Thai PM expresses optimism on his visit to Britain

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is currently on a three-day official visit to Britain, said Thailand was ready to welcome more British investors as the kingdom’s political life has returned to normal and the government had put its utmost effort into stimulating the economy.

Mr. Abhisit met leading business figures in London Friday and briefed them on his government’s attempts to resolve Thailand’s political problems through a process of reform, as well as its approaches to revive the Thai economy, much impacted by global financial crisis.

The prime minister said most British businessmen he met expressed optimism regarding Thai politics, seeing the kingdom moving toward improvement, and a number of them said they could expand their investment in Thailand.

As the current chair of ASEAN, Mr. Abhisit said he will join the G20 summit in London next month, and that he hopes it will help the world weather the global economic slump, both the G-20 and the poorer countries.

He later presided at a promotional “Thailand Tourism Meeting” organised by Tourism Authority of Thailand. Mr. Abhisit said Thailand and other ASEAN countries will promote a programme called “Asia’s 10 Perfect Paradises.”

The new intervention scheme in rice starts from March 16

The commerce Minister of Thailand revealed that the country will buy rice from farmers at 11,800 baht ($328) per tonne and will keep the grain in stocks under a new intervention scheme which will start on March 16 and will run until July. However, this new intervention price is just a slight reduction from the 12,000 baht per tonne set under a scheme that ended in February

“The Rice Committee agreed that the intervention price should not be pegged at a very high level as global prices are not that high,” Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasia told reporters.

The new intervention price equates to an export price of around $580-$620 per tonne, exporters said. The government aimed to buy 2.5 million tonnes under the scheme. After previous intervention schemes, the government was believed to be holding around 4 million tonnes of milled rice.