Thailand English-language News For June 22

In Thailand English-language News for June 22, 2017, Newsline presenter Sandra Hanutsaha tells us about:

00:38 | Thais continue to travel to Bangkok to pay their respects to the late king Bhumibol Adulyadej. In Ubon Ratchathani and Ratchaburi provinces, civil servants and members of the public gathered to make artificial flowers for his funeral.

02:02 | Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has given a lecture at Khon Kaen University on the implementation of Thailand 4.0. The PM then visited exhibitions featuring 39 of the university’s research projects for the initiative as well as local agricultural innovations.

04:12 | Representatives from various media organisations have met with Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wissanu Krea-ngam to discuss the media reform plan. According to National Press Council of Thailand president, Chawarong Limpatthamapani, said media organisations would prefer that the government support the media’s self-regulation efforts rather than implement measures to control the media.

05:36 | The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has launched a web portal, thailandpresents.com, to promote premium Thai products and services internationally. To compliment the web portal MoFA has also developed a touchscreen kiosk to display high quality Thai products and services which will will be installed in Thailand’s foreign missions abroad.

08:53 | Deputy Secretary General to the Prime Minister for Political Affairs, General Navin Damrigan, has appeared on NBT World’s “Thailand Today” programme to discuss the Thailand Future Fund (TFF). The TFF aims to raise large amount of capital from investors to fund infrastructure projects, thereby allowing the government to avoid taking out loans and incurring public debt.

10:50 | The State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) has denied rumors that money raised by the Thailand Future Fund (TFF) will be used to finance the Thai-Chinese high-speed rail project. Funding this project was not among the original purposes of the TFF, thus it cannot use any money from the fund.

12:39 | The Council of Engineers (CoE) and the Architect Council of Thailand (Act) have demanded that Chinese specialists involved in the Thai-Chinese high-speed rail project must be certified by Thailand before they begin work on the project. They also have proposed that Chinese experts be required to share their knowledge with Thai universities and researchers.

16:09 | Thailand Minister of Commerce, Abhiradee Tantraporn, has urged trade and commerce agencies to intervene in the declining price of pineapples. Ms Tantraporn recommended that local commerce offices help pineapple farmers find more places to sell their produce, while the Department of Internal Trade (Dit) will discuss with canned pineapple manufacturers to explore the possibility of them buying directly from farmers to help prop up their price.

17:23 | A Bangkok seminar has been told that Citibank analysts expect the global economy to continue expanding in the second half of the year, pushing full year growth to 3 per cent, up from last year’s 2.6 per cent. Analysts also reported a 10.5 per cent growth in global financial markets, largely in new markets where equity prices have increased by up to 17 per cent.

18:29 | The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) is planning to establish integrated service centers to provide support for investors participating in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

19:54 | The Thailand Government Public Relations Department (PRD) recently held the final round of its Asean-themed English speech contest. NBT World takes a look at the judges’ criteria for evaluating speeches and the significance of the contest to participants.

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Newsline is a daily Thailand English-language news and current affairs programme produced by the National News Bureau of Thailand (NNBT) under the Thailand Government Public Relations Department (PRD) for *NBT World, the NNBTs 24/7 English language television service delivering Thailand government news and information to the Thai, Asean, and wider Asian communities via cable and satellite. It is also available via android and iOS apps. AEC News Today publishes Thailand English-language News M-F.