KEY ISSUES AT A GLANCE
- Opposition attacks budget bill prepared by ‘incompetent, visionless government’. The opposition wasted no time today (Tuesday), the first day of the three-day debate in the Lower House, in attacking the annual budget bill, which they describe as incorrectly proportioned and prepared by “incompetent, visionless” government. Taking to the floor to grill the government over the 3.18 trillion baht budget bill for the 2023 fiscal year, after its presentation by the prime minister, Chonlanan said that the opposition cannot accept the bill because there is no guarantee that it will address all the pressing problems confronted by the country caused by the government’s incompetence. He said that the budget bill had been prepared without taking into consideration the changing situation and alleged that there are indications of corruption and nepotism, citing, for instance, the budgets for both the Department of Highways and the Department of Rural Roads, which have increased substantially to over 130 billion baht, but were partially concealed in the budget as a logistics development plan. Source: Thai PBS, Bangkok Post, Thai Enquirer
- Hiking of rice price by Thailand, Vietnam ‘impossible’ – export body. A pact between Thailand and Vietnam to raise rice prices would be “impossible”, a top industry official said in another sign of opposition to a government-proposed plan for a rice cartel amid a global food crisis. The Thai government said on Friday it planned with Vietnam to create a pact between the world’s second- and third-largest rice exporters to boost their bargaining power and help mitigate rising production costs. Vietnam has yet to confirm such a plan was being discussed. The Rice Exporters Association of Thailand criticised the move as ‘poorly thought out’. Source: Reuters.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Tourism hit by safety, security woes. Thailand’s ranking in the Travel and Tourism Development Index 2021 dropped to 36th from 35th place, with safety and security plunging to the lower end of the table, while neighbouring countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam posted improvements. Out of 117 countries, Thailand fell one spot with a score of 4.3 out of 7 points. Indonesia secured second place in Southeast Asia, jumping from 44th to 32nd in the index conducted by the World Economic Forum. Vietnam moved up from 60th to 52nd. Singapore kept the top spot in the region, though its ranking was unchanged. The index is based on scores from 1-7, where 1 is the worst performance. The two key categories where Thailand declined were “Enabling Environment” and “Travel and Tourism Policy and Enabling Conditions”. For Enabling Environment, safety and security of the country was ranked 92nd with a score of 4.3, lagging behind the Asean average of 5.4. Thailand’s health and hygiene ranking was 74th, with a score of 4.3. For Travel and Tourism Policy and Enabling Conditions, prioritisation of travel and tourism dropped to 88th with a score of 3.7 points, the lowest in the region, which averaged 4.4. Categories that posted an improved performance were “Infrastructure” and “Travel and Tourism Sustainability”, while “Travel and Tourism Demand Drivers” remained unchanged. Source: Bangkok Post
- Cabinet heats up as Don-Jurin debate on CPTPP with different perspectives. At the cabinet’s meeting, Foreign Minister Don urged the government to consider joining the negotiation process for CPTPP as he fears Thailand may be missing valuable opportunities, as was the case with the Thai-EU FTA which Thailand had sat on for 14 years. DPM and Commerce Minister Jurin responded by saying that the government is unable to make a decision on this because of strong objections from stakeholders, and that actions should be taken after Thailand has thoroughly studied the approaches of other countries. To this end, the government spokesperson Rachada reiterated that Thailand will not participate in CPTPP negotiations until it is able to ascertain the benefits of CPTPP to the country. The cabinet also approved of the Partnership and Cooperation Framework Agreement (PCA), which sets the long-term direction Thailand’s trade and economic policies with the EU. Source: Thansettakij, Krungthep Turakij
AUSTRALIA IN THE NEWS
- Australia PM Albanese appoints record number of women to diverse Cabinet. Australia’s new federal ministry was sworn into office on Wednesday (Jun 1), with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointing a record number of women to a diverse Cabinet team that includes religious minorities and Indigenous Aboriginals. A total of 10 women were included in Albanese’s 23-member Cabinet, surpassing the seven in the previous Liberal-National coalition government led by Scott Morrison. Industry Minister Ed Husic and Youth Minister Anne Aly became Australia’s first Muslim federal ministers at a ceremony in the national capital, Canberra, while Linda Burney, wearing a kangaroo-skin cloak, became the first Aboriginal woman to hold the Indigenous Australians ministry. Albanese formed an interim ministry, that included four other key members, two days after the May 21 election so he could attend a Quad group meeting in Tokyo, attended by US But President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and India. Source: Channel News Asia
COVID
- With the changes to reporting now including ATK cases (BUT excluding ATK tests in Bangkok) the numbers are now conflicting.
- DODC Ministry of Public Health reports the daily number as 8, 784 daily cases, however all the major news sites are reporting non ATK inclusive numbers of 4, 563.
- This news summary will report both numbers for the time being.
- The DODC Ministry Of Public Health website has now been made temporarily unavailable so there may still be further changes ahead… watch this space
- 4, 563 new cases Source: Thai News reports, Bangkok Post, Thai PBS
- 8, 784 new cases Source: Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health
- 28 deaths
- 5, 125 discharged from hospital
- 39, 272 currently in hospital
POLITICS
- Chadchart officially becomes Bangkok’s new Governor. Chadchart Sittipunt officially became the next Bangkok Governor today (Tuesday) at 3pm, after the Election Commission (EC) finally certified the results of the Bangkok gubernatorial election, which the independent candidate won by a landslide on May 22. The announcement came after a delay, due to a complaint filed with the EC by political activist Srisuwan Janya. He had questioned whether Chadchart, a 56-year-old former transport minister, had a hidden agenda when he used a vinyl fabric in the making of his campaign posters and whether the fabric has been recycled into bags and aprons. Srisuwan also accused Chadchart of “insulting the bureaucratic system”. The delay in the certification of Chadchart’s win drew much ire on social media, pushing the Thai hashtag asking what is wrong with the EC to a top trending hashtag since yesterday. The hashtag itself has attracted over 165,000 tweets so far. Meanwhile, the head of the Pheu Thai party, Chonlanan Srikaew, claimed that the EC failing to certify Chadchart’s win will damage people’s trust in the democracy. He also added that Chadchart’s landslide victory indicates that people want to escape the current crises. Source: Thai PBS
- New Bangkok Governor Ready to Unveil His Team. BANGKOK, June 1 (TNA) – Newly-elected Bangkok governor Chadchart Sitthipunt will come to his office this afternoon and will officially unveil his administration team. After the Election Commission certified the election result of the Bangkok gubernatorial election and confirmed his status as the 17th Bangkok governor yesterday, Chadchart will today receive the verification document from the EC before entering his office at the City Hall near the Giant Swing at the auspicious time, 1.19 p.m. He will unveil his administration team and will later go to the City Hall 2 in Din Daeng district. Source: Thai News Agency
- Opposition attacks budget bill prepared by ‘incompetent, visionless government’. The opposition wasted no time today (Tuesday), the first day of the three-day debate in the Lower House, in attacking the annual budget bill, which they describe as incorrectly proportioned and prepared by “incompetent, visionless” government. Taking to the floor to grill the government over the 3.18 trillion baht budget bill for the 2023 fiscal year, after its presentation by the prime minister, Chonlanan said that the opposition cannot accept the bill because there is no guarantee that it will address all the pressing problems confronted by the country caused by the government’s incompetence. He said that the budget bill had been prepared without taking into consideration the changing situation and alleged that there are indications of corruption and nepotism, citing, for instance, the budgets for both the Department of Highways and the Department of Rural Roads, which have increased substantially to over 130 billion baht, but were partially concealed in the budget as a logistics development plan. Source: Thai PBS, Bangkok Post, Thai Enquirer
- Thai government urged to reduce defence budget to fund welfare projects. A lecturer in economics at Thammasat University is urging the government to scale down its defence spending and increase budgets to improve the livelihoods of the poor and pensioners and to stimulate the grass-root economy, in order to restore public trust and confidence, as the debate on the 3.18 trillion baht budget bill for the 2023 fiscal year begins today (Tuesday) in the Lower House. Dr. Theepakorn Jithitikulchai, of the Faculty of Economics, said that the government still has the conventional mindset when preparing the national budget, which gives priority to permanent expenditure and defence spending, with scant attention paid to issues such as welfare for the vulnerable, students and the poor as well as investment. The public welfare budget, he said, accounts for just 2.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to at least 8% in developed countries, while the investment budget amounts to just 15% of all public spending. Source: Thai PBS
ECONOMICS
- Group seeks foreign funding for EVs. The Thailand Automotive Institute (TAI) vows to draw more foreign investment in electric vehicles (EVs) through a plan to build a 400 million Baht test track for battery EVs, along with its 1.7-billion-Baht project on the second-phase development of an automotive test track at a facility in Chachoengsao province. The cabinet agreed to push ahead with the second-phase development, which is listed among projects in the 2023 budget bill now being considered in parliament. Source: Bangkok Post
- EV interrupted by tax ambiguity; thousands of cars stuck at Customs. The EV market has hit a hiccup as automakers are holding back on delivering the EVs to customers. Automakers are waiting for the government to formally enforce the EV tax incentive scheme, which would reduce the retail price of EVs significantly, particularly the 3 EV automakers (Great Wall Motors, MG and Toyota) that have signed on to the scheme with Finance Ministry since March 2022. MG said more than 400 of its cars are now stored in a warehouse in Thailand and will be delivered to customers only when the tax incentive scheme is enforced. MG said customers have made reservations for thousands of its cars which it is not able to deliver for 6 months since the end of 2021. Source: Krungthep Turakij printed newspaper
- What is PDPA, Thailand’s new data law? Enforcement of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) finally starts today, but what that means is a hazy area. The government is currently working on a subordinate regulation to spare SMEs from being obliged to comply with the PDPA’s practices on the recording of processing activities due to its high cost. Source: Bangkok Post, Krungthep Turakij
OTHER
- Dip pita at Hummus Boutique’s new Phrom Phong location. Chickpea dip fans alarmed by the disappearance of a go-to hummus near BTS Thong Lo may relax as it will reopen at a new location not too far away. Best known for delicious falafel dishes and its titular product, Hummus Boutique will reopen next week across from Samitivej Hospital on Soi Sukhumvit 49, the restaurant told Coconuts today. No reason was given for the relocation or what day exactly it will reopen. The all-Mediterranean, all-vegetarian venture, which opened near BTS Thong Lo in August 2018, became popular for its chickpea dips, toppings, and styles. Its specialties include Lucid Dreams (avocado, rocket, egg, kalamata olives, almonds and balsamic over a bowl of creamy hummus) and Falafel Party, which combines crispy falafel with hummus and a chopped pickle salad. Source: Coconuts Bangkok
For further information please see the embassy’s Facebook Page ‘Australian Embassy, Thailand’ or the Ambassador’s Twitter Page https://twitter.com/AusAmbBKK
