Launch of biofuel vehicles in Thailand

The launch of new biofuel vehicles in Thailand by general motors corp. this year, offers incentives to cut reliance on gasoline. The Thai government also offered incentives, including lower excise taxes for biofuel vehicles. Earlier Volvo Thailand was launched in December, the first flexible fuel vehicle that can run on a range of alternative fuels including E85, providing an option for those who want to go green and cut their fuel costs.

David J. Tulauskas, director of public policy for GM Asia Pacific, said that these biofuel vehicles will be able to run on E85 fuel, a blend of 85 percent ethanol with gasoline, or E20 fuel which contains 20 percent ethanol. This E20 fuel is 20 percent cheaper than regular gasoline, while E85 is 40 percent lower. He said that good response is expected, when the vehicles are launched in Thailand, and he declined to give further details.

The Thai government is promoting its ethanol industry, which can be made from crops such as sugar cane and corn. Compared to gasoline, the E85 fuel emits up to 70 percent less greenhouse gas that is blamed for global warming and can reduce oil demand by as much as 30 percent, officials said. Ethanol has the biggest potential to displace petroleum in the next decade” as it is widely available and can be made cheaply.

Thailand facing a crisis – Mosquito virus outbreaks

In southern Thailand more than 15,000 people have fallen ill with a mosquito virus known as Chikungunya disease.  Somchai Chakrabhand, the head of control department estimated that about 15,240 people in 15 of Thailand’s southern provinces have been infected by this virus. However, the Public Health Ministry is confident the out break can still be controlled and restrained.

However the disease control official is aware and concerned about the fact that there is a current shortage of health staff in Thailand and that could pose problems when dealing with outbreaks of this disease.

In order to contain the mosquito virus, the Thai officials are using enhanced surveillance measures, as well as providing information to the public about the disease. Not only this but information will also be dispersed regarding how best to destroy suspected mosquito breeding grounds to limit any future spread of the disease.

Thailand Teams Up To Prepare For Energy Supply

Thailand is the first country where the IEA has conducted the emergency exercise outside of France. Thailand-IEA joint emergency response exercise was held in Bangkok. The International Energy Agency is helping Thailand’s Ministry of Energy strengthen its emergency response plan for any possible oil and gas disruption, as the Paris-based agency takes steps to reach out to Asian countries.

Didier Houssin, the director of the IEA’s Directorate of Energy Markets and Security, said that the cooperation on security is high on the agenda. We have to work closely with non-member countries to have effective responses to deal with supply disruption. It’s important to work more with Asian countries because of their increasing share in energy markets. Houssin said that there is a possibility IEA could conduct emergency exercises with China and India.

IEA conducts emergency response exercises every two years at its headquarters. And this workshop will later be developed as an action plan for the country to be ready when a crisis emerges, said Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul.

Tourist to Thailand halved

The Thai tourism association said that number of international tourists has plunged which is more than 50 per cent in the first quarter from a year ago, with the forward hotel bookings also sluggish due to the current H1N1 flu threat. More of Chinese, Japanese and South Korean tourists dropped in visitor between the month of January and April said by Surapol Sritrakul, association of Thai travel agents president.

The recent outbreak of A/H1N1 flu has become the obstacle to tourism, along with the prolonged worldwide economic crisis and internal political problems and if the disease reaches this country, the tourism sector will suffer an even greater impact. Not only this, it is also hitting the tourism business with local travel agencies. In fact the new bookings from abroad are reportedly very slow, particularly for the next two months added, by Thai Hotels Association president Prakit Chinamour-phong.

Tourism Council of Thailand chairman Kongkrit Hiranyakit estimates the tourism sector will decline 30 per cent in the first half of the year and possibly 20 per cent for the whole year, generating about 540 billion baht annually. This makes up more than 6 per cent of Thailand’s gross domestic product and 7 per cent of its work force.

Thailand’s tourism industry likely to suffer 35% revenue drop

The Thailand Abhisit government is making tourism a top priority for Thailand. The confidence level of the people has dropped down because of growing fears about influenza. The flu pandemic is all the more aggravating the situation. However, travel industry experts are confident that Asia is well prepared to handle a potential health crisis. In fact, Dale Lawrence, director of Corporate Communications, Pacific Asia Travel Association said that in the Asia Pacific region, we are very experienced in dealing with it, in the wake of the SARS crisis of 2003.

Thailand’s tourism industry could suffer a revenue drop of 35 per cent this year due to prolonged political instability and the global economic crisis, aside from the H1N1 issue, last year’s closure of Bangkok’s airports and continued protests at the Government House have dampened travelers confidence in Thailand as a safe tourist destination. About 200,000 jobs could be lost ant the government is hoping that incentives such as reducing visa fees and flight landing charges will entice visitors.

Deputy Prime Minister Kobsak Sabhavasu is trying to extend assistance to travel businesses with the aim of stopping redundancies. He talked to the business people especially in tourism, asking them not to lay the employees off and also that the Govt. would help shoulder some of the courses for them to retrain people at their workplace. But critics of this plan said it is not feasible in the long term as the government may have to borrow money to stay afloat.

Thailand signs a contract with Aria for Blimps

Aria International inc, has developed a new systems and services which will make impact on the capabilities of deployed forces in the South of Thailand. The company has announced a contract from the Royal Thai Army to provide in-country surveillance and communications solutions and services, for an aggregate purchase price of $9.7 million. Under the contract, within 120 days of contract award, the Company is supposed to configure equipment in the U.S. and integrate and deliver the hardware in Thailand. As such, Aria is responsible for integrating all system components and delivering a complete turn-key solution, conducting initial operations and continuing maintenance tasks as well as providing the training to the RTA personnel on the equipment. In fact Aria will also provide the RTA with certain ancillary services including installation, training and the construction of an airship hangar.

The RTA surveillance system consists of a manned airship with military-grade imaging and communications systems, a state-of-the-art Mobile Command and Control Vehicle, and upgrades to existing communications and facilities to receive real-time surveillance data. Thai government recently alter its approach, but to no avail, as they could not remove he need for military operations. So Major General Chawalit Srisilpanandana, Director General-Directorate of the Royal Thai Army’s Logistics Department, said that this development of new system by Aria will be capable for the deployment forces in Thailand.

ASEAN to meet in Thailand to discuss Swine Flu

In order to take care of the Swine Flu threat, the Health Ministers of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries are scheduled to meet in Thailand on May 8. This was notified by the ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan through a press release issued by the ASEAN secretariat on Friday.

“Thailand will propose the idea of border and cross border surveillance, information exchange, stockpiles and production of vaccines,” the statement quoting Thai Public health Ministry said.

It was the Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen who proposed to hold this meeting after the swine flu had spread. In this meeting, the ASEAN public Health officials will discuss the swine flu issue with the Atlanta-based disease control centre.

It may be mentioned here that Southeast Asia was badly hit by earlier viral outbreaks of SARS in 2003 and the deadly human strain of bird flu in 2004.This meeting will show the unity of Asean in fighting this flu pandemic, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit said.

ASEAN includes Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, The Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar.

U.S places Thailand on Priority Watch List

The United States has maintained Thailand on its Priority Watch List following Thailand’s failure to make significant improvement on intellectual property rights and protection. This fact did not surprise Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva much as he already expected this. Thai News Agency had quoted that Abhisit and Washington has concern for Thailand’s intellectual property violation. U.S made the assessment over a relatively short period of time which opted to maintain Thailand’s trade status. This came after the U.S decision which kept Thailand on its special watch list of nations that fail to crack down on copyright and patent violations.

Abhisit promised that Thailand will ensure that intellectual property law is applied and that violations are prosecuted, denying the need to issue new laws as there are already several laws governing the issue.

The American trade office, the trading partners on the PWL, including Thailand, did not provide an adequate level of IPR protection or enforcement, or market access for those relying on intellectual property protection. So the countries will be the subject of “intense engagement” through bilateral discussions in the coming year.

Thermal scanners at Thai airports to prevent swine flu

Government has ordered installation of thermal scanners at the country’s international airports, including of Suvarnabhumi International Airport as a preventive measure against the potential spread of swine flu in Thailand. Thai Public Health Ministry said that this is being done not only in Bangkok but other international airports such as Northern Province of Chiang Mai and southern province of Phuket.

At present, there was no swine flu case discovered in Thailand, Witthaya Kaewparadai, Minister of Public Health told a press conference. But for the safety of the passengers, the infra-red cameras, which are used to detect unusual body heat in a bid to prevent the spread of swine flu, have also been installed at Thailand’s international airports. Not only this, the thermal scanners will be ready to use when it is necessary as arrival passengers would be minimally affected.

Thai health ministry is taking all possible preventive steps against this deadly disease. Prior to this, there was also a press conference in which, the Thai Public Health Ministry held a meeting with several involved authorities, including of representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), Bangkok office, discussing about the swine flu. Meanwhile the Thai Public Health Minister established an operation center to closely monitor and evaluate the worldwide swine flu situation on a daily basis to prevent the swine flu from potentially spreading into Thailand.

Thailand – The City’s Most Popular Western Restaurant

The most popular restaurant for western food in Bangkok is, The Bourbon street. It is probably the most popular restaurant in Bangkok with expats and tourists. It lies on Sukhumvit in downtown Bangkok. Its best thing about the restaurant is the ambience and the atmosphere which gives a cozy and friendly feeling, with burnt orange walls, very comfy rattan and leather fabulous furniture and subdued lighting. They also have a pretty area outside stocked full of huge leafy plants, where you can wait if your table isn’t ready. This is a perfect place to have western food and mind relaxation with its atmosphere. Its bar area is comparatively nice, where you can really hang out.

Thailand’s Bourbon street is really unbelievable, and just not worth missing. Bourbon Street is American owned and operated (a rarity in Thailand) and serves authentic Cajun, Creole and Mexican food in a very cool atmosphere. Food arrives quite quickly, it’s still piping hot. Bourbon Street is also always packed full of people every time for its goodness and delicious food. Even the staffs are the most efficient staffs of any other restaurant. They are so friendly and sweet, which is actually a given in Thailand but that doesn’t usually come with efficiency too!

Thailand’s world comedy film festival

Thailand will host the World Comedy Film Festival,which will be sponsored by The Tourism Authority of Thailand(TAT) under the helm of the Federation of National Film Association of Thailand which will feature more than 50 comedy films, will run from 23 – 29 April, 2009, at Siam Paragon Cineplex and SF World Cinema at Central World. The first in Asia this April, will follow the success of the Bangkok International Film Festival, in an effort to position Thailand as the film industry hub of Asia and also to help boost the country’s tourism industry.

Thailand has long been known as the Land of Smiles. Laughter’s Beyond Frontier is the theme of this maiden comedy film festival in Bangkok, with an international array of films from such countries as the USA, UK, Italy, France, Germany, South Africa, Poland and Asian movies from Iran, Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, China, Taiwan, as well as the host country Thailand. The film fest will feature 20 films from the World Cinema category, 20 movies from Asian Cinema, and 10 Thai comedies plus 5 classics.

This is the first time that the Comedian Association, the Federation of National Film Associations, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand are working together in close cooperation to showcase the local prowess of comedy acts in films and other kinds of media.

Thai Govt to spend 50 billion Baht on South Thailand

The Southern provinces of Thailand has been suffering from insurgency for quite long now and in an attempt to improve the condition of people in the four southernmost provinces, the Thai government has decided to spend more than 50 billion Baht (1.4 billion U.S. dollars). This will not only develop the infrastructure there but will also resolve violence in the region, a senior official said.

A special committee set up for improving economy in the region declared that this amount was a must if development projects are to be set up in the unrest regions of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat provinces as well as four districts of Songkhla during 2010-2012, Deputy Interior Minister Thaworn Senneam was quoted as saying.

The projects aim that each village in the area should get 228,000 Baht (6430 U.S. dollars). Again the villagers are to cooperate in planning development projects for their village without intervention by the government. For this, more than 100,000 households in the region will be picked up to join an economic self-sufficiency program, with each household receiving 6,000 Baht (170 U.S. dollars) in leading the program.

On Friday, a special cabinet meeting agreed to extend the emergency decree in South Thailand for another three months. This decree was due to expire on April 19.

Thailand urged to lift state of emergency to boost tourism

The Thai government is requested to lift the current state of emergency and find measures to boost the tourism business shattered following Monday’s clashes between government forces and anti-government protesters in the capital, said a senior hotelier on Wednesday.

Prakit Chinamornpong, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said that the people should think first of the country’s interest, and that the government should lift the state of emergency immediately. It should also ask 19 foreign countries to lift the travel warnings they have issued advising their citizens to refrain from traveling to Thailand due to the political unrest.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday declared the state of emergency in the capital and five neighboring provinces, one day after anti-government protesters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship stormed into the hotel in Pattaya where the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations was holding a summit with six dialogue partners.

It was determined that visiting government heads and other participants at risk, and the government acted decisively, canceling the summit on that day.

Mr. Prakit said that the Thai government must find ways to boost the tourism sector before the start of the high season in October. It should focus on encouraging Chinese, Japanese and South Korean travelers to visit Thailand.

As Mr. Abhisit plans to visit China, he should discuss with Chinese leaders on ways which could boost confidence for Chinese tourists to visit this country, Mr. Prakit. Advised. (TNA)

Protests Restarted in Thailand

Bangkok has witnessed the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) since 26 March, 2009, that led to the occupation or obstructing of a handful of government compounds, including the Government House area, which houses a number of cabinet offices, and the outside of the Si Sao Thewes home, which is the residence of Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda, President of the Privy Council. On April 9, some of the protesters went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, head office of the Democratic Party, and the Constitutional Court. Some certain areas in Bangkok; such as, Victory Monument and the surrounding vicinity remain closed by the protesters. Police and security officials have exercised utmost restraint at all times in handling these disturbances, and will continue to do so.

All relevant authorities have clearly stated that Thailand will remain under civilian rule. Such events are not unusual from time to time in any democratic system that permits the right to protest under its constitution. There has been no significant disruption to life and business in the capital beyond added traffic congestion in a few areas. Almost the entire key tourist sites in Bangkok and nationwide are completely unaffected. Hotels and other travel-related infrastructure and services, including all airports, train services throughout the country, and roadways are operating as normal.

Tourists and experts in Bangkok should avoid the following areas: Chamai Maruchet Bridge, Government house, and outside the Si Sao Thewes area. Public utilities and communication services operate uninterrupted, contrary to reports of possible disruptions. To ease any concern that foreign visitors may have in traveling to Thailand, the Thai authorities concerned have stepped up measures to ensure their safety and to facilitate their travel, both to and within the country.

Protests Restarted in Thailand

Bangkok has witnessed the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) since 26 March, 2009, that led to the occupation or obstructing of a handful of government compounds, including the Government House area, which houses a number of cabinet offices, and the outside of the Si Sao Thewes home, which is the residence of Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda, President of the Privy Council. On April 9, some of the protesters went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, head office of the Democratic Party, and the Constitutional Court. Some certain areas in Bangkok; such as, Victory Monument and the surrounding vicinity remain closed by the protesters. Police and security officials have exercised utmost restraint at all times in handling these disturbances, and will continue to do so.

All relevant authorities have clearly stated that Thailand will remain under civilian rule. Such events are not unusual from time to time in any democratic system that permits the right to protest under its constitution. There has been no significant disruption to life and business in the capital beyond added traffic congestion in a few areas. Almost the entire key tourist sites in Bangkok and nationwide are completely unaffected. Hotels and other travel-related infrastructure and services, including all airports, train services throughout the country, and roadways are operating as normal.

Tourists and experts in Bangkok should avoid the following areas: Chamai Maruchet Bridge, Government house, and outside the Si Sao Thewes area. Public utilities and communication services operate uninterrupted, contrary to reports of possible disruptions. To ease any concern that foreign visitors may have in traveling to Thailand, the Thai authorities concerned have stepped up measures to ensure their safety and to facilitate their travel, both to and within the country.