Thailand’s “Satun Province” Ready to Host 7th Asia Pacific Geoparks Network Symposium (APGN) 2022The 7th Asia Pacific Geoparks Network Symposium (APGN) 2022 is scheduled for September 4–11, 2022 at Songkhla Rajabhat University, Satun Campus and UNESCO Global Geoparks covering four districts in Satun, comprising Mueang Satun, La-Ngu, Thung Wa, and Manang, as well as other key landmarks in the province. This year’s geoparks networking conference will be held in person under the theme “UNESCO Global Geoparks Building Sustainable Communities” to foster collaboration and engagement with a shared goal to achieve geographical sustainability. The ability to host the symposium serves as an efficiency assessment benchmark for a renewal of the status of geoparks network in Satun. Satun governor Ekkarat Leesen said Satun stands ready to host the 7th APGN 2022 with standard infrastructure, conference facilities, venues, and accommodations in place to welcome participants from Asia-Pacific. For more information on the 7th APGN 2022, visit http://satunapgn2022.org/

September 03, 2022 12:06 UTC

The new, long-term resident (LTR) visa -- which kicked off on Thursday -- will allow selected non-Thais to stay in the kingdom for up to 10 years, Mr Suchart said. The visa offers a range of tax and non-tax benefits to attract new foreign residents, technologies and talents to stay or work in the country longer, he said. Spouses and children under 20 years of age will also qualify for the same visa, he said, adding that each LTR visa holder can have a maximum of four dependents. The new visa programme, unveiled more than a year ago, seeks to build on post-pandemic efforts to welcome back visitors as the tourism industry accounts for 12% of gross domestic product. "The long-term resident visa programme will help Thailand in the post-Covid economic recovery," Duangjai Asawachintachit, secretary-general of Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI), said on Wednesday.

September 03, 2022 01:47 UTC

Mr Arkhom says no Thai insurance policies exist for damage to state infrastructure. The Office of the Insurance Commission should consider approving insurance that covers environmental damage and damage to state infrastructure, says Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith. However, after such period state agencies have to shoulder the risks of project damage on their own, said Mr Arkhom. Many countries have these two types of insurance, said Mr Arkhom. The pandemic outbreak during the past two years is another factor encouraging Thais to buy insurance policies, said Mr Arkhom.

September 03, 2022 01:41 UTC

Innobic in talks with potential partnerMr Buranin is helping Innobic make rapid progress in the pharmaceutical business, especially in the field of cancer treatment. Innobic expects to make a significant step forward in the pharmaceutical industry through cooperation with its new business partner. "Entering the pharmaceutical industry is part of Innobic's business plan that aims to treat patients through modern medicinal products," said Mr Buranin. "These will lead us to a rapid growth in the life science business," said Mr Buranin. Investments in the pharmaceutical industry will pave the way for Innobic to grow its S-curve businesses.

September 01, 2022 23:52 UTC

(Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)The Bank of Thailand plans to hold a new debt mediation event in an effort to ease the country's swelling household debt and help vulnerable borrowers restructure debt amid the uneven economic recovery. The central bank, in collaboration with the Finance Ministry and other organisations in the public and private sectors, scheduled the online debt mediation event for Sept 26 to Nov 30. There are 56 financial institutions registered to join the debt mediation event, including commercial banks, non-banks, AMCs and SFIs. At the past three debt mediation events, around 80% of participants entered debt restructuring programmes, he said. He said the Bank of Thailand will help viable but fragile borrowers with debt restructuring as an instrument to ease the household debt problem.

September 01, 2022 23:52 UTC





The agency said 749,396 rai along the Chao Phraya, Pa Sak, Bang Pakong and Mun rivers were affected by floods, especially some areas in Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Phichit, Phetchabun, Nakhon Sawan, Chai Nat, Sing Buri, Suphan Buri, Ang Thong, Ayutthaya, Nakhon Nayok, Prachinburi and Nakhon Ratchasima. Precisely 260,558 rai of rice fields were among the areas overwhelmed by floods. The GISTDA said it had sent satellite images to various organisations to support their missions in planning and monitoring the flood situation. Meanwhile, the agency has also adjusted its satellite signal reception to monitor the situation in areas that are expected to be flooded.

September 01, 2022 20:15 UTC

DES Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said the ministry's smart school-bus system features an internet of things (IoT) sensor which can notify teachers and guardians about students inside the van via smartphones. The ministry also aims to add face recognition system to enable users to know whether all students had gotten off the van, he added. "The smart school bus will enable users to help students inside the vehicles quickly," he said. He added that the ministry would cooperate with the Education Ministry and related agencies to set up the system in all school vans nationwide. "If the project is successful, it will save many students' lives and no one will be forgotten inside school vans," he added.

September 01, 2022 06:17 UTC

Calls for an end to pork smugglingLarge cuts of pork illegally imported into the country. Pig farmers are calling on responsible authorities to take serious action to tackle pork smuggling, pointing out that the amount of smuggled pork has increased and could result in severe damage to total domestic pig farming in the fourth quarter. "The association has observed the pork smuggling situation for some time and found the amount of smuggled pork has been continuously increasing," he said. "We would like the Livestock Development Department to come up with a clearer statement on how to tackle the issue and work together with the private sector and farmers to address pork smuggling." "But before the new supply enters the market in the fourth quarter of this year, we should not allow pork smuggling to persist," said Mr Surachai.

September 01, 2022 00:10 UTC

The event was jointly hosted by the DGK and Yoo Jung-ju, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea. At the beginning of the meeting, director Park Chan-wook, who is currently in Los Angeles, joined via videoconference to show his support for a revision to the Copyright Act. “I hope that the revised copyright bill can be passed as soon as possible,” Park said. I will support the bill until the end.”“I proposed the revised bill with 38 lawmakers -- that is not a small number. During the discussion session that followed, five directors behind hit films that each attracted more than 10 million moviegoers -- Yoon Je-kyoon, Kim Han-min, Kim Yong-hwa, Kang Je-kyu and Kang Yoon-sung -- shared their experiences.

August 31, 2022 16:54 UTC

Govt looks to Indian weddings to boost tourism revenueFILE PHOTO: An Indian wedding at the JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa in 2016 (photo supplied)Thailand hopes to boost its tourism revenue to between 600 billion-700 billion baht by year-end, by targeting high-spending groups like Indian wedding parties and honeymooners, a senior tourism official said. The government hopes to tap into "pent-up demand" from the multi-billion dollar Indian wedding industry, Tourism Authority of Thailand deputy governor Siripakorn Cheawsamoot told Reuters in an interview this week. Foreign tourism revenue from January to Aug 28 came in at 186 billion baht from 4.2 million visitors, and 10 million arrivals are expected for the full year. Now, having dropped most pandemic-related restrictions, the government is targeting revenue of $11 billion in the second half of 2022. Indian weddings in Thailand can cost 10 million to 30 million baht, as they can last up to a week and include everything from event planning to catering, decoration and transportation.

August 31, 2022 09:37 UTC

He said the baht is likely to fluctuate across a wide range and could weaken as the dollar is strengthening. Poon however speculated that the baht would not weaken past its key resistance level of 36.50 as exporters are waiting to offload the dollar at that level. Moreover, foreign investors do not appear to be in a hurry to sell their Thai assets and Poon believes they will in fact purchase more Thai stocks as prices head down while investors are wary of taking risks in the US and European stock markets. However, he noted the baht could be volatile today, Wednesday, especially as China announces various economic results.

August 31, 2022 03:27 UTC

HP executives at the HP Amplify Executive Forum held in Dubai. Global tech and computer giant HP Inc is widening growth opportunities in the fields of hybrid work, gaming and sustainability, which have a total addressable market value of more than US$700 billion. He said HP sees three significant trends in the coming years, covering hybrid work, gaming, and sustainability. The first lies in the engineering to support hybrid work, said Ms Sanmartin. Launched in early 2021, HP Amplify Impact represents a first-of-its-kind partner assessment, resource and training programme, leveraging HP's own investments and initiatives.

August 31, 2022 01:10 UTC

Mr Piyasvasti told the Bangkok Post that THAI had slipped to be among the world's top 30 airlines as it entered into its rehabilitation process. That lowered the payroll from 2 billion baht per month to about 700 million baht currently. THAI also downsized its fleet from 103 planes to 61, of which 20 belong to its subsidiary Thai Smile Airways. Suvadhana: Wants a top-10 rankingTHAI entered bankruptcy last year to restructure 400 billion baht of debt. In the second quarter, THAI and its subsidiaries reported total revenue excluding one-time transactions of 21.5 billion baht, up 282% year-on-year.

August 30, 2022 23:21 UTC

About Avaada GroupAvaada Group is India’s leading Renewable Energy (RE) company with diverse business interests in Solar Module Manufacturing, Electrolyser manufacturing and Green Ammonia production. Avaada is one of the fastest-growing business groups having commissioned few largest solar projects across 11 states in India. Avaada Energy known for its rich expertise in EPC makes it a leader when it comes to its track record for executing end-to-end solutions. *Welspun Energy was established in 2010 with an installed capacity of 1.2 GW in 2016, being India's largest renewable energy company. The monetisation process followed the demerger of Welspun Energy, and the firm was rechristened Avaada Energy.

August 30, 2022 16:50 UTC

The move was left off the agenda despite an earlier government pledge to soften impacts from rising fuel prices. However, the source speculated that power-bill relief measures would be discussed at next week’s Cabinet meeting. Last week, Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said the Energy Policy Administration Committee that he chairs approved discounts for household electricity users amid a record rise in the cost of electricity. Over the next four months, the price of electricity will soar from 4 baht per unit to a record high of 4.72 baht. Supattanapong estimated the discounts will cost the government around 2 billion baht per month or 8 billion baht over the four months.

August 30, 2022 07:24 UTC