As of Sunday, the Oil Fuel Fund is in a deficit of 81 billion baht, of which 45.9 billion baht deficit is in the oil subsidy and 35.4 billion baht in the LPG subsidy. The fund’s liquidity stands at 9.7 billion baht, 3.2 billion baht of which is in the fund’s bank account and 6.5 billion baht deposited with the Finance Ministry.

The Finance Ministry is considering the private sector's proposal to delay and reduce collection of the land and building tax because businesses are struggling with the double whammy of the impact of the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, says minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith. In 2020, the government issued a 90% cut to the land and building tax to ease the burden on owners of land and building sites because of the severe impact of the pandemic. A ministry source who requested anonymity said the ministry is concerned a delay or cut of this tax could affect the local administrations' revenue. Though this year landowners have to resume paying the full amount, the land and building tax law still offers a payment discount this year. Regarding the tax discount rules, if landowners are assessed a tax higher than the amount calculated under the previous land tax, they are allowed to pay the previous tax rate.

F-35 purchase plan in perilThe Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) will not back down on its request to purchase US-made F-35 fighter jets, even after the opposition party announced it would use the issue to vote down the 2023 budget bill during an upcoming House debate. The air force is aiming to procure three of the aircraft per year in each phase, and the process may take about seven years. Yutthapong Charasathian, deputy leader of the Pheu Thai Party, said opposition parties will vote down the budget bill in parliament tomorrow over the plan to purchase the F-35s. He said that the country needs money for development and financial relief rather than new fighter jets. "I wanted to know why we need new fighter jets and who we must fight against," he said.

He said the fair successfully matched 46 leading global firms from 12 countries with the 53 Thai digital content makers. The matchings led to 266 online negotiating partners and helped the Thai firms sell products worth THB690.65 million, Phusit added. Animations accounted for THB412.9 million, digital characters for THB150 million, games THB103.9 million and e-learning courses THB23.6 million. The foreign firms were mostly interested in Thailand’s animation outsourcing services, followed by game outsourcing service, game development and animation co-production, Phusit added.

He will defend the budget in Parliament on Tuesday. Of the total, 78.2% will go towards funding fixed expenses while the rest will finance investment projects, she said, adding the coming year's fiscal budget is 85 billion baht higher than that of 2022. A sum of around 270 billion baht will be earmarked for 265 projects spanning 14 ministries and aimed at tackling poverty in five core areas of development, she said. He likened the bill to a seriously ill elephant and claimed the majority of the provisions merely address existing needs, while only 30% of the budget has been set aside for future management of the country. The government should better plan its budget to bring about the recovery of the country's economy and raise public hope, he said.

(Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)Whether the government should bid farewell to economic stimulus measures became a source of debate after the topic was raised by an economist at Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI). He said these measures help reduce the cost of living for the public, attributed to surging global energy prices. Economic stimulus is insufficient for the long run. Authorities must prioritise jobs and clearly understand who will be the target groups for their economic measures. When the economy fully recovers, the government can reduce the budget deficit and create a balanced budget, said Mr Pornchai.

(Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut)The Department of Disease Control (DDC) has stopped reporting Covid-19 infections using rapid antigen test kits (ATK) and plans to report only cases that require hospitalisation. She discussed the proposed change to the way Covid-19 infections will be reported after positive Covid-19 cases using ATKs were dropped from the DDC's dashboard. "Changes are being introduced to Covid-19 reporting and, after June 1, we plan to report only the cases with symptoms and requiring hospitalisation," she said. The proposed change will be submitted to the meeting of the ministry's emergency operations centre (EOC) tomorrow before it is adopted by the CCSA, she said. The easing of face mask wearing will have to be approved by the CCSA and published in the Royal Gazette.

Registered EVs fell into three categories: battery electric vehicles (BEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). The government has ambitions to make Thailand the largest EV production hub in the world, with EVs constituting 50 per cent of total domestic auto production by 2030. Comparison of EV registration April 2021 vs April 2022:

The top 10 countries are:Singapore: 68,435India: 58,716Vietnam: 25,273Malaysia: 24,804Cambodia: 21,087US: 20,407UK: 18,255Australia: 18,077UAE: 14,933Germany: 13,346A total of 490,637 tourists visited Thailand between May 1 and 27, of which 401,722 were foreigners and 88,915 were Thais. Meanwhile, 724,291 tourists registered for entry via Thailand Pass between April 29 and May 27. Of these 709,463 were approved, 14,740 rejected, and 7,088 were waiting for approval. From Wednesday, June 1, Thai nationals will no longer have to apply for the pass though the requirement will remain for foreign travellers.

Kingdom stands to gain from IPEFNews of Thailand's participation in US President Joe Biden's Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) has caused quite a stir in the kingdom, with some members of the public protesting a move perceived as putting the country at odds with China and Russia. President Biden introduced the IPEF during his visit to the region on May 23. It does the kingdom no good to allow fear or favour to drive economic policy at a time like this. Should economic opportunities arise from the IPEF, Thailand will be among the first to reap the rewards because of that decision made earlier this week. IPEF membership is likely to be beneficial in the future and the cabinet will next week discuss this issue.

Kick-off had to be delayed by 36 minutes due to substantial security issues outside the Stade de France, where Liverpool would be edged out 1-0 in a tense, engaging final settled by Real star Vinicius Jr.Jurgen Klopp’s Reds were unable to find a response to the second-half strike as Carlo Ancelotti, managing a record fifth Champions League final just a year after leaving Everton, oversaw the Spanish giants’ 14th European Cup triumph. It was a heartbreaking end to a memorable season for Liverpool, who won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup before being pipped to the Premier League title by a point and losing in the French capital. Liverpool had settled quickest in Paris, where Thibaut Courtois denied Mohamed Salah – a man in search of revenge following his injury in the 2018 defeat to Real – before tipping a Sadio Mane strike onto the post.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa talk at a signing ceremony between the two countries in Apia on Saturday. (Samoa Observer Photo via AFP)Samoa signed a bilateral agreement with China on Saturday, promising “greater collaboration” as Beijing’s foreign minister continues a South Pacific tour that has sparked concern among Western allies. A press release from the Samoan government confirmed that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa had met and discussed “climate change, the pandemic and peace and security”. “Samoa and the People’s Republic of China will continue to pursue greater collaboration that will deliver on joint interests and commitments,” the release said. “We have expressed our concerns publicly about the security agreement,” Wong told reporters in Suva, the capital of Fiji.

Indonesian rescuers evacuate hundreds of passengers from the ferry KM Sirimau after it ran aground off the coast of Lembata on May 19. No one was hurt, but the incident underlined the risks of boat transport in the archipelago. (AFP Photo)MAKASSAR, Indonesia: Indonesian rescue teams were looking for 26 people missing on Saturday after a boat with 43 people on board capsized off Sulawesi island. The motorboat that had left Paotere port in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province, at midnight Thursday was reported missing the next day when it failed to arrive its destination, local media reported. Rescued passengers were picked up by tugboats and taken to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan and Jeneponto in South Sulawesi, South Sulawesi search and rescue agency chief Djunaidi said on Saturday.

Nation Group sold 691,032,167 NBC shares at a price of 1.30 baht apiece, totalling 898.34 million baht, to two major shareholders of One to One Contacts – Boon-aue Chitthanom and Nattapong Sitaworarat. With the NBC purchase, One to One and its allies plan to expand its Happy Home Shopping business to cover health products and enter the telemedicine business in the future. The shares sold accounted for 61.4 per cent of Nation Group’s stake in NBC. The sale was approved by Nation Group shareholders in April following a resolution by its executive board in March.

The TCC thanked the Foreign Ministry for persuading China to open more trade channels and the Commerce Ministry for tapping new overseas export markets to prevent oversupply of Thai fruit. “This has resulted in over 200 billion baht of fruit exports so far this year,” said TCC vice chairman Pratya Samalapa, who also chairs the chamber's committee on the eastern region, Thailand's "fruit basket". He thanked the government for its efforts in tackling what he called the “fruit oversupply crisis”. Along with agriculture, other economic sectors in eastern provinces seeing recovery include gems and jewellery manufacturing and tourism, Pratya added. The tourism revival would have a knock-on effect in other sectors and bring more jobs to the eastern region, he said.