BANGKOK (NNT) – The decision by the U.S. to suspend Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) treatment to Thailand, requiring all Thai exports to the U.S. to be subject to duties, has raised confusion among many sectors in Thailand. The government has confirmed this decision is not related to Thailand’s decision to ban three dangerous agricultural chemicals, and that the Prime Minister has been aware of this development since last month. The Minister of Labour has called an urgent meeting to address the labour concerns cited by the U.S. as a factor in the decision to revoke trade preferences.

The Minister of Labour Chatumongol Sonakul said this matter is related to many ministries, while the Ministry of Labour will be looking after the issue of foreign workers in Thailand, who he says are entitled to benefits and welfare but, understandably, each country will impose its own standard when it comes to foreign worker treatment which, in the case of Thailand, means they will not receive any greater benefits or rights than a Thai citizen.

Government spokesperson Narumon Pinyosinwat revealed the Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha received information last month when the U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary joined the ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting in Thailand, where this topic was raised.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit said the cancellation of GSP will add 1.5-1.8 billion baht in duties on Thai products imported into the U.S. each year. Overall Thai exports to the U.S. are currently valued at 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, which will be subjected to the U.S. import tax at 4-5 percent.

He said the reason behind the revocation of the duty-free preference is a labour issue, where the U.S. wants Thailand to allow immigrant workers to set up worker unions, and is not related to the campaign to ban the three dangerous chemicals.

The Minister of Commerce said Thailand can file an appeal of this decision, asking the U.S. to reconsider. He said, in previous years, there were reconsiderations of 7 product categories, and that the country will file reconsideration requests again, but it is up to U.S. agencies whether to review the requests.

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PHUKET(NNT) – Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit has visited Phuket and followed up on the progress of the second Phuket airport project in Phang Nga, designed to accommodate over 5.5 million passengers yearly. The deputy prime minister attended a briefing on the airport project in Phang Nga at Phuket terminal auditorium. He was accompanied by Deputy Transport Minister Thaworn Senniam.

Phuket airport which is run by the Airports Of Thailand (AOT) can accommodate a maximum of 20 flights per hour for domestic and international passengers. The airport’s passenger terminal is intended to accommodate 12.5 passengers yearly or 9,000 passengers per hour. Last year however, the airport accommodated about 18 million passengers and 118,136 flights.

Due to limited space for future expansion, the second Phuket airport is being built in Phang Nga which is located near the existing Phuket airport. The designated location is in Kok Kloy subdistrict of Takua Thung district of Phang Nga which is only 23 kilometers from the existing Phuket airport. Road and rail transport projects will be implemented to link Phuket airport with Phang Nga. Upon the completion of the second airport, about 25 million passengers will be accommodated yearly.

The deputy prime minister assigned the deputy transport minister to decide whether the Department of Airports or the AOT will be responsible for the construction of the second Phuket airport in Phang Nga. The provincial governor of Phang Nga was assigned to follow up on the project and regularly report to the deputy prime minister.

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Thailand’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2020 list has edged up 6 places, from 27th to 21st this year from 190 countries surveyed

The World Bank ranked Singapore second and Malaysia 12th in Doing Business 2020 report. In the ranking, Thailand’s scored increased 1.65 to 80.10, the highest in the past six years.

Thailand has done better in dealing with construction permits by cutting 19 procedures to 14 and waiting times for approval from 118 days to 113 days, climbing the rank to 34th from 67th, said the report.

Thailand’s Finance Minister, Uttama Savanayana, said Thailand has moved up six places among the 190 countries in the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business 2020” report.

Uttama added that protecting minority investors had been highlighted by the Thai government, pushing up the rank in this category to third place from 15th last year.

The finance minister however, said Thailand still needs to make progress in many areas to facilitate investments.

While many economies in the East Asia and the Pacific region make doing business relatively easy, the pace of reforms has slowed from previous years.

Reforms were implemented in fewer than half of its economies (12 out of 25). Even so, five East Asia and the Pacific economies are among the top 25 global performers, including Singapore(2^nd), Hong Kong SAR, China (3^rd); Malaysia (12^th); Taiwan, China (15^th); and Thailand (21^st). China jumped in the ranking to 31^st and is among the top 10 improvers for a second consecutive year.

A country’s ease of doing business score is reflected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest and…

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BANGKOK (NNT) Registrations for the Chim Shop Chai – Eat Pay Spend campaign’s second phase got underway today on www.ชิมช้อปใช้.com. The first registration slot for 500,000 applicants opened at 6 a.m. and was full by 7:18 a.m. Another 500,000 applicants will be accepted starting at 6 p.m. today.

The second phase of the campaign allows 3 million more people who have never registered before to receive the campaign’s electronic money and other benefits.

The campaign provides successful applicants with 1,000 baht per person in electronic money stored in a g-Wallet 1 balance, which can be used for eligible purchases at participating stores. More money can top up this balance, from which eligible payments will come with cashback rewards on purchases up to 30,000 baht, with the maximum cashback amount capped at 4,500 baht.

An additional 20% in cashback rewards are also offered for purchases made from topped up cash in the g-Wallet 2 balance, for purchases which exceed the first 30,000 baht, up to 50,000 baht. The maximum cashback offer is capped at 4,000 baht per person. This cashback reward was also offered to the first 10 million applicants in the campaign’s first phase.

In Yala, the general public was advised of the oppoertunity to sign up for this campaign, with many lodging their application online from the moment the system opened, causing massive internet traffic which resulted in some unsuccessful applications.

One of the applicants said today he has been looking forward to signing up for the campaign from the moment he heard about the campaign’s phase 2, however his registration failed to come through. He said he will be waiting for the next registration opening, adding that this campaign in a way helped stimulate the local economy in Yala province.

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