People shop for gifts for the festive season at Sampheng market in Samphanthawong district, Bangkok, last Friday. The rule relaxation by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) was welcomed by tourism operators and other businesses in these major tourist destinations. A meeting was called on Wednesday to brief business operators on what they can and cannot do during the New Year festival, said Bun-anan Phatthanasin, president of Pattaya City's business and tourism association. Sa-nga Ruangwatthanakul, president of the association of business operators on Khao San Road, now expects some 10,000 people, twice the usual number of visitors on a busy night. Phuket aims to offer revellers the maximum time limit in terms of celebrating New Year's Eve with alcohol.

Arkhom launches SME lending initiativeFinance Minister Arkom Termpittayapaisith (Bangkok Post file photo)The government is ready to relax the rules to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access loans from financial institutions more easily, says Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith. His ministry also supports the use of digital technology to help SMEs expand their businesses, Mr Arkhom said on Thursday at an event launching a digital supply chain finance project. Mr Arkhom said the digital supply chain finance platform will be a key driver of economic growth next year. The central bank, in collaboration with the private sector, launched the digital supply chain finance project for businesses to provide them with greater access to finance. Payong Srivanich, chairman of the TBA, said the digital supply chain finance solution would open up opportunities for SMEs to access more bank loans via information-based lending.

Tourism ministry unveils portal to assist visitorsEntry Thailand, a new tourism websiteThailand has launched a new tourism website, aiming to make travel to the country easier for the 8-15 million tourists expected to visit next year. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the tourism and sports minister, said the ministry created the portal website as a part of its e-service roadmap between 2022 and 2024 to facilitate tourists who face more difficulties due to complicated requirements during the pandemic. The ministry wants this platform to help reduce their difficulties when planning trips to Thailand," said Mr Phiphat. According to the ministry, the portal website will help centralise the scattered information regarding travel experiences in Thailand, such as attractions, transportation and food. The first phase of the website has been allocated a 49.6-million-baht budget and the ministry hopes the system can help connect Thailand with 7 billion tourists globally.

Mr Buranin said PTT Group is synergising its energy and engineering know-how with the expertise of its business partners in the life sciences field. Innobic (Asia) is also keen on developing Thailand's first pharmaceutical factory to make cancer treatment drugs. FIGHTING CANCERInnobic (Asia) teamed up with the Queen Sirikit Center for Breast Cancer in September to further develop modern treatments for patients. The centre earlier announced it is the first in the world to successfully use immunotherapy to treat a breast cancer patient who is now in remission with minimal side effects. A team of doctors, led by Kris Chatamra, gave the patient new hope, taking her back to a healthier life after the invasive breast cancer previously caused her to stop treatments.

Pictured from left are Mr Nattakit, Mr Chart and Mr Eguchi at a press conference held yesterday to announce plans to open the second phase of the Central Village luxury outlet on Jan 28, 2022. Central Village Co, a joint venture between SET-listed retail and property developer Central Pattana (CPN) and Mitsubishi Estate (Thailand) Co, plans to develop five new luxury outlets in the provinces to tap high purchasing power and international tourists in the area. He said few details about the investment have been decided, though a second luxury outlet is projected to be opened in two years. In a related development, the company yesterday announced its plans to open the second phase of the Central Village luxury outlet on Jan 28, 2022. Central Village opened in August 2019.

(Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)The World Bank predicts Thai economic activity will return to 2019 levels by the end of 2022, helping support GDP growth of 3.9% next year, up from 1% this year. The World Bank left its estimate for 2021 Thai GDP growth unchanged at 1%. However, Mr Kiatipong said the Thai economy still faces downside risks based on several uncertainties both internationally and locally. The sustained reopening of international borders will undoubtedly affect the country's tourism and GDP growth, said Mr Kiatipong. However, a recent 2021 World Bank household phone survey indicates the impact of the pandemic has been particularly severe on vulnerable groups.

Airlines Association of Thailand seeks visa waiver for global travellersForeign tourists arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport during the first day of the country's reopening campaign on Nov 1, 2021. (Reuters photo)The Airlines Association of Thailand (AAT) is urging the government to consider implementing a visa waiver for international travellers to attract more demand as global competition is getting intense. Visa exemption is a measure that will help increase the number of international tourists next year to the goal of 10 million. Speaking at the "Thai Aviation Industry Conference 2021: flying to the new era of Thai aviation" seminar, Mr Puttipong said Thailand's aviation industry will return to 20-30% of the pre-Covid level despite the Nov 1 reopening. However, they were not adequate to shore up business until Thai Airways submits its rehabilitation plan.

World Bank keeps Thai growth outlook at 1% this year, sees better 2022FILE PHOTO: A participant stands near a logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund - World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Oct 12, 2018. "A major surge in Covid-19 cases severely slowed economic activity in Thailand during Q3 of 2021, but a recovery is now underway," the World Bank said in its latest Thailand Economic Monitor. Growth risks, however, are skewed to the downside due to uncertain variables, the World Bank said. The new Omicron variant is one such risk and if there were new containment measures and border closures, the economy could contract 0.3% in 2022, Kiatipong Ariyapruchya, senior World Bank economist for Thailand, told a briefing. Monetary policy is expected to remain accommodative to support the recovery, with the policy interest rate still seen unchanged at a record low of 0.50% in 2022, the World Bank said.

The number of provinces declared control zones (orange zones) will increase from 23 to 39. The number of high surveillance zones (yellow zones) will rise from 24 provinces to 30 provinces. The number of blue-coded tourism-oriented zones will increase from seven to eight: Chon Buri, Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Krabi, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Phangnga and Phuket. Another 18 provinces also have some districts declared as tourism-oriented zones, and altogether such zones will exist in 26 provinces. Previously, the CCSA had downgraded the dark-red maximum and strict control zones in six provinces along with the nationwide curfew, effective on Dec 1.

Central Village, a joint venture between Central Pattana Plc. Watch a sneak peak of Central Village Phase II from this link https://youtu.be/kyKGOyV2b_wMr. Central Village is, therefore, one of Central Pattana’s best and most complete lifestyle destinations that is beyond a place to shop for branded items.”Central Pattana has developed five key strategies to ensure a long-lasting success for Central Village. Central Village has been successful in creating lifestyle communities such as:For the family group, Central Village will add more renowned Japanese brands of home & living products, kitchen products, and toys and clothing. Expanding the nationwide intensive omnichannelThe Chat & Shop services are key to the “perfect integration” with all Central shopping centres across the country with the ability to target high-spending customers of other Central shopping centres for CRM marketing.

Supattanapong urges positive approachPeople shop for decorative items and gifts for the festive season at Sampeng market in Samphanthawong district. Apichit JinakulDeputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow has called on the public and private sectors to stay positive to help boost the country's economic recovery next year. Mr Supattanapong said he is confident that investment applications filed to the Board of Investment (BoI) will reach 600 billion baht this year, which is close to the value achieved in 2019. The applications stood at 756 billion baht in 2019 and 481 billion baht in 2020. "We've already submitted the measures to the cabinet, but it now rests upon the premier whether to bring it into the cabinet for approval at today [Dec 14]'s or next week's meeting," Mr Supattanapong said.

Used rail carriages from Japan arriveState Railway of Thailand staff take a selfie with train carriages donated by Japan which arrived at Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri on Monday. (Photo: Apichart Jinakul)Seventeen second-hand passenger train carriages donated by Japan have arrived in Thailand, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) announced on Monday. The Kiha 183 carriages, which were previously in service on Japan Railways' Hokkaido Line, arrived at Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri on Monday. The process will take at least two years, he said, adding the carriages can be used for at least another 50 years. The first lot of 10 carriages, first used on the Hamanasu line in Japan, are now currently being refurbished.

Johnson said on Monday the first patient had died after contracting the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Sky news reported. (AFP photo)GENEVA: The Omicron coronavirus variant, reported in more than 60 countries, poses a "very high" global risk, with some evidence that it evades vaccine protection but clinical data on its severity is limited, the World Health Organization says. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday the first patient had died after contracting the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, Sky news reported. "The overall risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron remains very high for a number of reasons," it said, reiterating its first assessment of Nov 29. The Oxford researchers said there was currently no evidence of Omicron causing more severe disease.

Finding a place to discover and buy roast coffee in Thailand through Coffee CultureCould you believe that coffee in Thailand back three decades ago was barely even known? But since the first Coffee World opened in Thailand in 1997, the Thai coffee culture has been an ever changing trend. Through this, Susan Villota, Coffee Culture’s Founder & CEO, aims to improve the conditions for both the coffee roasters and coffee drinkers of Thailand. Coffee Culture was built to be a place where you can buy fresh roasted coffee beans and pre-ground coffee from different coffee roasters in Thailand. These cafés use coffee beans from Coffee Culture.

Thailand's average headline inflation was 1.15% year-on-year and core inflation 0.21% for the first 11 months this year. According to Ronnarong Phoolpipat, director-general of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO), Thailand's headline inflation is likely to top 3% next year from a range of 0.8% to 1.2% this year. "From such cost-push factors, Thailand's headline inflation in 2022 may possibly hit 3%, a rate last seen in 2012," he said. "Rising headline inflation may negatively affect salaried employees and farmers whose income does not come in line with rapidly rising expenses." For the first 11 months this year, Thailand's average headline inflation was 1.15% year-on-year and core inflation 0.21%.