December 16, 2020 Thai Enquirer Summary Economic News The government’s new phase of the co-payment scheme saw an overwhelming response this morning as the 5 million people were allowed to take up the offer that opened at around 05:30 am this morning. By 07:30 more than 50 per cent of the 5 million registrations had already been taken up and people were logging in the system to undertake the registration. This scheme comes despite the “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” (We Travel Together) campaign being put on hold as allegations of fraud has put this entire scheme of the government on hold. The government has come out to say that it was mulling legal action against those involved in rampant fraud in the half-half co-payment scheme. Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha is reported to order the Finance Ministry to take action against those who are involved in alleged corruption to set a standard for other government-sponsored projects and prevent these crimes from recurring. The 2nd phase of the Rao Tiew Duay Kan campaign has been postponed after widespread corruption was found in the 1st stage, with more than 500 participating hotels and shops being found to have profited from abusing the scheme. The alleged fraud made the government postpone the addition of 1 million room nights to the scheme, scheduled for today, for at least 1 month. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)’s investigation found that 312 hotels and 202 shops participating in the campaign were involved in alleged irregularities. The TAT decided to postpone traveller-registration for the 2nd phase of the campaign, which was due to start today. It was planned that up to 1 million travellers would benefit. There were 108,962 transactions made with 312 suspected hotels and 49,713 transactions with 200 suspected stores, Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said. Yuthasak said he would file a complaints with the Royal Thai Police Office in Pathumwan district at 9.00 hrs today against those who were involved in alleged corruption in the travel subsidy scheme. Kerry Express (Thailand) Plc (KEX) a leading parcel delivery provider, announced the price of its initial public offering (IPO) at 28 baht per share, from an IPO price range of 25-28 baht per share set previously due to overwhelming interest from investors and thanks to the rapid growth of e-commerce platforms, which has increased by 135 per cent in the past 5 years. The company is set to trade in the Stock Exchange of Thailand for the 1st day on December 24, 2020. Proceeds from the offering to the public which will account around 8.4 billion baht will be used for expanding the Kerry Express network, enhancing its efficiency, repaying loans and boosting its working capital. The cabinet’s meeting yesterday acknowledged the Finance Ministry’s report of the country’s average ratio of public debt to GDP of 49.34 per cent, below the 60 per cent set by the Finance Ministry’s fiscal sustainability framework at the end of fiscal year 2020, ending September 30, 2020. The government's tax revenue collection in the first month of fiscal 2021 fell short of its target by 15.4 billion baht or 8.5%, attributed to the impact of the pandemic. Kulaya Tantitemit, acting director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO), reported yesterday the government garnered net revenue of 167 billion baht in October, 15.4 billion below the target. The figures were 73.7 billion baht or 30.6% below those collected in October last year. "A shrinking economy triggered by the spread of Covid-19 has resulted in lower income for business operators and workers, leading to government revenue collection falling accordingly," said Ms Kulaya, also a Finance Ministry spokeswoman. She said the lower collection also stemmed from smaller revenue remittances by energy-related state enterprises whose operating results in 2020 fell, as well as a relatively high base in 2019. Developers of high-rise buildings and electric train projects in Bangkok have been told to suspend construction activities which increase the amount of dust particles in the air for a few days, by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), as it increases measures to deal with the air pollution problem in the city. BMA spokesman Pongsakorn Kwanmuang told the media that the administration has instructed district chiefs and directors of municipal schools to consider temporary closures in areas worst affected by PM2.5 dust particles, especially kindergartens. Health Department deputy director-general Danai Teewanda said that schools have been advised to shorten the daily national anthem ceremony and morning prayers to only 10-15 minutes, so that students need not stay outdoors for too long. He also advised hawkers and motorcycle taxi drivers, who are vulnerable to air pollution, to wear face masks all the time while outdoors. A majority of private organisations, 77 per cent, has plans to overhaul their payroll structural systems in 2021, according to research by the online job portal JobThai. Saengduan Tangthamsatid, co-founder and chief operating officer of JobThai, said the survey found that 48.2 per cent of private companies plan to revamp companies’ payroll structure; 28.9 per cent have plans to revise up and down employees’ salaries; 18.1 per cent have not finalised their policies while 1.6 per cent of companies in the survey said they plan to cut employees’ salaries. Under the planned overhaul, companies have started to make an adjustment to employees’ welfare events such as recreational activities, parties, sport events, annual trips and annual bonuses. The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA)’s labour union members called for the Prime Minister to give the greenlight to the long-delayed rehabilitation plan for the BMTA while the BMTA’s rehabilitation process appears to be stuck in limbo. BMTA workers’ union president Boonma Pongma said he will lead more than 300 members of the BMTA’s labour union to the government’s public complaints centre to petition Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to speed up the rehabilitation process for the BMTA upon a pending cabinet consideration. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob came out to say that his ministry is doing its best to accelerate the rehabilitation process but it needs cooperation from other agencies to materialise the process. He said the cabinet secretariat office is currently seeking opinions of related agencies over the rehab plan before forwarding it to the Transport Ministry again. Bang Sue Grand Station, covering 2,235 rai of land in Bangkok, will be opened as the country's new and largest rail transport centre by late next year as planned, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday. He was speaking while leading cabinet members on a visit to the central station and inspecting progress in the final phase of construction. Aside from being the country's rail transport nerve centre, the central station will also play a crucial role in developing the country, boosting the economy, and promoting trade, investment and urbanisation, the prime minister said. The land around Bang Sue Grand Station is being developed for commercial purposes along with the ongoing development of the country's rail transport system, he said. Political News During the upcoming censure debate against the government, apart from the 3 generals (Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prawit Wongsuwon & Anupong Paochinda) another member of the Phalang Pracharat party - Education Minister Natapol Teepsuwan, is set to be among the targets that is to be grilled for his poor performance that caused Thai youths to take to the streets in an attempt to oust him from office, says Wiroj Lakkhana-adiorn of the opposition Kao Kai (Move Forward) party. The opposition bloc is preparing the censure motion to be submitted to parliament next month. The debate targets embattled Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha for the government’s handling of the faltering economy and alleged corruption, Sutin Klungsang, chief opposition whip and an MP from Pheu Thai Party said. Wisarn Techatheerawat, the Pheu Thai MP for Chiang Rai, said the opposition was compiling evidence to support the censure allegations. It has obtained figures from the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) about rampant corruption in state procurement projects during the past 6 years Gen Prayut in office. Parit “Penguin" Chiwarak, co-leader of the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD) has come out to distance himself from the Free Youth group following rampant criticism against Free Youth for floating the idea of the communist system and a republic for Thailand. Parit said he did not condone communist ideologies which do not reflect the group’s own political ideology. On his Facebook post, Parit said he would like to clarify that he is a member of the UFTD, not Free Youth. The Ratsadon and the UFTD groups uphold democratic rule under which everyone is equal and has rights and liberties. Parit vowed to continue his fight for his cause to promote democracy and eradicate the dictatorship and “Sakdina” (feudalism) system to attain equality and liberty for everyone. Parit, however, said there is nothing wrong in advocating communism or transformation to a republic, because they have the right to free expression. The Thai Pakdee (Loyal Thai) group led by former MP Warong Dechgitvigrom plans a rally on December 18 to drum up public support to keep Section 112 of the Criminal Code in place. On his Facebook page, Dr Warong posted, #1 right, 1 vote in support of Section 112. He reiterated his group’s stance to protect the royal institution under a constitutional democracy.