Honda to suspend 700 workers to survive recession

Due to a sharp drop in car sales, Japan’s Honda Motor Co. needs to cut costs. In an attempt to survive the dropping market rends, the company will temporarily suspend 700 contract workers at its new plant in Thailand next month.

The workers, who were hired for Honda’s second plant as part of a plan to boost annual output to 240,000 units in Thailand, will receive 75 percent of their salaries until the market picks up again. The company had initillay planned to boost production but has decided to standby it’s plans until the global situation turns a bit favourable.

Honda, Japan’s No. 2 carmaker, currently produces about 140,000 units a year at its two plants in Thailand. It employs more than 4,000 staff, including contract workers.

The scene is no different in Thailand at the home front. The country, world’s biggest producer of one-tonne trucks and an exporter of vehicles to the Asia-Pacific region, is expected to produce 1.4 million units this year. Some analysts expect that figure to drop to 1.2 million units in 2009. Thai auto sales fell for a sixth consecutive month in November, and analysts expect further weakness in the months ahead as consumer confidence plumbs record lows. Automakers everywhere are reeling from a sharp downturn in sales due to a global recession and tight credit.

Thailand to increase spending to boost economy

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said that Thailand’s new government may increase spending by 80 percent to spur an economy hurt by the global recession and domestic political strife. This additional spending was already approved in November to as much as 180 billion baht ($5.2 billion) for the year ending Sept. 30, from the 100 billion baht that the former government budgeted, said Korn, who was appointed finance minister Dec. 20. The proposed spending will need parliament approval, Korn said. The funds would be in addition to the 1.84 trillion-baht budget for the year that started Oct. 1.

“Additional spending is needed to prevent the economy from worsening further,” Korn said in Bangkok today. “The government also plans urgent measures to mitigate the impact of the economic slowdown on unemployment.”

Even Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said that one of the Government’s prime concern would be to revive the sinking economy of the country.

The government will announce its policies to the parliament on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30 and may hold a special cabinet meeting to approve the economic stimulus package at the last business day of this year, said Abhisit, Thailand’s third premier in four months.

Thailand celebrates 3 different New Years each year!

Thailand is unique in many ways. One of the specila facts about this special country is that it is the only country in the world that actively celebrates 3 different New Years each year! Besides the conventional New Year on 31st of December, it has the Chinese Lunar New Year that takes normally place in February and there is the Thai New Year itself which is in April each year. Songkran Day or Thailand New Year is one of the biggest events in Thailand each year. Songkran is a Thai word which means “move” or “change place” as it is the day when the sun changes its position in the zodiac.

Thailand New Year is all fun and frolic with parades, shows, music, lots of people having fun and the biggest water fight in the world! There are 2 main parts of the Thailand New Year water plays: Water of course and white powder that people will put in your face. When you are going out during the festival then wear the worst clothes or buy a cheapest one because you are going to be wet for sure. People usually don’t bring their mobile phone and camera when the celebration is on the peak then its very difficult to safe all these things.

On the streets, there are stalls selling water guns of all sizes for 100-about 800 Baht for the biggest ones. Songkran is a traditional festival and before it comes people concern upon environment with cooperation such as to clean houses, public places, temples and official buildings.

Songkran is a nice time to be in Bangkok but since it is also the time when workers in Bangkok from outside of town, head back home in droves, you need to get your reservations done well ahead because all forms of transport are booked months in advance.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand organizes the walking streets in front of Central World Plaza, one of the big Thailand property, all the way through Silom Road and up to Siam Square where another event will be held the platform at Sanam Luang near the Grand Palace.

Detik Benua Co. & Spiral Circuit team up to invest in Thailand

Now, that the political turmoil in Thailand is over, this seems to be the first good news for Thai economy. Two, big Malaysian firms, Detik Benua Co, a finance company in Malaysia, and Spiral Circuit Co (Malaysia), the distributor of Johnson Electric car micro motors in Asean, are teaming up to make their entry into the Thai automotive market from next year. Spiral Circuit, Detik Benua’s technology partner, is currently the distributor for Johnson Electric in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. On the other hand, Johnson Electric is the world’s largest manufacturer of micro motors for car windows, central locking systems, air-conditioning units and other functions.

They plan to invest at least 20 billion baht over the next three years in establishing a production site for high-tech auto parts and vehicles. Capital will be invested in phases under a three-year plan. The first phase involves producing selected parts and later vehicles. Initially, the consortium will make electric motors for hybrid cars, which will be built in Thailand later.

Max Tan, a representative of Detik Benua and executive director of Spiral Circuit, said, “We believe in Thailand. It remains Asean’s second largest economy with plenty of skilled and semi-skilled labour, especially in automotive contract manufacturing.

We are aware that the global financial crisis and credit crunch have affected our region too. But we are unfazed. Investing in Asean has always been our priority and this region remains attractive for us to start smart and strategic partnerships.”

Australian appears before court for drug trafficking

Andrew Hoods, 36, an Australian, was arrested at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport’s departure hall on Wednesday afternoon with 3kg of heroin strapped to his body. He was charged with drug smuggling after Thai Customs found the drugs concealed in 12 packages. However, another Australian, a friend of Hoods, managed to escape from the airport and is on the run.

Hoods appeared in a Bangkok court on drug trafficking charges on Dec 19. He was handcuffed and chained to two other prisoners when he arrived at Bangkok’s criminal court.

Hoods was all aware of his mistake and admitted his crime saying, “I was caught with heroin, trying to bring it to Australia. I made a big mistake and I’m going to pay for it man, do you know what I mean, I’m going to pay for it.”

The heroine was estimated to have a street value of about 12 million baht ($494,000). Drug trafficking in Thailand carries the death penalty. Thailand had toughened its drug laws in 2002, but remains a transit point for narcotics produced in neighbouring Burma, the world’s second largest opium producer and a major methamphetamine hub.

Hurry Up! AirAsia offers 100,000 free tickets!

This is a unique step from budget airlines AirAsia to bring back tourists and businessman back to Thailand. The company has launched a campaign themed “Get Your Baht To Thailand” — a play on the Thai currency — AirAsia will give away 100,000 free tickets to Bangkok from Vietnam, Cambodia, Myammar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and China, as well as for flights within Thailand. Unfortunately, there are no free tickets from U.S. to Thailand.

So, with this offer, the passengers will only have to pay airport taxes and administration fee. This is a further step from AirAsia which last month abolished fuel surcharges on all its flights.

“We hope that this campaign will instill the confidence among travelers and also help to boost tourism which is vital at this juncture,” Group Chief Executive Tony Fernandes said in a statement.

Tickets can only be purchased until Friday (Thailand time - they are 12 hours ahead of D.C.!) for travel between January 6 and March 31, 2009. So, Hurry Up!!

Visa requirements for visiting Thailand

If visiting the ‘Land of Smiles’ Thailand is on your wish list, first of all you will need to get a tourist visa for yourself.

To avail the tourist visa, you will need the following documents:

Document Required:

• Filled out Visa Application Form
• Valid passport not less than six months
• Paid Airplane Ticket
• Recent Photograph ( 4 X 6 cm.)

The proof of financial means: You will need twenty thousand Baht per person and forty thousand baht per family.

$ 25.00 USD for visa fee

However, since tourist visas are available only for the period of three months, if you wish to stay longer, you must file an extension of stay permission at the Office of Immigration Bureau. The address of the bureau is as follows:

Office Immigration Bureau
Soi Suan Plu  South Sathorn Road
Bangkok  10120
Tel( 662) 287 – 3101-10

On thing may be noted here that people holding the tourist visa are not allowed to do business in the country.

Also, according to Interior Ministerial Announcements,a passport holder from some countries will not need to get tourist visa to enter Thailand, if your stay does not exceed 30 days. Some of the countries whose citizens will need to obtain a tourist visa for visiting Thailand include Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belguim, Bhutan, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Cyprus, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Isarel, italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Laos,Malaysia, NewZealand, Peru, Phillippines, Polan, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Swizerland, Turkey, Ukraine,UK, USA, and Vietnam

Passport holders of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Palestinian, are required to file the tourist application at the Thai Embassy of your home country.

Thailand Flowers Delivery - The online florists

Now you can send flowers anywhere and everywhere in Thailand with just one click of the mouse, thanks to companies such as Thailand Flowers Delivery which have brought florestry to the world of internet.

Established in 2003, Thailand Flowers Delivery won the best online florist in Thailand in 2007 and seems they have little competition this year too. The company offers the facility of the delivery of a free photograph, SMS, email or a video of up to 10 minutes in play time with a delivery of flowers to Thailand.

“It’s the little touches which make all the difference when sending a gift of flowers” says Thailand Flowers Delivery founder Goy Kankok, “we believe that offering up-to-date services like free translation, photographs, videos, SMS or email with an order can make these more advanced means of technology just as heartfelt as traditional ones”.

Customers just need to place their order at their site and pay by PayPal, PaySbuy or Visa/Mastercard. Any messages which they wish to send (whether in the format of an email, SMS or just a message) the company can translate this into Thai from Swedish, English or Dutch. Bangkok flower deliveries and Thailand flower deliveries come at the same cost because delivery is free.

Thailand gets its new PM - Abhisit Vejjajiva

Thailand’s parliament on Monday elected Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva as the country’s new Prime Minister ending a protracted political turmoil that made the previous PM, Somchai Wongsowat, resign.

Official results showed Abhisit gained 235 votes from the total 437 incumbent members of parliament in the House of Representatives, against the 198 votes for his rival — Puea Thai Party leader Pracha Promnok, during the special parliamentary session that kicked off 9.30 am on Monday.

The vote comes after months of demonstrations that culminated late November with a weeklong takeover of Bangkok’s two airports.

Protest erupted again as hundreds of pro-Thaksin supporters attempted to block the Parliament building Monday. After a fiery speech, a protest leader called on demonstrators to block the gates of the building and not let the MPs out. Police locked the doors from inside the building.

Abhisit has a massive task ahead of him to reunite the country as well as restore international confidence in the country while fighting the growing economic crisis, with Thailand on the brink of recession.

Motorsai - The essence of Bangkok

The motorcycle taxi, or “motorsai” and Bangkok are just inseparable coz, with colourfully dressed drivers and whining engines are everywhere - on street corners, in sois, outside shopping centres and markets, and they are easily identified by their coloured vests.

With more than 100,000 motorcycle taxis operating in the Bangkok alone (according to a Bangkok Metropolitan Administration [BMA] officer), it is a huge workforce generating large revenues. No one really knows the exact amount, but some sources estimate it at tens of millions of baht a month.

They emerged as a solution to the ever growing traffic in the city. However,  as more and more people started using motorcycle taxis, the business was hijacked and controlled by different mafia gangs for many years. This went on uptil 2003, when BMA finally stepped in and ended the monopoly on this lucrative and money-making industry.

To become a motorcycle taxi rider is now very easy. First, the applicant must find an area where he or she wants to work and get permission from the leader of the motorcycle taxis and the consent of the other riders. Then they have to go to the local BMA district office for registration, which is a simple affair. The new motorcycle taxi rider will then receive a vest. These come in different colours, including blue, green, orange, purple and red, that identify a particular district. Each vest will have written on it the district, the rider’s number and the location where they work.

Comparing prices between car and motorcycle taxis, motor Leg 2 cycles are more expensive for short trips, but much cheaper than taxis when travelling farther.

LNG terminal at Rayong expected to complete by 2011

The 5 million tonne/year LNG terminal at Rayong is on the verge of completion by 2011, according to a senior official from state-owned oil firm PTT Public Co. Ltd. The terminal 200 km southeast of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand is being built by South Korea’s GS Engineering & Construction Corp.

PTT plans to double the terminal’s capacity at a later stage as it ramps up LNG purchases from several sources to meet the country’s rising gas demand (OGJ Online, Feb. 22, 2008.).

Wuttikorn Stithit, vice-president of PTT’s supply department, told OGJ the company signed the contract in February to begin construction of the $700 million terminal and had hoped, when it initially approached the market, that it would be ready in 2010.

Project developers faced the hurdle of rising costs due to shortages of materials and labor, and also due to a rise in demand for LNG in the past four years.

Stithit said Thailand aims to become a strategic destination for LNG in the Asia Pacific region. “We are in between the Middle East and Far East, with established infrastructure and pipeline system.” He stressed that the country has the potential to enhance supply security in the regional market and has less demand seasonality with a large natural gas market.

Qatargas will provide PTT 1 million tonnes/year under a long-term agreement, beginning deliveries in second-quarter 2011. Stithit said that in a scarce supply market, as a new buyer, it was crucial to develop a good relationship with suppliers. He said Thailand has the gas demand to secure the LNG, with current consumption at 3.35 bcfd and demand expected to rise to 6.4 bcfd by 2020. Demand will be driven by power generation, industrial use, and petrochemicals.

Stithit called for LNG buyers to cooperate in the scarce market to share what was available. “Thailand will pay market prices for LNG but it needs to be affordable.” Thailand is also seeking supplies from the Middle East, Australia, and Indonesia.

Planning a trek? Hold on……..

Northern Thailand is perfect for trekking expeditions. With friendly hill-tribes, stunning mountain scenery, gushing waterfalls, hot-springs, bamboo river rafting and elephant rides the stage is set. But for an enjoyable and safe trek, you must know the do’s and donts of it. Take the tips from us:

1. Sweaters are amust as even in the hot season, nights can be cool or even cold at higher elevations. A thick jacket and heavy sweaters should be carried in the cool season. Long pants and a long sleeved cotton shirt are recommended during the trek to prevent scratches and cuts from jungle foliage. Sneakers will do during the dry months but in the monsoon season water proof boots along with some light rain gear will be needed.

2. Some parks have tents for rent. For others, equipments for camping should be brought along. Also carry a mat; a good back pack; first aid kit; basic toiletries and toilet paper; small knife; compass; maps and whistle; binoculars; canteen and plastic water container; flash light and extra batteries; candles; matches; basic cooking utensils; cups and dishes, spoons, can and bottle opener, and detergent in a plastic container. Several small rope lines and clips for hanging and drying clothes; and a larger stronger 20 meter length of rope if you go for a deep jungle trek will make the trip easier.

3. Carry large plastic bags to collect and dispose of garbage as every visitor should dispose plastic bags, bottles, tin cans and other garbage at provided sites or if facilities are not available, visitors should take waste with them to the nearest disposal areas.

4. During the dry months, from November to May, many forest become tinder dry and vulnerable to careless use of matches, cooking fires and discarded cigarettes. Warning are posted in some areas, but extra care must be taken to prevent fires especially during these hot and dry months.

5. If you walk a relatively long trail in a national park, remember to inform the office ahead. For all overnight treks in the jungle you must inform the park office, and walk with a park’s ranger. If you walk pass the hilltribe villages always inform the head man when you arrive a village. This is for your safety, and in the village the head man will arrange the place for you to sleep.

Banks expect a lower loan growth next year

Owing to the slowdown in the economy Bangkok Bank BBL.BK, Thailand’s top lender, expects a growth of only 5 percent in lending next year, down from expected growth of 8-9 percent this year.

“We expect loan growth of 5 percent, which is based on an economic growth forecast of 2-3 percent,” President Chartsiri Sphonpanich told reporters.

The bank, which has $31.38 billion in loans, said that its loans grew 13.1 percent in the first nine months of this year.

The scenario at the Thai banking industry is not really very bright as the lull in the world economy would cut demand for new loans, added to the political uncertainty and unrest at the domestic front weighing on business confidence.

Smaller banks also expect lower loan growth next year, with fourth-ranked Siam Commercial Bank SCB.BK expecting 5 percent compared with a 10 percent target this year, which it has said it would probably miss.

Number three Kasikornbank KBAN.BK has said it would cut its projection for 2009 from a previous target of 6-7 percent. Its loans are forecast to grow 17 percent this year.

Thailand’s economy is forecast to grow 3-4 percent in 2009, according to the National Economic and Social Development Board, which compiles the official data, but economists and officials are scaling down estimates, especially after the recent blockade of Bangkok airports, which will hurt tourism.

Thailand to send medical team to Zimbabwe

The South African country, Zimbabwe, has been hit with a large scale outbreak of cholera and Thailand’s Public Health Ministry is ready to send a medical team to the country.

Public Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr. Prat Boonyavongvirot said the ministry was preparing a medical team after the ministry had coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact Zimbabwe via the World Health Organisation (WHO).

According to data from WHO a cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe has so far produced 775 fatalities, with 16,141 suspected cases reported across the African nation.

The Thai physicians and other medical professionals are on stand-by, including epidemiologists and a disease control team, while medical equipment and medications have been prepared to support the team. All the ministry is waiting for is the permission.

Cholera spread rapidly in Zimbabwe because of the country’s crumbling health care system and the lack of clean water. Last week, Zimbabwe declared a health emergency because of cholera and the collapse of its health services. Dr. Prat said the outbreak has already spread to Zimbabwe’s neighbouring countries.

Tips for diving & snorkeling in Thailand

There is a great diversity of the coral reefs and outcrops of all shapes, sizes and colors extend over the large offshore areas in the seasonally calm and clear Thai seas. Some grow to very impressive sizes, such as the spectacular giant sea-fans.

However, for the maximum enjoyment, accessibility and travel time are also important for considerations. The dive sites around Thailand are within easy reach and are easily accessible by air, by sea or overland by road and rail in a matter of hours. The best time to dive in the Gulf of Thailand is between May and September while the Andaman is at its best between October and April. With access to one of the two locations at various times of the year, snorkeling and diving conditions are ideal all year round.

When diving, you should always keep in mind to exercise utmost precaution as the corals are highly vulnerable and can be damaged simply by a single touch. Here are some diving safety and environmental-friendly tips:

- Choose the diving operator who do mind on your safety and is environmentally aware by using safe mooring and anchoring procedures.
- Always plan your diving route before leaving the shoreline.
- Always observe: surf, current, wave sets, surge on reefs/ rocks.
- Be careful not to touch or step on coral reefs.
- Bring along the first-aid kit including peroxide, aspirin for sunburn and cigarettes. Tobacco can help soothing most stings.
- Enter and exit the sea from a sandy beach area.
- Do not swim against the current, swim diagonally across it.
- Snorkeling at dusk is not recommended.
- If drunken, better take a rest than swim, snorkel or any other activities.