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On this page you will find news about Thailand, which we gather from different sources.
We make a selection of the news that we consider interesting for tourists and we comment it whenever useful.
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Rubber export to increase

Posted on Friday, 5 February 2010, 10: 20 GMT

The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) expects Thailand’s exports of natural rubber and its products to double in the next five years. Speaking at a seminar on “Upgrading Natural Rubber Cluster Competitiveness,” FTI vice president Payungsak Chartsuthipol said Thailand is the world’s largest exporter of natural rubber with an annual value of around Bt500 billion. It is expected that rubber exports will rise by 10 per cent with a value of over Bt500 billion this year. He said FTI has targeted developing the natural rubber industry in a cluster form so it could compete with Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It hoped to see the value of rubber exports to increase to Bt800-900 billion in the next five years. At present, Thailand exports 88 per cent of the natural rubber in raw form with the remaining 12 per cent being processed products valued at Bt150 billion. (Source: Thai News Agency)

Phuket Festival

Posted on Wednesday, 3 February 2010, 17: 12 GMT

The annual festival showcasing Phuket Town’s distinctive blend of Chinese and Thai culture is set to return this month. This year’s Phuket Old Town Festival will take place from February 19 to 21, after the arrival of the Year of the Tiger that falls on Valentine's Day. The Tourism Authority of Thailand and Phuket City Municipality are promising more activities than ever during the event, now in its 11th year. Centered on Queen Sirikit Park and spreading over the Old Town streets of Thalang Road, Phuket Road, Krabi Road and Soi Rommannee, this year’s event will feature performances by entertainers from no fewer than 10 different Chinese provinces. Wanaphapar Suksombul, assistant director of the TAT Phuket, said the performances would include Shaolin Kung Fu, acrobats from Beijing, tribal dancing from Tibet, Chinese opera, a puppet show and a bian lian mask changing performance from Sichuan. The TAT will borrow three of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization’s pink poh thong buses to help promote the festival. Setting off at 1pm from Queen Sirikit Park, the buses will take festival-goers on a tour of five of the town’s Chinese shrines. The cost will be 50 baht per passenger. Activities on the first night of the event are set to include a ceremony of worship of the bodhisattva Kuan Im, whose statue stands in Queen Sirikit park, as well as a cultural exhibition at 63 Thalang Road, rickshaw tours of Phuket Town, and boat trips along local canals. The second night will see colorful processions of Phuketians dressed in traditional costumes parading from Saphan Hin back to the festival. The last night of the festival will feature a Hokkien god-worship ceremony, with Chinese monks praying for prosperity and protection for Phuket. (Source: The Phuket Gazette)

His Majesty speaks

Posted on Tuesday, 2 February 2010, 11: 36 GMT

At an audience granted to the newly sworn-in Supreme Court judges, His Majesty yesterday told them to strictly adhere to the principles of justice to maintain peace, happiness and orderliness in the country. "Each and every one of you is really important in ensuring orderliness. You are the hope of the people, both good and bad. You can help increase the number of good people," the King said before a gathering of 168 judges. In a ceremony led by Supreme Court president, Sopchok Sukharom, the judges were sworn-in during the 20-minute audience with His Majesty at Siriraj Hospital. "If you maintain justice, the country will be peaceful. Even bandits and villains hope for justice. You could make troublemakers do good things too. It's better than having no symbol of justice," His Majesty said, adding the judges could bring happiness and peace to the country by simply being just when performing their duties. "You are a symbol of justice. And by performing your duty well, you can help the country survive. Everyone wants our country to survive. Even the bandits and villains feel they want peace. If you can have your compatriots believe in peace, happiness and justice, our country will work fine," His Majesty said. He also told the judges that they should stick to the principles of justice to their dying day, even when they are no longer in the judiciary. (Source: The Nation)

Rice for Haiti

Posted on Tuesday, 2 February 2010, 11: 32 GMT

The Thai government has donated 20,000 tonnes of rice to Haiti, worth an estimated 340 million baht. Thai Airways yesterday airlifted the first 100 tonnes to the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. TV Channel 3 has raised 167 million baht in donations from its viewers and the private sector for Haiti through the WFP to buy emergency food supplies. Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the WFP's special ambassador for school nutrition, accepted the money on behalf of the aid group. "In my more than 16 years with the WFP I have never witnessed such a spontaneous and overwhelming response from the people of one country to another, particularly one on the other side of the world," said the WFP's regional director for Asia, Kenro Oshidari. "The fact that this generosity has been added to by an unprecedented Royal Thai Government donation is just marvellous and should be held high as an example to other governments around the world who should also consider giving food and other assistance during crises." Mr Oshidari joined Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday to witness the rice-filled 747-300 cargo plane embark on a 36-hour flight to deliver vital food supplies to tens of thousands of Haitians. Another 19,900 tonnes of rice will be shipped by sea to Haiti, the prime minister said. The cost of transporting the rice is 10 million baht, said THAI president Piyasvasti Amranand. Half will be paid by the airline and the rest shared by the government and PTT Plc, he added. (Source: The Bangkok Post)

Phuket deforestation

Posted on Sunday, 31 January 2010, 14: 35 GMT

Human encroachment has laid waste to more than two-thirds of a large forest reserve in the north of Phuket, it emerged last week. The Bang Khanoon forest reserve in tambon Thepkrasattri originally covered more than 5,000 rai, but just 1,500 rai of virgin forest remain. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop last week accompanied an inspection team from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) to the site of the latest devastation. After touring other encroached forest areas in Karon and Patong, the team visited a 100-rai plot located inside the reserve and just 300 meters from the Bang Khanoon Agro-forestry Office. Many of the trees in the area had already been felled, while others still stood dying. Encroachers had cut deep rings around the tree trunks, allowing the sap to leak out. Gov Wichai described the trees as rare and irreplaceable, saying some were more than 80 years old. Gov Wichai pleaded with the Phuket people to end encroachment. "If we ruin our natural resources, tourists will stop coming to our province," he said. (Source: The Phuket Gazette)

More tourists, less spending

Posted on Sunday, 31 January 2010, 14: 30 GMT

With hotel occupancy rates on the island currently reported at around 90 percent, hoteliers and other tourism business operators find themselves for the first time in two years unable to complain about a lack of tourists. This is obviously good news, but businesses on the island are finding that strong arrival figures haven’t translated into the kind of revenue enjoyed during past high seasons. Many report income down by 30 to 40 percent compared to the 2007-2008 season. Although this is an improvement over the 2008-2009 high season, which was wiped out by the takeover of Bangkok’s two airports, business operators are complaining that the hoped-for bumper profits needed to get them though the next low season simply aren’t there. There are several reasons for this spending drop, the most important of which is the state of the global economy. The downturn has left European tourists, traditionally Phuket’s bread-and-butter market, forced to cut back on expenditure while on vacation. In response to these trends, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) says it is trying to get tourists to part with more cash during their stays here. No TAT campaign would be complete without a slogan, and this time the agency is indeed playing to the country’s strengths with its new ‘Amazing Thailand, Amazing Value’ catchphrase. (Source: The Phuket Gazette)

BoT: Economy recovers

Posted on Saturday, 30 January 2010, 11: 40 GMT

The Thai economy enjoyed a continued recovery in December 2009 as witnessed by a marked improvement in state and private spending, farmer incomes, tourism revenue, and exports, according to the Bank of Thailand (BoT). Suchart Sakkankosone, senior director Domestic Economy Department, said the economy for the whole is expected to shrink 2.7 per cent given the continued economic recovery. The industrial production index surged to a new record high of 35.7 because the number of purchase orders for electronic products continue to rise. The production capacity utilisation in the industrial sector climbed up to 70.1 per cent as exports surged by 26.2 per cent from the same month last year with a value of US$14.53 billion. The export value increased in all product categories but products made in labour intensive industries. Mr Suchart believed exports would continue growing further this year. (Source: Thai News Agency)

Baht should be around 34 to US$

Posted on Saturday, 30 January 2010, 11: 36 GMT

The Bank of Thailand should make sure that the Thai baht value’s stand at between 33 to 34 baht per US dollar, Manoon Siriwan, an energy expert, said on Saturday. “If the Thai currency is weaker than that level, it could affect domestic retail prices of fuel”, Mr Manoon said, adding that every one baht in value change of the baht would affect the increase or the decrease in local pump prices by 0.60 baht a litre. The energy expert expected oil price on the world market to stand at about US$70 per barrel next week. Kasikornthai Research Centre projected the Thai Baht value would stand at about 32.90 to 33.20 baht per US dollar next week. (Source: The Bangkok Post)

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