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June 30, 2021 Thai Enquirer Summary Economic News

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June 30, 2021 Thai Enquirer Summary Economic News June 30, 2021 Thai Enquirer Summary Economic News Although Thailand’s latest Covid-19 data showed that yesterday (June 29th) saw the worst fatalities (a total of 53 people died yesterday), the big news for the country at the moment is the fact that ‘Phuket Sandbox’ is now officially ready to move forward. The Royal Gazette was announced late last night to put in place the details needed to open the island to foreign tourists. There are at least 4-5 airlines that are ready to provide the services and as of latest data available there are about 1,100 people expected to arrive in the days ahead. Airlines have said that their bookings have been receiving good response from tourists from European countries although the lack of details (until the Royal Gazette was issued) prompted some cancellations. As part of the move to be able to get the ‘Certificate of Entry (COE)’ tourists have to provide the following Upon entry, all travellers will have to undergo at least 2 COVID-19 tests and must report to health authorities every day during their 14-days stay in Phuket. They must not shift their accommodation and are not allowed to travel outside the pilot province unless their visit is beyond 14 days. All travellers must have a Certificate of Entry (COE) to enter the Kingdom. All travellers must present a COVID-free certificate through an RT-PCR test obtained no more than 72 hours before their departure. They must have insurance coverage of at least US$100,000 (three million baht) against Covid-19. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will fly to Phuket tomorrow to preside over the opening ceremony of the Phuket Sandbox tourism scheme. Gen Prayut and his entourage will arrive at Phuket International Airport at 09:30 hrs tomorrow. Link to the Royal Gazette (in Thai language) http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2564/E/143/T_0073.PDF TTB Analytics, the research house of TMB-Thanachart Bank (TTB), has come out to warn of escalation of infections ahead of the opening of the Phuket Sandbox scheme scheduled for tomorrow, citing the case of Maldives and Seychelles after the reopening of their countries to foreign visitors. TTB Analytics said several countries such as Maldives and Seychelles have pushed their vaccination program to create herd immunity for their population to a certain extent to facilitate the reopening. However, the reopening has led the countries to face a new wave of infections. TTB said the 2 countries bear some geographic similarities with the Phuket island which will kick off its tourism sandbox scheme tomorrow. The cabinet yesterday approved an 8.5-billion-baht relief package to help ease the impact of the government's latest Covid-19 control measures, including a ban on dining in at restaurants and closures of construction sites in the capital and five surrounding provinces. The cabinet also approved the expansion of relief packages to cover entrepreneurs in other sectors, including spas, hotels, entertainment, repair shops, laundry shops, beauty shops and pet care clinics, in addition to eateries and construction firms. Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council, said of the 8.5 billion baht, 5 billion will be drawn from the 1-trillion-baht emergency loan decree, with the rest allocated from the Social Security Fund. Those eligible for the new relief package are required to register through the Social Security Fund or Thung Ngern mobile application in July. According to Danucha, at the meeting yesterday the prime minister ordered his economic team to study additional measures to assist freelancers and small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the economic impact of the pandemic. Kla Party leader and former finance minister Korn Chatikavanij has come out to propose the government to extend financial aid to construction workers and restaurant workers to support their living costs for 3 months due to the government’s closure order to curb infections. On his Facebook, Korn said the hope of the opening up of borders within 120 days as declared by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha is dim due to the slow pace of the government’s vaccination plan. There is no way that the government can create herd immunity for 70% of the population within the coming 4 months if as little as 250,000 jabs are administered per day. Korn urged the government to assess the situation based on reality. He then proposed the government to increase COVID-19 income relief payment to 5,000 baht and compensation payment capped at 7,500 baht, totalling 12,500 baht, for 3 months. According to Korn’s formula, the government will have to find 5 billion baht per month to subsidise this scheme, costing the government 15 billion baht in total from 500 billion baht. Korn believes that the government has the ability to find this funding. Thailand has lost 550,000 tourism jobs in the 2nd quarter this year, according to latest data from the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT). The outbreak has shut 36% of tourism businesses temporarily and 4% permanently, the Tourism Council of Thailand said in a statement, citing a survey that also showed tourism confidence hit a record low in the current quarter. Hotel occupancy rates have dropped to 10% in the second quarter from 20% in the first quarter, the survey showed, says council president Chamnan Srisawat. More than 2 million tourism workers lost their jobs, including 400,000 in the first quarter of 2021, Chamnan told a briefing. The industry is hoping the opening to vaccinated visitors to the resort island of Phuket from today will bring in some foreign tourists this year. “Most tourism operators only have cash flow for up to 6 months. If the outbreak can't be controlled and the economy does not get better by then, more businesses will be closed down,” Chamnan said. Confusion reigned about the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)’s plan to provide financial assistance to 200 small-scale retailers who are not registered with the Social Security Office in each district of the capital. The City Hall later came out to put the brake on the plan. Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang is said to provide financial aid to 200 retailers in each district of the capital at 5,000 baht each, following his meeting with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) yesterday. Afterwards, Jindarat Chayothin, a member of the BMA spokesperson team, sent a a message to journalists at the City Hall via Line that the plan is a misunderstanding of BMA public relations officers. A stock analyst warned of market tumble amid crumbing reopening of borders. Nattachat Mekmasin, research manager at Trinity Securities, said Trinity Research Unit assessed that the government’s plan to open up borders within 120 days may be implausible due to high infection numbers. Trinity already saw a correction of Thai shares in response to this negative speculation, Nattachat said, advising investors to take this opportunity to scoop up shares while the market undergoes a correction, especially stocks that are poised to rebound from the COVID-19 crisis and the reopening of the country in 2022. Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) issued an announcement allowing employees to take part in a “leave” programme without pay for a maximum period of 1 year. THAI acting CEO and chief of human resources Suvadhana Sibunruang has issued an internal memo announcing this latest extension of “Leave without Pay” (LWOP) programme yesterday. The scheme, which will be in effect for 12 months, from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. The loss-ridden national carrier said the programme is aimed at reducing personnel expenses for the company, allowing certain groups of employees with health problems to receive treatment, take care of their health without being a burden to the employees, allow employees who want to take leave for further studies and so on. Insurance Scams on the rise Insurance association has come out to say that the number of claims has risen 10 fold or 10x. The number of people claiming insurance has been on the rise and about 80% of these people are in the category of getting paid as soon as they are diagnosed with the virus as per their insurance package they purchased. The problem with higher number of claims is not a big problem as the number of infection is on the rise but there are people who are posting on Tik-Tok of how happy they are that they were infected to get the money. There are reports that some of these insured people are going to eat with those infected to get infected to be able to get infected in order to claim the insurance as the economic situation is so dire that they have no money to continue their lives. A TikTok post of a lady being happy being infected as she gets 200,000 baht in insurance claim. Covid-19 News Today marks the highest number of deaths as it stands at 53 which is 24% higher month- on-month from the month of May 2021. The number of infection also rose close to 5,000 cases at 4,786. The total number of infections in June stood at 99,509 a rise of 8.65% from the 94,639 cases seen in the month of May 2021. The total number of deaths in June was at 992, a rise of 23.80% from the 828 deaths seen in the month of May 2021 Total New Infections for June 30th - 4,786 Community Infections - 4,659 Prison Infections - 127 Total New Deaths for June 30th - 53 Total New Discharge for June 30th - 2,415 Total number of infections from day 1 of Covid outbreak in Thailand Infections - 259,301 cases Deaths - 2,023 The number of infections in Bangkok is continuing to increase and on an upward trend, says the Center COVID-19 Situation Administration Center (CCSA).
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