Thailand English-language News For March 22, 2017

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In the March 22, 2017 edition of Newsline, presenter Cholaphansa Narula tells us about:

• The Thailand Cabinet has approved a draft land and building tax law. According to the law, land owners of agricultural land will only be required to pay tax on the actual amount of land being used for agricultural purposes, while the cost of the land and building tax is proportional to the price of the building on the land it sits on.

• The Thailand Cabinet has approved a draft convention on cooperation for prevention and combating human trafficking in accordance with the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). The agreement will strengthen regional attempts at combating transnational human trafficking in the region.

• The Cabinet has approved the SMEs Transformation Loan Framework (STLF) for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The STLF aims to boost the domestic sector by helping SMEs obtain low-interest loans.

• The National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) economic committee has prepared a draft law on community financial institutions which is currently being reviewed by the Ministry of Finance (MIF).

• Two of Thailand’s largest civil society groups have failed to meet with the government appointed committee tasked with promoting national reconciliation. Despite the absence of the Mirror Foundation and the National Students Council Conference the committee, chaired by General Chaicharn Changmongkol, permanent secretary for defence, proceeded to discuss the national roadmap for reconciliation with the Youth Network of Bangkok, The Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies (IHRPS), the Lawyers Council of Thailand, and the Rights and Liberties Protection Department.

• April 21 will mark the 235th anniversary of the founding of the Rattanakosin Kingdom at Rattanakosin, Bangkok in 1782 by Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok (King Rama I), the founder of the current Chakri Dynasty. To mark the occasion special celebrations recognising the role played by the city’s founder, in addition to his nine successors will held between April 5 and 30 at the National Museum Bangkok, the National Gallery, the National Theatre, and at various landmarks around Rattanakosin Island.

• The Road Safety Directing Centre plans to introduce a range of initiatives aimed at minimising the number of people killed on Thailand’s roads during the upcoming Songkran Holiday, traditionally one of the deadliest periods on Thailand’s roads (See: Playboy Bunny Fearz Poonnada Killed Drunk Driving in Thailand).

 • The Department of Health is to launch a campaign to support families of Down Syndrome, which occurs in one in every 800 live births in Thailand, to raise awareness of their abilities and help them gain better employment.

• The Ministry of Commerce will implement a three-month long campaign to promote Thailand exports in Asean, China, India, and Russia.

• Newsline takes a special look at Thailand’s sericulture (silk worm) sector and its future in the Thailand 4.0 strategy.

• New registration fees for machinery will see business owners pay Bt750 (about US$21.63*) per machine valued at over Bt500,000 ($14,422*), capped at Bt12,000 ($346*) for multiple machines. The rate for the last 28 years has been Bt500 ($14.42*) per machine valued above Bt500,000, capped at Bt10,000 ($288*) for multiple machines. Registering machinery will allow SMEs to more easily obtain bank loans.

• A seminar in Bangkok by the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organizations (FETCO) has been told a survey of investors in March forecast investor confidence to drop by 8.58 per cent over the next three months, with no change seen in the current Thai benchmark rate of 1.5 per cent.

• Newsline takes a special look at the world of Thailand ‘gamecasters’ – online reviewers who either play PC games live while streaming on the internet, or through uploading videos to YouTube, and how they can earn money while doing it.

• A bilateral trade meeting between Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday resulted in three cooperation agreements being inked, in addition to an agreement to step up military cooperation to tackle emerging challenges in the region.

• and much more.

*At current exchange rates

 

 

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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.

 

 

 

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2 Responses to "Thailand English-language News For March 22, 2017"

  1. Paul   March 23, 2017 at 6:57 am

    Of course, you don’t really have freedom to write the truth. You are only independent to the extent of the law but as you well know in Thailand there is a lot to talk about that is important yet illegal under the law. What’s needed is real open discussion of the news not just a new source pushing the same old news. Whatever. You work for profit and that’s all that is required for news. The people however want the truth and someone who will go back in time and bring out the real truth, not just the propaganda of the royals and military elite.

    Reply
    • Editor   March 23, 2017 at 12:26 pm

      Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment.

      Although media freedom is severely hamstrung in Thailand (along with several other Asean member countries), AEC News Today will not knowingly withhold pertinent information from stories we publish. Please see our Code of Ethics. While we are not headquartered in Thailand, our managing editor is an accredited foreign correspondent there. Where necessary to protect the source of stories, or the writer, we will publish sensitive stories under the by line of ‘AEC Insider’. At other times, readers will, unfortunately, need to read between the lines.

      To date the Thailand government has blocked several news media sites. Several journalists have been prosecuted and jailed under the country’s lèse-majesté and criminal defamation laws. We have developed mobile apps in an attempt to bypass blocking should AEC News Today be subjected to such censorship. Being blocked though does not serve the interests of our readers, so we attempt to find ways to impart the same information without being blocked.

      We publish the Thailand government PR news to disseminate the message that Thailand government is imparting. We add our own insight while preparing the news reports and often this will not be the same focus as the government bulletin. Similarly, we add greater detail based on our first-hand knowledge to our original material.

      As for profit, we would like some. AEC News Today is privately financed by people who believe there is a need for a publication that focuses on policy and governance, as opposed to government and politics, throughout the region. Resources are scarce, and there are lots of issues that need addressing. We try our best with the resources that we have.

      We appreciate you reading and commenting. Our readership figures are growing every week. We hope you will continue to visit our site, and where you feel inclined, to comment also. Rest assured though that we will not omit relevant information from our stories.

      Thank you for taking the time to comment

      Ed.

      Reply

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