund projects reducing the emission of environmentally harmful HFC gas.
At the same meeting, the Cabinet approved a financial aid campaign for Myanmar, providing a 1.46 billion baht loan to fund Yangon’s electricity system renovation project, on the understanding that the project utilises goods and services from Thailand for at least 50 percent of the contract’s value, and must hire Thai companies for construction and engineering consultations.
Meanwhile, the government spokesperson, Narumon Pinyosinwat, announced today that members of the Cabinet had approved a draft ASEAN-China Joint Ministerial Statement on transportation and logistics promotion, to combat COVID-19 and promote the economy, to be endorsed at a special ASEAN-China Transport Ministers Meeting tomorrow, which will be held via video conference.
Reporter : Tanakorn Sangiam Rewriter : Tarin Angskul National News Bureau & Public Relations : http://thainews.prd.go.th
The first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand has come to an end after the country has not seen a case of local or community infection for 44 consecutive days, according to Thailand’s Disease Control Department.
Dr. Anupong Sujariyakul, an expert attached to the Disease Control Department, warned, however, that Thailand must now be prepared for the possibility of a second wave of infections.
As the contagion is still spreading in many parts of the world, with several countries already experiencing a second wave, Thailand said yesterday that the country may extend its international flight ban again.
Thailand today recorded no new cases of Covid-19 over a 24-hour period, the government’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration said on Friday (July 10).
Two additional recoveries were also recorded today, bringing recoveries to 3,087, while cumulative infections remained at 3,202. The death toll remains at 58, with 57 patients still being treated in hospital. It was also the 46th day without any domestic cases.
Bangkok “New Normal”
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is also promoting Bangkok to see and get a feel of what the ‘New Normal’ is like.
Thailand has set up a COVID-19 testing laboratory inside Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. It’s thought to be the first in Southeast Asia.
The lab will analyse swab tests on-site. Once foreigners are approved to come to Thailand for business on a short-term stay of less than seven days, they will have to go through a swab test at Suvarnabhumi after touching down.
The Thai government has confirmed the requirements for people wishing to enter the country amid the coronavirus pandemic.
While Thailand’s borders remain closed to tourists, certain groups of foreigners are allowed to enter the country.
These groups are:
Persons who hold a valid certificate of residence
Spouses, parents or child of a Thai national
Work permit holders
Students of Thai educational institutions
Persons who are in need of medical treatment in Thailand
All people in the aforementioned groups are required to have health insurance covering COVID-19, a fit to fly certificate and undergo quarantine once they return to Thailand.
BANGKOK (NNT) – A trial of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate in monkeys has been successful, with the subjects showing higher immune responses. Researchers are now gearing up for human clinical trials in October, with production starting in mid-2021.
A study of a COVID-19 vaccine prototype in monkeys, performed by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) and Chulalongkorn University’s National Primate Research Center of Thailand, has been successful, according to the NRCT.
This experimental mRNA vaccine had first been successfully tested in rats, while the tests in monkeys started on 23 May.
The Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Suvit Maesincee, said all the monkeys that received the vaccine show no negative side effects, while their blood tests show a satisfactory level of the antibody triggered by the vaccine.
The monkeys, at the National Primate Research Center, have been injected with the vaccine once. Researchers will today administer the second dose for further study. Should all go well, the clinical trial of this vaccine candidate in humans can begin in October and November this year.
The NRCT Secretary General Dr. Sirirurg Songsivilai said the monkeys will be tested periodically for their immune responses after receiving the second dose of vaccine, with their antibody level expected to increase over the next two weeks, while the third dose will be administered in August.
He said this research project is now progressing on track, with the target to start producing a viable COVID-19 vaccine in Thailand in mid-2021.
The National Primate Research Center Director Suchinda Malaivijitnond said the experimental vaccine has shown no negative side effects in recipient monkeys with no fever, or symptoms in the neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory or digestive systems.
The monkeys are showing normal behaviour, which is a good sign that this vaccine prototype would be safe for use in humans.
She said the project shows the world-class capabilities of vaccine researchers and development projects in Thailand.
The Cabinet has approved three tourism campaigns, aimed to kick start the recovery of the tourism sector from July to October.
Thailand’s Cabinet approved three packages intended to boost Thailand’s declining tourism industry, hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funding for the three packages will come from the 1.9 trillion baht budget intended to cushion the impacts on the economy and the Thai people from COVID-19 pandemic.
Medical personnel given 2000 baht to travel
The first package is intended to provide incentives to about 1.2 million front-line medical personnel and public health volunteers. Each will be given 2,000 baht travelling expenses for two days and one night. The package is estimated to cost the taxpayer 2.4 billion baht.
The second package is intended to encourage two million people to travel and spend. Each will be given 1,000 baht to cover 40% of their travel by air, public bus or by rented car. The cost of this package is estimated at 2 billion baht.
40% discount on hotel expenses
The third, which will cost an estimated 18 billion baht, will cover 40% of the hotel expenses of customers, for room rates not exceeding 3,000 baht per night, and food expenses. Hotels wanting to join this program must register with the state-owned Krung Thai Bank.
In the January-March period, foreign tourist numbers in Thailand slumped 38% to 6.69 million, with the number of Chinese visitors down 60% to 1.25 million.
Last year’s foreign arrivals were a record 39.8 million and spending from foreign tourists amounted to 1.93 trillion baht, or 11% of gross domestic product.
According to Mercer’s 2020 Cost of Living Survey, Hong Kong tops the list of most expensive cities for expatriates, followed by Ashgabat, Turkmenistan in second position.
Tokyo and Zurich remain in third and fourth positions, respectively, whereas Singapore is in fifth, down two places from last year. New York City ranked sixth, moving up from ninth place.
Other cities appearing in the top 10 of Mercer’s costliest cities for expatriates are Shanghai (7), Bern (8), Geneva (9), and Beijing (10).
The world’s least expensive cities for expatriates, according to Mercer’s survey, are Tunis (209), Windhoek (208), Tashkent and Bishkek, which tied to rank 206.
“The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that sending and keeping employees on international assignments is a huge responsibility and a difficult task to manage,” said Ilya Bonic, Career President and Head of Mercer Strategy. “Rather than bet on a dramatic resurgence of mobility, organizations should prepare for the redeployment of their mobile workforces, leading with empathy and understanding that not all expatriates will be ready or willing to go abroad.”
“Border closings, flight interruptions, mandatory confinements, and other short-term disruptions have affected not only the cost of goods and services but also the quality of living of assignees,” said Mr. Bonic.
Climate change, issues related to environmental footprint, and health system challenges have pushed multinationals to consider how a city’s efforts around sustainability can impact the living conditions for their expatriate workers. Cities with a strong sustainability focus can greatly improve living standards, which can in turn improve employee well-being and engagement.”
Ilya Bonic, Career President and Head of Mercer Strategy.
Six of the top 10 cities in this year’s ranking are in Asia. Hong Kong (1) retained its spot as the most expensive city for expatriates both in Asia and globally due to currency movements measured against the US dollar and driving up the cost of living locally. This global financial center is followed by Ashgabat (2) Tokyo (3) Singapore (5) Shanghai (7) and Beijing (10). Mumbai (60) is India’s most expensive city while Kolkata (185) is the least expensive Indian city ranked.
Australian cities have fallen in the ranking this year as the local currency has depreciated against the US dollar. Sydney (66), Australia’s most expensive ranked city for expatriates, experienced a drop of sixteen places. The least expensive city in the region, Adelaide fell seventeen places to rank 126.
Former international crime prosecutor, Mr. Wanchai Roujanavong predicted in a Facebook post that many corruption cases will emerge as a result of THAI’s rehabilitation process.
He claimed that the airline’s fleet was leased to THAI through several agents, allegedly with the consent of the airline’s board, leading to prohibitively high fees for the rental of aircraft, which is said to be one of the causes of the airline’s heavy losses.
Without the proposed rehabilitation plan, the former chief prosecutor said that that the public would probably never know the truth “while the parasites carried on sucking the blood out of the airline.”
Discrepancies in THAI ticket sales
In related news by the Bangkok Post, police have launched an investigation into allegations of discrepancies in THAI ticket sales last year, according to an unnamed source.
A team led by Pol Lt Gen Charnthep Sesaves, a former Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner, has opened a probe into any possible graft that may have been committed at THAI.
A source at the Transport Ministry said that last year, ticket sales and freight revenues totalled 140 billion baht and there were 25.4 million passengers who flew with THAI, the source said.
The average fare per passenger was 6,081 baht, which was significantly lower and not consistent with the rates charged to customers, the source said.
“THAI’s revenue last year slumped from the previous year, which raises questions, given a higher average cabin factor [than the previous year] at 80%,” the source said.
The coronavirus pandemic and the resulting social distancing phenomena are likely to spur banks across south-east Asia to accelerate their digital transformation strategies, with laggards likely to suffer swifter franchise deterioration as customer preferences and competition evolves more rapidly, says Fitch Ratings.
We expect established, digitally advanced incumbent banks to gain from the trend as customers flock to convenience and perceived safety in times of crisis, while also reaping the benefits from potentially improved productivity as well as cost savings from closed branches in the medium term.
Fitch Ratings-Singapore
Many major banks across the region have reported a surge in online banking activities since the onset of the pandemic. For example, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BBB-/Stable) reported around 88% yoy growth in internet banking activity in 1Q20, and a similar trend occurred in many major banks in the Philippines and Malaysia.
The three large Singapore banks, in addition to higher digital transactions, have also reported a significant rise in digital account opening or usage of ‘robo-advisory’ financial planning services platforms in the same period. We expect this trend to persist even after the outbreak subsides, as customers who were used to cash-based and over-the-counter transactions maintain their newly adopted habits.
This, coupled with the greater adoption of open banking architectures in some jurisdictions, would force banks to innovate more quickly or risk falling behind. We see the smaller banks, especially those with below-par digital capabilities, to be more at risk of the change in competitive dynamics.
Fitch believes that banks will be even more active in pursuing growth through digital channels, with existing branches likely to be further optimised towards higher value-add, cross-selling services.
With the exception of many Philippine banks, banks in the region had not generally been relying on the expansion of physical distribution channels to drive revenue before the pandemic: we estimate that the banks in major ASEAN markets have on average been expanding revenue at a 8% CAGR over 2014-2019 while their branch networks have been shrinking by 1% CAGR.
The shift towards a digital-channel strategy is likely to be significantly amplified now that customer preferences are abruptly adjusted. DBS Bank Ltd. (AA-/Rating Watch Negative) has in the past reported that the cost-to-income ratio of its digital customers is roughly 20pp lower than its non-digital banking clients, implying considerable potential productivity to be gained in the longer term should the trend persists. That said, actual investments in IT are likely to…
