According to the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry, and Banking (JSCCIB), banks may not react immediately to increases in interest rates to support borrowers amid the gradual economic recovery in the second half of 2022, given the policy rate hike trend in the second half of this year.

Payong Srivanich, chairman of the Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA), stated that the central bank has signaled a gradual policy rather than a hawkish rate hike during their discussion. He believes banks will continue monitoring the economic situation and BoT’s policy before adjusting its rate increase. Still, he could not say how long the delay would be for banks to raise interest rates following the central bank’s rate hike.

The JSCCIB maintained its 2022 GDP growth forecast between 2.75% and 3.5%. It revised its forecast for inflation from 5-7% to 5.5-7% and increased its forecast for export growth from 5-7% to 6-8%. The JSCCIB added that tourism would be a key driver of Thailand’s economic recovery, with foreign arrivals expected to increase to 7-8 million this year.

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Thailand’s Fastest-Growing Industries as the Nation Makes a Comeback

Thailand Business News

Nov 29, 2022

You’d be hard-pressed to find a country that wasn’t set back by any one of the global events of the last couple of years. Still, in 2020, Thailand ranked as the nation with the sixth-highest GDP in the East Asia & Pacific region. Take out Australia, and Thailand makes it into the top five.

With most industries making a comeback and many new tech-driven ones picking up steam – such as the electric vehicles industry – there’s optimism that Thailand can continue to grow. Of its many industries, three headline as the fastest-growing right now.

One of Thailand’s most relied-upon industries is tentatively making its way back, showing incredible growth on the understandably-low figures of the last couple of years

Tourism is being enabled greatly by foreign tourists being given a quarantine waiver, with an anticipated 5.5 million people set to visit the country this year. It’s an increase on the initial forecast, per CNBC, but still short of 2019’s 40 million foreign tourists.

Export is also seeing significant growth of late, with Thailand’s expanding industries allowing the export industry to flourish. In 2020 alone, over $20 billion was earned in trade surplus, with Asian nations being the primary recipients of goods. Atop the exports are vehicles, meat, seafood, electronics, as well as precious metals and gems, with the latter two being the fastest-growing in sales within the quick-rising industry.

Another much more contained industry that’s proven itself to grow like wildfire lately is that of gambling – particularly sports betting. Online is the choice of platform for most, with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society in Thailand estimating that annually, some $32 million is spent at online gambling sites. While the World Bank sees digital and disruptive tech as set to generate over $3 billion in Thailand, tech isn’t the only driver for growth.

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TAT stages Amazing Thailand Fest 2022 in New Delhi

Tourism Authority of Thailand

Nov 28, 2022

Bangkok, 26 November, 2022 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), in cooperation with Team Thailand in India, is staging the Amazing Thailand Fest 2022, from 25-27 November, at Select Citywalk Mall in Saket, New Delhi, to inspire Indian travellers to visit Thailand.

Mr. Tanes Petsuwan, TAT Deputy Governor for International Marketing – Asia and the South Pacific, said “The Amazing Thailand Fest in New Delhi is part of TAT’s strategy to promote and strengthen Thailand as a top holiday destination for Indian travellers. The event also celebrates 75 years of Thai-Indian relations since 1947.”

In line with the ‘Visit Thailand Year 2022: Amazing New Chapters’ campaign, the event showcases the kingdom’s 5F soft-power foundations – food, film, festival, fight, and fashion. It features popular Thai dishes and desserts from Thai restaurants in India and Thailand, charming Thai locations where famous Bollywood Films were shot, cultural parades and folk dances showcasing unique Thai festivals, Thai martial art performances, and Thai fashion shows. Other activities include DIY on Thai arts and crafts, and lucky draws.

In addition, the TAT partnership zone offers privileges and benefits from Thai Airways International (THAI) and the Thailand Privilege Card, as well as holiday packages from Make My Trip, Travstarz Global Group, Ease My Trip, and DPaul’s Travel and Tours Ltd.

India is one of Thailand’s important visitor source markets. From 1 January, 2022, year-to-date, Thailand has already welcomed 743,336 Indian travellers, making India the second largest source markets to Thailand this year, after Malaysia. It is expected that Thailand will see a total of 900,000 to 1 million Indian travellers within this year.

The Amazing Thailand Fest 2022 in New Delhi was officially opened on 25 November by H.E. Ms. Pattarat Hongtong, Ambassador of Thailand to India, and TAT’s Mr. Tanes Petsuwan. Also present at the opening ceremony were Mr. Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, TAT Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications, and officials and figures from the Team Thailand, including the Thai Trade Centre in New Delhi and THAI.

TAT stages Amazing Thailand Fest 2022 in New Delhi

The post <strong>TAT stages Amazing Thailand Fest 2022 in New Delhi</strong> appeared first on TAT Newsroom.

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BOT to Deliver Third Rate Hike

National news Thailand

Nov 28, 2022

How long can the Bank of Thailand stay dovish?

BANGKOK (NNT) – The Bank of Thailand (BOT) is set to raise interest rates by another quarter-point on Wednesday (30 Nov) for a third straight meeting amid fragile growth and signs of easing inflation has started to ease.

The widely-expected move to raise the benchmark one-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points would bring it to a modest 1.25%.

Thailand’s economy is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until early next year as its vital tourism sector, which makes up about 12% of output, begins gradually rebounding.

With the slowest pace of inflation in six months in October, helped by government measures to ease the cost of living, BOT Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said it is not necessary to aggressively increase rates to manage inflation like in other countries.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has increased rates by 375 basis points so far in this cycle, with 75 basis point moves at the last four meetings and another 50 due in December.

Despite the wide interest rate gap, the baht has been one of the top performers in emerging market currencies, depreciating only about 7% so far this year.

External pressure on the BOT to be more assertive with rate hikes has also eased after the recent retreat in the dollar. Capital inflows have meanwhile returned to its domestic bond and equity markets in the month-to-date, with the decline in foreign exchange reserves starting to reverse.

A weak currency is generally considered positive for the tourism-dependent Thailand economy.

The government hopes to see tourism next year reach 80% of pre-pandemic levels. 40 million tourists visited Thailand in 2019.

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Reporter : Paul Rujopakarn

Rewriter : Paul Rujopakarn

National News Bureau : http://thainews.prd.go.th

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Thai Cabinet greenlights foreign ownership of land

Thailand Business News

Nov 27, 2022

BANGKOK (NNT) – The Cabinet has greenlighted a draft ministerial regulation that will enable foreigners to buy a maximum of 1 rai of land in Thailand.

One of the conditions includes an investment value of at least 40 million baht that must be retained for 3 years. The ministerial regulation opens the door for a greater range of investment options for foreigners and can be revised every 5 years.

Prime Minister’s Office Spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri elaborated on the Cabinet’s approval, in principle, of the drafting of a ministerial regulation on foreign ownership of residential land. The approval was made with regard to the measure calling for economic and investment stimulation by attracting high-potential foreigners to Thailand.

The Cabinet approval opens the door for a greater range of investment options for foreigners. The ministerial regulation will be in effect for 5 years after its announcement in the Government Gazette.

Mr. Anucha said the draft regulation will designate 4 types of high-potential aliens who will be able to acquire land in Thailand for residential purposes. The 4 categories include high-wealth persons, retirees, individuals who intend to work from Thailand, and specialists who possess certain skills.

The amount of land that may be acquired shall be no more than 1 rai (1,600 square meters). The land must only be used for self-residency and must be located within Bangkok, Pattaya, municipalities, or other suitable areas as stipulated by the urban planning law.

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Top 50 APAC firms lose $900 billion market capitalization in Q3 2022

Thailand Business News

Nov 24, 2022

Amidst the recession fears, geo-political tensions, higher interest rates, prolonged lockdowns and a slump in technology stocks, the aggregate market capitalization (MCap) of the top 50 Asia-Pacific (APAC) companies declined by $900 billion in the third quarter (Q3) of 2022 (as of 30 September 2022), reveals GlobalData

Financial services and technology sectors top the table with an aggregate market valuation of $1.7 trillion each. The top 50 list includes 17 companies from the financial services sector and 11 from the technology sector. In terms of geographic split, 26 firms are from China, followed by seven each from India and Japan.

ICICI, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), and Bank Central Asia witnessed the highest quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) growth, whereas Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Kweichow Moutai, and Tencent were the leaders reporting more than $300 billion market capitalization (MCap). Leading Chinese firms BYD, Alibaba, and CATL witnessed their MCap eroding by 20%.

With speculations over Berkshire Hathaway’s reduction of its stake in BYD rife, a 32% decline in BYD’s valuation ensued during Q3. E-commerce giant Alibaba lost $91.5 billion in MCap due to supply chain constraints, concerns over delisting from the US stock market, and lower consumer spending. China Mobile, Pinduoduo, and Nongfu Spring were the bright spots among the Chinese companies, which reported growth in MCap during the period.

Among the Indian firms, Reliance, TCS, and Infosys lost 12.1%, 11.7%, and 7.2%, respectively, in Q3 2022, owing to the bearish trend in the equities market resulting in sell-off pressure among the investors.

Narayanan adds: “Despite Reliance Industries’ impressive FY2022 top-line performance, investors seemed to have lost confidence on the Indian conglomerate, because of the government’s tax imposition on the export of petrol and diesel to overseas markets by Indian companies. Overall, the quarter witnessed the company’s MCap declining by $27.1 billion.”

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TAT extends tourism cooperation with Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture

Tourism Authority of Thailand

Nov 23, 2022

Bangkok, 23 November, 2022 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is extending tourism cooperation with Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture with the renewal of the Letter of Intent (LOI) signed on 22 November by TAT Governor, Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, and Wakayama Prefecture Governor, Mr. Yoshinobu Nisaka.

The newly extended LOI covers two more years of tourism cooperation between TAT and Wakayama Prefecture. It also strengthens the existing partnership, which was first established in November 2018, to jointly promote two-way tourism through organising promotion activities and sharing intelligence.

Mr. Yuthasak said, “TAT is delighted to continue to strengthen the partnership and cooperation with Wakayama Prefecture. With global tourism gradually returning post-pandemic, we are committed to exerting all efforts in creating a tourism business ecosystem where all parties receive mutual benefits.”

Japan is one of Thailand’s important source markets. Pre-pandemic in 2019, Thailand recorded 1,787,185 Japanese tourists. For 2023, TAT aims to rebuild the Japanese market to 70% of the 2019 figure, or around 1.25 million arrivals.

Meanwhile, Japan is considered a popular destination for Thai outbound tourism. TAT’s cooperation with Wakayama Prefecture is expected to create greater awareness of the city among Thai travellers. Located in the Kansai Region of Japan, Wakayama Prefecture is known for Mount Koya, also known as Koyasan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the centre of Shingon Buddhism, one of the leading Buddhist sects in Japan.

The post <strong>TAT extends tourism cooperation with Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture</strong> appeared first on TAT Newsroom.

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Total lunar eclipse to take place on Loy Krathong evening

National news Thailand

Nov 23, 2022

BANGKOK (NNT) – The Loy Krathong celebration this year will be a special one with a total lunar eclipse expected to take place in the evening. The national institute of astronomy says this event can be observed from anywhere in the country from 5 p.m. today.

The National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) has announced a detailed forecast for the total lunar eclipse taking place tomorrow afternoon through the evening of Loy Krathong Day. According to the institute, the eclipse will start taking place from 3:02 pm to 8:56 pm local time. However, the event can only be observed in Thailand from 5:44 pm onwards, as it is the time when the moon rises above the horizon.

A lunar eclipse happens when the moon moves into the earth’s shadow, when the sun, earth, and moon align in ways where the earth’s shadow is caused by light from the sun being cast onto the moon’s surface.

Observers in Thailand will be seeing the moon rising above the horizon in a complete eclipse phase, which will appear as a full moon in red color for about 57 minutes until 6:41 p.m., from which the earth’s shadow casting against the moon will start to shift away gradually. The moon will be appearing unobstructed by the eclipse at 7:49 pm, and regain its full brightness at 8:56 pm Thailand time.

This total lunar eclipse can also be observed in many places around the globe, namely northern and eastern Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, parts of South America, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the north pole, and parts of the south pole.

NARIT will be holding observation events for tomorrow’s lunar eclipse from 6 pm to 10 pm at Princess Sirindhorn AstroPark in Chiang Mai, the Regional Observatory in Nakhon Ratchasima, the Regional Observatory in Chachoengsao, and the Regional Observatory in Songkhla. Admission to these events is free of charge.

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Reporter : Tanakorn Sangiam

Rewriter : Tarin Angskul

National News Bureau : http://thainews.prd.go.th

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