Headlines summary as of 6 April 2021

News

• Yesterday, the head of Department of Disease Control (DDC) said that the Public Health Ministry is going to propose to CCSA for approval a fresh set of restrictions to curb new wave of COVID infection by rearranging the zoning of provinces for two weeks as followed: Thai Rath, CCSA

• Last night, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) issued an order to close 196 entertainment complexes in three districts of Wattana, Bang Kae and Klong Toei for 14 days in a bid to curb the infection in the emerging cluster within the nightclubs.—Thai Rath, Krungthep Turakij, Reuters

Politics

• The secretary-general of the main opposition Pheu Thai Party said that the party is going to hold a party plenary meeting on 20 April and the party is going to announce party stance on Constitutional Amendment.—Krungthep Turakij
• A vocal Democrat MP Sathit Wongnongtoey said in a media interview that the Opposition reached out to coalition parties to discuss on constitutional amendment. He said he is wondering why the main ruling Palang Pracharat Party has to haste putting the agenda on the special Parliamentary session on 7 April.—Krungthep turakij
• The issue of intra-PPRP struggle remains imminent as Justice Minister Somsak denied the rumour that the so-called ‘4 Ministers’ (Justice, Industry, PM Office and Labour) are teaming up to counter-balance the ‘4 Deputies’ (Agriculture, Labour, Finance and Transport) to fight for securing the clique power in the PPRP secretary-general position during the upcoming party annual meeting.—Thai Rath

Economic:

Tourism

• The Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) said tourist organizations and embassies of many countries are keen to forge travel bubbles with Thailand, but are concerned about the country’s slow pace of vaccination.  With regards to the tourism sandbox scheme, there remains several obstacles for tourists to travel to Thailand.  And if inbound market does not recover, outbound travel will not start, which could delay Thailand’s reopening.  Source:  Bangkok Post
• Tourism Authority of Thailand estimates travellers will take 3.2 million domestic trips during the Songkran holiday period (April 10-15), which will generate 12 billion Baht in revenue.  University of Thai Chamber of Commerce countered noted that consumers will refrain from spending during Songkran.  It anticipates that consumer spending will be the lowest in 9 years, declining by 17 percent from 2019 to 113 billion Baht.  The government has injected some 300-350 billion Baht into the economy, which cannot compensate for the 200 billion Baht generated by foreign tourism every month. Source:  Bangkok Post

TAFTA and Beef Special Safeguard

• The FTA Fund committee under the auspices of Agriculture and Cooperative Ministry had allocated 161.79 million Baht to a project designed to enhance the competitiveness of Thai beef.  The move was made to prepare local industries for the impacts of the lifting of SSG for Australian beef under TAFTA, effective since 1 January this year.  The Department of Livestock is working with the company Premium Beef to improve the production capabilities of Thai beef, from upstream to downstream processes.  The Agriculture Ministry also cited a similar capacity-building activity in Tak province as a successful case study.  Source:  Daily News newspaper, 5 April 2021  Thai Public Relations Department News
• This year, Thai beef farmers will be hit hard by the liberalization of Australian beef under TAFTA.  As such, CP Meiji, Thailand’s largest buyer of raw milk, had signed an MoU with Chulalongkorn’s Veterinarian Faculty to improve the quality of local milk production.  The focus will be on training farmers and removing antibiotic throughout the production value chain.  The pilot project adopts the Dairy Veterinary Community Approach that combines academic work on research and innovations with the know-how of farmers.  Source:  Thai Rath

Others

• The Thai National Shippers’ Council (TNSC) maintains its forecast of 3-4 percent export growth this year despite the traffic slowdown at Suez Canal and political unrest in Myanmar.  In fact, Myanmar’s political clash has already caused the value of export to fall by 29.7 percent, which could be offset by improving global economy and the prospect of US having higher demands for imports.  Source:  Bangkok Post
• The Board of Investment (BOI) approved tax incentives for biotechnology projects worth 2.4 billion Baht in the first quarter this year, aiming to use advanced technology to drive the economy in line with the BCG economic model. Companies that have been granted access to the BOI tax scheme this year operate businesses in medical and bioplastic fields.  Sources:  Khao Sod Bangkok Post
• Inflation in March 2021 contracted by -0.08 percent YoY; the smallest decline in 13 months due to the surge in global oil price and recovering economy.  March’s Core inflation rose by 0.09 percent YoY, while inflation in Q1 of 2021 averages at -0.53 percent.  Commerce Ministry expects inflation to start expanding from Q2 onward due to the improved Covid-19 situation, higher global oil price and the government’s stimulus packages taking effect.  On the contrary, University of Thai Chamber of Commerce contended that March’s negative inflation that the Thai economy is experneincing a continuous slowdown with no clear signs of picking up.  Food price remains low, thereby indicating that domestic consumption is subdued.  Sources:  Krungthep Turakij Bangkok Post
• The Administrative Court has agreed to consider a petition lodged by a group of consumer watchdogs over the Trade Competition Commission’s (TCC) decision to approve the merger of CP Retail Development Co and Tesco Stores (Thailand) Ltd.  Source:  Bangkok Post