CTP pro-charter rewrite but says some parts are sacred
CTP pro-charter rewrite but says some parts are sacredThe Chartthaipattana Party (CTP) yesterday voiced support for setting up a charter-drafting assembly to write a new constitution but insisted Chapters 1 and 2 must be left untouched. CTP director Nikorn Chamnong said he agreed with the policy of Pheu Thai Party, the core party forming a new government, to amend the current charter and said the best approach would be to create a new one with the involvement of the public. However, he said Chapters 1 and 2 must not be revised, and a planned referendum on the charter rewrite must not leave room for any interpretation that these two chapters can be amended. Mr Nikorn's comments came as Pheu Thai posted yesterday on its social media that a charter rewrite was top of its agenda. ILaw manager Yingcheep Atchanond asked if the charter rewrite could be pursued if Pheu Thai was planning to invite the Palang Pracharath Party and United Thai Nation Party (UTN) to join the coalition.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 11, 2023 22:59 UTC
Snubbed Pheu Thai woos UTN
Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, a United Thai Nation Party (UTN) list-MP, left, speaks during a parliament session on July 4 as Somsak Thepsutin, a Pheu Thai list-MP, right, looks on. It is now trying to woo support from the United Thai Nation Party (UTN), while the Move Forward Party (MFP) has apparently snubbed it. Somsak Thepsutin, a Pheu Thai list-MP, said he met Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, a UTN list-MP, for talks on the possibility of the UTN joining the Pheu Thai-led coalition. Deputy Pheu Thai leader Phum- tham Wechayachai said a meeting between Pheu Thai and MFP key figures on Wednesday was not an invitation for the MFP to join the coalition. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidate and daughter of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, also attended.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 11, 2023 17:53 UTC
Credit card firms want to hike top rate
Local credit card operators plan to seek Bank of Thailand approval to raise their maximum interest rates as their costs have risen. The funding cost for credit card operators has increased in line with rising interest rates, according to the Credit Card Club, a unit of the Thai Bankers’ Association. The club also wants to discuss postponing an increase in the minimum payment rate for credit cards. The club has 16 members, mostly credit card providers from commercial banks and large non-banks. Mr Atis is also the managing director of General Card Services Ltd, a Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri) affiliate that oversees the Central The 1 credit card, a co-branded card from Krungsri and Central Retail Corporation.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 11, 2023 15:10 UTC
Vietnam has up to 8m tonnes of rice for export
Vietnam has up to 8m tonnes of rice for exportFarmers work in a paddy field next to large electricity pylons on the outskirts of Hanoi on Feb 15, 2022. (Photo: AFP)HANOI: Vietnam has 7 million to 8 million metric tonnes of rice for export this year, state media reported on Friday. Rice output this year is expected to be 27 million to 28 million metric tonnes, the agriculture minister, Le Minh Hoan, said in a report cited by the Vietnam News Agency. Rice exports from Vietnam in the first seven months of this year rose 21% from a year earlier to 4.89 million tonnes, according to government data. Its shipments totalled 7.1 million tonnes last year.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 11, 2023 15:06 UTC
Will India be a new economic superpower?
Will India be a new economic superpower? "Far more than China today, India is an economic miracle waiting to happen," he wrote in The New York Times. China became an economic superpower; projections of India as next are little more than hype. The World Bank's 2020 Human Capital Index gave India a score of 0.49, below Nepal and Kenya, both poorer countries. By contrast, no Indian university, including the celebrated Indian Institutes of Technology, is ranked among the world's top 100.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 11, 2023 03:47 UTC
Pita gives view on PM rejection
Pita gives view on PM rejectionPita Limjaroenrat, leader of the election-winning Move Forward Party (MFP) leader, right, and MFP-list MP Rangsiman Rome, left, leave the parliament on July 13 after Mr Pita, the sole prime ministerial candidate, failed to gather enough support in a joint sitting of elected MPs and appointed senators to become the country's 30th prime minister. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat on Thursday said he believes he could have been renominated for prime minister in parliament without having to wait for a court ruling. Responding to questions about the pending court case, Mr Pita said he believed he remains eligible to be renominated as a challenger under House regulations without having to wait for a court decision. But when asked about being in opposition, Mr Pita expressed the hope of having the chance one day to be in the government. "If you were and are impressed by our performance as an opposition party, we can deliver more as a government," he said.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 11, 2023 00:35 UTC
When legal battles shake democracies
When legal battles shake democraciesThree of the world's biggest democracies, all with past, present and/or prospective leaders facing prison at the same time. Almost all the judges play along in Pakistan, and all Pakistani governments jail opposition politicians (including Imran Khan's, when he was in power). Mr Gandhi, in mid-speech at an election rally, asked "Why do all these thieves have Modi as their surname? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi." The Gujarat court duly found Mr Gandhi guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 10, 2023 19:05 UTC
PPRP will back Pheu Thai PM candidate, says MP
(Photo: Apichart Jinakul)All 40 MPs from the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) will vote for the Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidate unconditionally because the country urgently needs to have a government, says a party MP. Pai Leeke, a Palang Pracharath MP for Kamphaeng Phet, said on Thursday that the party had not been formally approached by Pheu Thai since key figures of the two parties met at Pheu Thai headquarters on July 23. Pheu Thai, which came second in the May 14 election, later dumped Move Forward and moved to form its own coalition. The votes of the PPRP would bring the total to 278, meaning it would still need the support of 97 senators in a vote for the Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidate. The majority of its original members were defectors from the Pheu Thai Party.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 10, 2023 14:36 UTC
Chartthaipattana joins Pheu Thai-led coalition
(Photo: Chanat Katanyu)The Pheu Thai Party has welcomed the Chartthaipattana Party, along with its 10 MPs, into its coalition, raising the number of House seats held by the coalition to 238 out of the total 500. Chartthaipattana leader Varawut Silpa-archa said he thanked Pheu Thai for inviting his party to the coalition. Mr Varawut cited shared policies and perspectives between Pheu Thai and Chartthaipattana and expressed confidence in Pheu Thai's potential to lead the upcoming administration. Pheu Thai deputy leader Phumtham Wechayachai said that Pheu Thai representatives’ meeting with the MFP on Wednesday was not an invitation for the latter to join the coalition government. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidate and daughter of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, also attended the meeting.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 10, 2023 13:47 UTC
Parties wait for Pheu Thai invite
It is up to Pheu Thai to decide whether to invite us. "I believe Pheu Thai is also currently approaching other parties," he added. Before attending a cabinet meeting yesterday, Gen Prawit said there had been no approach from Pheu Thai so far. "We are waiting for Pheu Thai to send an invitation," he said. Mr Varawut said it should be left to Pheu Thai to nominate a prime ministerial candidate who it deems fit for the next vote in parliament.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 09, 2023 14:41 UTC
Pheu Thai brings 6 small parties into its alliance
Key members of Pheu Thai and the six new parties announced their alliance at parliament on Wednesday — 87 days after the May 14 general election. The other parties are: Prachachart (9 House seats), Pheu Thai Ruam Palang (2), Chartpattanakla (2), Seri Ruam Thai (1), Palang Sangkhom Mai (1) and The Thongtee Thai Party (The Party of Thai Counties), which has one MP and was formed by former village chiefs, health volunteers and other civil servants. Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew said his party had now secured 228 House seats in its bid to form a Pheu Thai-led coalition government. Also present at the announcement were Pheu Thai deputy leader Phumtham Wechayachai, Pheu Thai secretary-general Prasert Chantararuangthong, Seri Ram Thai leader Sereepisuth Temeeyaves, Chartpattanakla chairman Suwat Liptapanlop, Prachachart secretary-general Tawee Sodsong and representatives of the other parties. Pheu Thai came second in the May 14 general election with 141 House seats, followed by Bhumjaithai with 71.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 09, 2023 14:04 UTC
PTTEP predicts slight slip in sales this year
Gas sales from the Bongkot gas field in the Gulf of Thailand are projected to drop this year, mainly due to a change in the way sales volume is calculated under a production sharing contract. Sales volume stood at 468 KBOED last year. From January to June, sales from the Block 61 gas field in Oman decreased. PTTEP is continuing to ratchet up gas production from the Erawan gas field in the Gulf. PTTEP joined a consortium to develop a liquefied natural gas production facility in Mozambique's Rovuma Area 1.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 09, 2023 11:43 UTC
Thai sugar faces anti-dumping duty in Vietnam
(Photo: Mitr Phol Group)HANOI: Vietnam has imposed anti-dumping penalties between 25.73% and 32.75% on sugar products imported from some of Thailand’s biggest sugar producers for a period of nearly three years, the country’s trade ministry said on Tuesday. An anti-dumping tax of 32.75% will be applied to Asia’s biggest sugar and bioenergy producer, Mitr Phol Sugar, and four associated companies, the ministry said. Thai Roong Ruang Industry and its five affiliates will face an anti-dumping tax of 25.73% and an anti-subsidy tax of 4.65%, the statement added. Vietnamese sugar producers had complained to the government that to get around earlier anti-dumping measures, some sugar products originating from Thailand were being imported via Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar. Vietnam removed duties on sugar imported from Southeast Asian countries in 2020, in accordance with the commitments of the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 08, 2023 14:37 UTC
PM at new terminal before soft launch
PM at new terminal before soft launchPrime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha tours Satellite Airport Terminal 1 (SAT-1) at Suvarnabhumi airport before its soft launch next month. (Photo: Government House)Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday inspected Suvarnabhumi Airport's Satellite Airport Terminal 1 ahead of its soft launch next month. Gen Prayut said the visit was a follow-up on construction projects under Phase 2 of the Suvarnabhumi Airport development plan, which includes the SAT-1 terminal. The terminal is set for a soft opening late next month, he said. "The SAT-1 terminal, the third runway and other projects under development are part of the foundation work to revive the economy and tourism sector," the premier said.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 08, 2023 02:57 UTC
Discover the essence of pearls
Atta Gallery is holding "Pearl", a group exhibition by 10 international material-based artists, until Sept 17. On showcase are accessories and artistic items by five female British jewellers -- Caroline Broadhead, Lin Cheung, Melanie Georgacopoulos, Maria Militsi and Frances Wadsworth Jones. The strength of this group, however, is the diversity of each individual's ideas and approaches to a single subject matter. Their investigations interrogate traditional uses of pearls and position them in a contemporary, surprising, humorous or ironic context. Atta Gallery is located at Warehouse 30, Charoen Krung 30 and opens Wednesday to Sunday from 1-6.30pm.
Source:Bangkok Post
August 08, 2023 02:49 UTC