Bangkok, 11 March, 2021 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched its latest in a series of TVCs, with the new one ‘Miss You’ sending out an emotional message to people around the world that Thailand cannot wait to welcome everyone back in the not-too-distant-future.
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BANGKOK (NNT) – The credit rating agency Fitch Ratings expects Thai corporates’ credit outlook to improve this year as vaccination is rolled out and economic activity recovers.
The agency said however, the pace of recovery for tourism would be slow amid prolonged travel and social distancing restrictions, adding that Thai banks would face restricted profitability for the next few years amid the sluggish recovery.
It also identified corporate sustainability as a trend that was shaping longer-term structural trends that will affect many of these sectors beyond the recovery.
Fitch said the outlook for the food retail sector in 2021 would remain stable as earnings rebound, while the outlook for the building material and power & utilities sectors to be stable in the coming years.
BANGKOK (NNT) – In an effort to reduce forest fires and smog, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment has launched a campaign to discourage farm burning, with targets to reduce hotspots by 20% and manage 1,000 tons of combustibles in forest areas.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) expects its campaign to help alleviate air pollution, particularly the accumulation of PM 2.5 fine airborne particles caused by open air fires in the northern and northeastern regions.
Planned as a proactive approach to reducing forest fires and hotspots that often occur in national forests and on farmlands, the campaign encourages the practice of collecting combustible vegetation on the forest floor, instead of burning it. This combustible material can then be converted into charcoal, compost, or made into product packagings.
The MNRE has set a target to reduce hotspots in forest areas and farmlands by 20 percent, remove at least 100 tons of combustible material per province in 10 provinces, grow some 70,000 more plants, and create at least 130 forest fire management plans.
To achieve these goals, 370 forest fire surveillance networks will be established, along with the management of burning regulations and a forest fire warning system, as well as campaigns promoting forest conservation while discouraging forest burning.
Governments typically set a wide range of goals. This is reasonable and expected: For a society to grow sustainably, social stability-related targets are just as critical as economic ones.
Faced with a broad array of objectives and limited hours in a day, government officials will prioritise projects that befit their career stage. This, in turn, may affect local firms more than they realise.
For instance, younger officials will pay more attention to hard KPIs that could lead to a promotion. Meanwhile, older ones will focus on softer targets that could bring them personal benefits after retirement or at least ensure a smooth transition when they leave office.
They may not be as interested in pushing large economic growth-enhancing projects whose results may come too late to help their career.
In our newly published article, “Running out of steam? A political incentive perspective of FDI inflows in China” (co-authored with Zhitao Zhu and Shuo Chen), we looked at foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows into 224 Chinese cities at the prefecture level, from 2003 to 2010. We showed that the political term, as a core feature of career advancement in state bureaucracy, influences newly appointed government officials’ efforts to attract FDI.
In Chinese bureaucracy, large-scale leadership turnover happens every five years, right on the heels of the Party’s National Congress.
Think of it as a window of opportunity for promotions, but with a few constraints.
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BANGKOK (NNT) – Thammasat University (TU) has showcased 3 innovation projects designed to improve people’s livelihoods.
TU Rector Assoc. Prof. Gasinee Witoonchart said the schemes won national and international recognition and the university pledged to drive society through technology development and innovations.
The schemes are a learning project for creating an innovation to boost the grassroots economy, a walking aid “Space Walker” to help people suffering debilitating illnesses, and a face-mask recognition innovation.
BANGKOK (NNT) – Krungthai Bank has reported a jump in e-banking platform users, thanks to the government’s COVID-19 aid measures which familiarized the general public with electronic transactions via a mobile e-wallet application developed by the bank.
Krungthai Bank Executive Director Krisada Chinavicharana disclosed today the bank has seen a growth in its client base to 40 million, with 1.2 million entrepreneurs opening accounts with the bank, and some 100 billion baht in circulation thanks, to the government’s COVID-19 aid measures.
Most financial aid measures introduced by the government require users to make transactions via the Pao Tang mobile application, developed by Krungthai Bank, which is helping to push Thailand towards having a fully digital society.
Mr. Krisada said Krungthai Bank has played a role as the government’s main economic driving mechanism for the past 55 years, by helping distribute government funds to people seeking access to financial resources.
The bank has been an important partner in supporting the government’s financial aid measures, from the COVID-19 payouts to the welfare card campaign. The bank has also facilitated the digital sale of government bonds and developed the digital learning platform for the Student Loan Fund.
The bank’s executive director revealed the bank has successfully migrated its Krungthai NEXT digital banking services to a cloud infrastructure. This allows the platform to serve the current 12 million users faster and with better stability, while enabling the bank to introduce products such as health insurance and loans that better suit the fast changing situation, while promoting sustainable economic growth.
PHANG NGA (NNT) – The Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment has inspected the growth of baby coral under the sea in Phang Nga, where artificial reefs have been created.
The Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Varawut Silpa-archa, was visiting Khao Lak district of Phang Nga, where he joined a group of divers to observe the growth and abundance of coral in the sea, as well as inspecting a 3D printed cement reef structure and dome-shaped artificial reefs.
Mr Varawut said the artificial reefs in place since 2013 have now been become home to marine creatures and coral, making the site a learning center and a new tourism attraction for Phang Nga province, with a development goal of becoming a world-class diving spot.
These artificial reefs are said to cause no harm to the underwater environment, while their harmonious appearance in keeping with natural reefs makes them ideal for the conservation of marine resources.
The Environment Minister said he is confident local villagers will be able to take care of these reefs.
According to a report by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Phang Nga province has about 4,180 hectares (26,126 rai) of reefs in the region, but many have been damaged by both man made or natural incidents.
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