Headlines summary as of 25 November 2021

News

Newly confirmed cases	Total Cases	Death toll	Total vaccination
6,335 (30 from prisons)	2,088,327 (last seven days: 44,202)	37 (last seven days: 327)	90,468,955 (+574,772)
1st dose vaccine recipients (from 28 Feb)	2nd dose vaccine recipients (from 28 Feb)	3rd dose vaccine recipients (from 16 July)
47,233,526 (+199,502)	40,056,072 (+331,802)	3,179,357 (+43,468)

• The Deputy PM and the Public Health Minister signed procurement contract for the 30 million doses of Pfizer vaccines. The deputy head of the Department of Disease Control said that the 10 million doses of the procured vaccines will be used to inoculate 5-11 years old citizen and the rest will be up for the new vaccine cocktail (without saline mixture).—Khao Sod

Politics

• During the meeting for the Ministry of Defence Council, the PM and Defence Minister affirmed that there will be no House Dissolution, even after the organic laws are finalised. The PM said it is up to the situation at the time after the APEC Summit meeting next year whether he will dissolve the House. The PM said that if he is free, he will join the coalition unity dinner on 3 December.—Thai Rath
• As the office of the Prime Minister secretariat has procured more than 100 iPhones for its officials and has sparked online criticism for overspending during the pandemic crisis.—Thai Enquirer
  • The Mirror Foundation has asked for the old iPhones to give to disadvantaged kids to pursue their online study during the pandemic.—Prachachat Turakij
  • Natreya Thaweewong, Advisor to the Prime Minister said that she would request the Mirror Foundation to send a letter of intent to the Office of the Defense Forces will proceed in accordance with the regulations.–Matichon
• A pro-monarchy group is scheduled to hand over their letter of complaint to the PM today, calling for the authority to expel international human rights civil society Amnesty International Thailand out of the Kingdom. The right wing group said Amnesty Thailand’s campaign of ‘Letter to Panusaya’ calling for the seize of prosecution of the student-led activist is violating the national security and the monarchy.—Khao Sod
  • The PM, however, gave an interview calling for the resolve of conflict on the issue.—Thai Rath
• Prachachat Turakij cited two sources which argued conflicting views on the possibility of the PM setting up a new political party. A main figure in the main ruling Palang Pracharat Party said that the reports that neither PM Prayut is setting up a new party nor former Interior permanent-secretary’s party is just a rumour. Meanwhile, a senior official in the Government House said that as the PM has a persistent character, it is possible that the PM will not totally rely on the PPRP under Thammanat. The source said it all boiled down to how much the PM can trust the party’s secretary-general.—Prachachat Turakij
• A drafter of the 2016 Constitution said that by political practice, the government must dissolve the House once the organic law has been finalised. Dr. Jade Donavanik, former adviser to the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) said that if the government does not dissolve the House, it must have the answer to the people on why there was an amendment of the constitution in the first place. The legal pundit raised the example of the Abhisit Government which dissolve the House right after the amendment was finalised.–Matichon
• Apple Inc issued alert messages to at least six Thai activists and researchers who have been critical of the government, warning it believed their iPhones had been targeted by “state-sponsored attackers”.
  • The six activists include Progressive Movement’s secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkun, political activist Elia Fofi, political scientists from Chulalongkorn and Thammasat Universities, Economic commentator Sarinee Achavanuntakul and a major figure in Thammasat student-led movement.
  • It is expected that the ‘state-sponsored attack’ is from Israeli Pegasus spyware which Thai state has managed to procure.—Khao Sod and BBC Thai

Economic:

• The Eastern Economic Corridor Office (EECO) has signed an MoU with the Chinese bank ICBC (Thailand) to bolster bilateral trade and investments, specifically investment into the EEC zone.  This 3-year cooperation will result in the launch of the EEC Equity Fund to bring in investments into new industrial projects.  EECO and ICBC will be promoting 4 new industries in the EEC, namely: 1 medical and healthcare; 2. digital technology; 3) decarbonisation industries (electric vehicles) and 4) transport and logistics.  Development of these industries will be based on circular green economy.  In fact, CBC is designated as a financial and investment consultant to attract high potential investors into the EEC zone.  Source:  Bangkok Post  Thai Public Relations Department news  Krungthep Turakij
• The new company that will be established through the merger of True and DTAC Plc will have a 33.1 percent stake equally held by Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group and Norway’s Telenor, according to an analyst.  A 10.1 percent stake will be held by China Mobile and the rest by individual shareholders.  NBTC has asked both companies to provide regular updates on the merger’s development and to also explain the reason for the merger and the timeline of the process as well as possible impacts and remedies for consumers.  Source:  Bangkok Post Krungthep Turakij newspaper, 25 November 2021
• The government approved a further 155 billion Baht to fund an income guarantee scheme for farmers.  The State Monetary and Fiscal Policy Committee, chaired by PM Prayut, had agreed to temporarily raise the ceiling of the state borrowing framework according to Section 28 of the State Fiscal and Financial Discipline Act – currently capped at 30 percent of the annual expenditure budget – to 35 percent for 1 year.  This means the government has room to borrow an additional 155 billion Baht, with the change set to take effect next week.  Sources:  Krungthep Turakij Bangkok Post
• At the Thailand 2022 Unlock Value seminar, Finance Minister Arkhom said the government has started unlocking the country since November and is looking to unlock the economy 100 percent by next year.  He noted there is need for limits in using monetary and fiscal tools such as the government loan that already totals 1.5 trillion Baht and public debt ceiling that is raised to 70 percent.  The government will also reduce reliance on tourism and finding a balance between manufacturing and service sectors.  The EEC, Thailand’s new economic growth engine, will unlock new economic areas through the use of innovations.  As COVID-19 situation improves, the government is also looking to ease the cash-handout and will focus more on income generation measures.   Source:  Prachachat Turakij 
• Bank of Thailand (BOT) is concerned that the economy may only be recovering and not growing because income, tourism figures and employment rate remain low, while household debt is soaring.  BOT warned that if the government does not borrow 1.5 trillion Baht, GDP could contract by 9 percent.  Source:  Khao Sod newspaper, 25 November 2021
• Dr Supavud Saicheua, adviser at Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group, urges the government to stop relying on international tourists and to boost domestic tourism.  Of particular concerns are the rising global inflation, Thailand’s rising household debt due to low household income and the government’s excessive loans.  The government should also restructure the debts and NPLs accumulated by SMEs in order to move the economy forward.  Source:  Prachachart Turakij  Bangkok Post
• Joblessness among youths in Thailand has reached an unprecedented level due to the impact of the COVID-19, according to the ILO’s Thailand Labour Market Update released this week.  Youth unemployment rate increased by 3 percent for both men and women, reaching a high of 6 percent and 8 percent, respectively.  Source:  Bangkok Post
• Credit Bureau is concerned about Thailand’s household debt situation.  According to its database of 31 million debtors, some 20.7 percent has debts from personal loan and 7 percent from credit card loan.  This combined 27 percent loan is worrisome because they are for daily consumption and the debtors may not yet regain enough income to service their debts.  Credit Bureau noted NPLs may rise significantly after June 2022 when the government’s debt restructuring measures cease, with NPL potentially reaching 1 trillion Baht.  To date, NPL in Q3 2021 is 7.7 percent (970 billion Baht) based on Credit Bureau’s database and debts that could turn into NPL rising by 2.5 percent.  Source:  Prachachart Turakij

Headlines summary as of 12 November 2021

News

Newly confirmed case(s)	Total Cases	Patients under severe conditions and those using ventilators	Discharged from hospital	From 1 April, totally confirmed cases (third wave)	1st dose vaccine recipients (from 28 Feb)	3rd dose vaccine recipients (from 16 July)
7,305 (320 from prisons); (excluding ATK 2,851)	2,004,274 (last seven days: 52,702)	1,824/ 423	1,888,536 (+7,900)	1,975,411	44,809,613 (+230,037) BKK: 8,614,236 (+ 21,307)	2,710,334 (+34,487) BKK: 740,333 (+5,676)
Local transmission	From abroad	Being hospitalised/ in field-hospital/ quarantined	Confirmed cases in Bangkok	Death toll	Total vaccination (doses)	2nd dose vaccine recipients (from 28 Feb)	Percentage of detection rate (past seven days)
6,974 [6,651 (get tested in hospital) + 323 (active case finding)]	11 (in SQ)	95,804 [51,800 in field hospital]	408,659 (+674)	19,934 (+51) (last seven days: 392)	83,320,621 (+788,090) BKK:  16,561,416 (+ 96,940)	35,800,674 (+523,566 ) BKK: 7,197,331 (+85,491)	11.81 %

• The PM headed the CCSA meeting and has the following resolutions:
  • The rearrangement of the Covid control zones. The only difference is to change the status of the eastern province of Chantaburi from the dark red to be red zone.
  • The curfew for dark red zones remain intact until 30 November.
  • The CCSA has set up a new arrangement to reopen entertainment complexes from 16 January. The PM has ordered the Interior Ministry and Public Health Ministry to look into the reopening scheme.

Politics

• After the debate on the monarchical reform has been picking up, yesterday the PM exhorted moviegoers not to abandon a decades-old tradition of standing en masse to respect the country’s powerful king during the royal anthem that is played before every film. The PM has expressed concern over the act of defiance saying that “I’m concerned for those who want to stand, but are afraid to because they don’t want to get bullied. It takes bravery to stand up”.—Reuters and all media outlet
• After the historic Constitutional Court verdict, there have been several more reactions from political figures:
  • The Election Commissioner said that they will take in the constitutional court verdict to determine whether to dissolve the Move Forward Party as per requested by the same royalist lawyer who filed the case against student-led protestors.—Thai Post
  • The secretary-general of the opposition Move Forward Party said that the attempt to dissolve the party based on the fact that the party bailed the protestors is nothing but a logic fallacy. The main figure of the party said in an interview that the verdict will be used as political tools to sabotage the opposition and leave the Kingdom less rooms for the compromise and dialogue as the calls for reforms are seen only as seditious.—Inside Thailand
  • The advisor to the PM and main ruling Palang Pracharat Party leader Pirapan Salirathavibhaga posted on his social media calling for a tougher prosecution of some of the parties and movements which, he said, have been secretly destructing the constitution and the monarchy. The staunch royalist figure has warned the prosecutor for being charged with negligence, should they do not prosecute the parties involved.—Krungthep Turakij
  • The Deputy PM and the government legal pundit warned that after the verdict, the protestors must take more precautions as the court has ruled that it is not taking rights and liberty allowed by the Constitution to protest.—Krungthep Turakij
• The head of the now defunct PDRC Suthep Tuagsuban has expressed his support for the PM stance not to amend the royal defamation laws and said that the politicians who are mobilising to amend the lese majeste law to use their time and energy to develop the people well-being instead.—Krungthep Turakij
• The Opposition is scheduled to discuss the censure debate without a vote motion on 15 November.—Krungthep Turakij

Economic:

APEC

• Prime Minister Prayut gave an opening speech at the APEC CEO Summit on the theme Thailand’s APEC Priorities in 2022.  The PM reiterated that BCG will become Thailand’s national strategy in post-COVID-19 recovery and will drive its APEC chairmanship next year.  The BCG model will also lead to a balanced, sustainable and sufficiency future.  Source:  MCOT
• Ministry of Commerce (MoC) announced it is ready to take over the APEC Chairmanship from New Zealand.  MoC will oversee trade and investment facilitation aspects of APEC and will focus on forging Free Trade Agreement Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and new trade topics such as e-commerce and digital economy.  Thailand also prioritises the BCG Economic Model to help it cope with climate change and sustainable development.  MoC also congratulated New Zealand for ratifying RCEP on 2 November, which has ensured the trade pact will be enforced on 1 January next year and will be pivotal in resuscitating the regional economy.  MoC has asked new Zealand to import more Thai products such as electrical appliances, rubber and tapioca products.  Source:  Thansettakij

Others

• On 10 November, Board of Investment organised the online BOI-Foreign Chambers of Commerce Consultative Meeting to discuss ways to improve ease of doing business and attract more foreign investment.  Attending the meeting were ML Chayothid, adviser to DPM Supattanapong; BOI executives, representatives from Thai government; and 36 foreign chambers of commerce.  JFCCT discussed measures to promote investments into BCG business as well as reskilling and upskilling human resources to adapt to new technology trends.  Sources:  Post Today Thai Government News
• The Bank of Thailand (BoT) relaxed a dividend payment policy for banks, wherein financial institutions are allowed to pay 2021 dividends not exceeding 50 percent of 2021 net profits and should maintain a cautious approach in accordance with their performance and risks that may arise.  Results of a stress test for 2021-2023 showed banks remain resilient to withstand such a situation and had enhanced their readiness to deal with uncertainty by increasing their loan loss provisions.  Source:  Bangkok Post  Bank of Thailand press release
• The 11.11 shopping feat saw Thai e-commerce platforms Lazada and Shopee reporting exponential sales growth, with the former seeing a record-breaking 200 percent sales growth in the first 2 hours and the retailers a 300 percent increase in sales figures.   Shopee reported that 11 million pieces of items were sold within the first 5 minutes.  E-Commerce value in 2021 is expected to expand by 6.1 percent YoY to reach 4 trillion Baht.  Source:  Krungthep Turakij
• Thai Airways International (THAI) is expected to seek 25 billion Baht in loans to boost its financial liquidity as the airline expands its cargo flight services to a further 30 routes from now until March 2022.  The government had said it will not give Thai Airways the loan and suggests the airline seeks such loan from the private sector.  However, should Thai Airways borrow from the private sector, Ministry of Finance would hold only 8 percent shares of the national airline rather than the current 48 percent; an option which MoF is deliberating.  Sources:  Krungthep Turakij Bangkok Post
• Ministry of Commerce (MoC) anticipates export in 2022 will expand than this year as the economic growth of trading partners start to slow down.  MoC has rolled out 5 strategies to organise 159 marketing activities, such as promoting BCG products and marketing opportunities; penetrating new markets; promoting online trading e-commerce platform thaitrade.com; upskill/reskill the entrepreneurs; and use technologies to improve international trade services.  Source:  Krungthep Turakij newspaper, 12 November 2021
• Bank of Thailand unveiled the BOT Regional Activity Tracker (BOT RAT), which enables it to track in real time economic situations, trends and people’s living conditions in all regions.  The information tracked by BOT RAT will be released monthly, starting from November 15.  Sources:  Bangkok Post  Krungthep Turakij

Headlines summary as of 11 November 2021

News

Newly confirmed case(s)	Total Cases	Patients under severe conditions and those using ventilators	Discharged from hospital	From 1 April, totally confirmed cases (third wave)	1st dose vaccine recipients (from 28 Feb)	3rd dose vaccine recipients (from 16 July)
7,496 (240 from prisons); (excluding ATK 2,358)	1,996,969 (last seven days: 53,545)	1,846/ 425	1,880,636 (+7,452)	1,968,106	44,579,576  (+125,899) BKK: 8,583,014 (+ 516,278)	2,675,847 (+31,288) BKK: 740,333 (+5,676)
Local transmission	From abroad	Being hospitalised/ in field-hospital/ quarantined	Confirmed cases in Bangkok	Death toll	Total vaccination (doses)	2nd dose vaccine recipients (from 28 Feb)	Percentage of detection rate (past seven days)
7,244 [6,942 (get tested in hospital) + 302 (active case finding)]	12 (in SQ)	96,450 [53,266 in field hospital]	407,985 (+752)	19,883 (+57) (last seven days: 421)	82,532,531 (+ 792,255) BKK:  16,426,546 (+ 771,469)	35,277,108 (+516,278) BKK: 7,103,199 (+85,491)	11.73 %

• Labour Minister said that in a bid to help curb the pandemic in the Kingdom, the government will set aside 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines for foreign workers as it prepares to welcome them back to the country to help ease a labour shortage. The government plans to allow workers from neighbouring Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos to re-enter the country, entitled to two-week quarantine, beginning next month and fill up shortages in big exporting industries such as food and rubber production.–Reuters

Politics

• On Thursday morning, the Constitutional Court website https://www.constitutionalcourt.or.th/ was hacked-the interface of the site showed Guillotine (It goes Yah) song and the title of the site has been changed to be ‘Kangaroo Court’.—Krungthep Turakij
• On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court made a verdict which has political ramifications that the 10 monarchical reform proposals are seditious and overthrowing the constitutional monarchy regime. The court imposed no penalty but ordered them and their groups “to cease further action in these matters”.–Reuters and all media outlet In its televised brief, the court also said that “the monarchy will be with Thailand forever as the revere institution and must not be violated. The political history has proven that the authority lies with the monarch since the Sukothai era.” There have been various reactions from all sides of the political aisles:
  • Panusaya ‘Rung’ on the key leaders of the student-led protest expressed her defiance of the ruling and said that the court has no legitimacy as it did not go through any investigation of the defendants. The figure who delivered the 10 proposals historical speech said that her only intention was to call for the reform of the monarchy.—Krungthep Turakij
  • Deputy PM General Prawit
  • Deputy leader of the main ruling Palang Pracharat Party and its party-listed MP Paiboon Nithitawan has suggested the Election Commission to look into politicians and political parties who are conducting similar actions to the protestors whether those actions are also deemed as seditious and an attempt to overthrow the regime.–Matichon
  • The leader of opposition Move Forward Party said that the court verdict is dragging Thailand into a perilous and narrow path as it leaves no room for people holding different opinions on how the country should look like. The MP said that the attempt by the ruling elites to annihilate the (younger) people who are thinking differently cannot reach a plan to realise a stable nation.–Matichon
  • A senior member of the royal family and the King’s Guard Julajerm Yugala wrote on his social media thanking the royalist lawyer who place the case to the Constitutional Court, saying that the lawyer has served the Kingdom well.—Thai Post
  • An academia from Thammasat University said that the court verdict has, in effect, establish a new constitution and regime (beyond constitutional monarchy) which does not involve people participation. Prajak Kongkirati, the political scientist, said that the verdict also distorts the principle of constitutional monarchy and undermine the principle of popular sovereignty.—Krungthep Turakij
  • Associate Professor Dr.Paungthong Pawakapan from Chulalongkorn University gave an interview saying that the verdict will be a stepping stone for the government to file a case to dissolve the opposition Move Forward Party due to its progressive platforms. The senior political pundit said that the dissolution, if happens, will bring about the greater wave of anti-government protests.—Matichon TV
• On Wednesday during the United Nations Human Rights Review, a foreign ministry representative defended the expanded and strict usage of royal defamation laws that the lese majeste law “reflects the culture and history of Thailand, where the monarchy is one of the main pillars of the nation, highly revered by the majority of Thai people”. European countries, including, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland called for the Kingdom to amend or review the law. The US expressed concerns over the expanded use of the law and its impact on freedom of expression.–Reuters
• The government spokesperson said that as there have been calls to amend the royal defamation laws, the PM has made the government stance clear that it will not revise or amend the law.—Krungthep Turakij

Economic:

APEC

• PM Prayut is prepared to take up the APEC chairmanship from New Zealand on 12 November.  The handover will be televised on 13 November, together with PM Prayut’s official statement to the Thai people on NBT (channels 5 and 9) and Thai PBS at 8:02 am.  Source:  APEC 2022 Thailand fb page

Others

• The Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to maintain the policy rate at 0.5 percent to support economic recovery.  It reiterates that the Thai economy has passed the lowest point in Q3 of 2021 and identified the government’s stimulus measures and tourism as the propellers of economic growth.  BOT will continue to monitor the Baht volatility as well as inflation, which has been on the upward trend due to the higher global energy prices and global supply constraints.  BOT maintains its GDP forecast of +0.7 percent for 2021 and +3.8 percent for 2022.  Source:  Bangkok Post  Bank of Thailand press release Krungthep Turakij newspaper, 11 November 2021
• AirAsia Group forecasts that the aviation business will return to normalcy in 3 months, on the condition that more borders in the region re-open with no quarantine and RT-PCR test requirements.  Source:  Bangkok Post
• The Ministry of Commerce plans to upgrade 500 Thai exporters to develop BCG products next year, up from 50 this year.  The BCG export products will focus on 3 sectors, namely functional food & organic food; lifestyle products and health & medical products.  The plan is in line with the global climate agenda and global megatrends.  Source:  Bangkok Post
• The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) has signed an MoU with 7 Thai – Japanese companies to conduct a feasibility study on developing the Carbon Neutral Industrial Estate at Rayong province’s Map Ta Phut industrial estate.  The Carbon Neutral Industrial Estate will utilise energy-saving technology, hydrogen fuel and a variety of clean energy.  This is in alignment with Thailand’s goal to become a low-carbon country in accordance with the BCG policy and to level up the standard of industrial estate and Smart Park in the EEC.  Source:  Daily News  Bangkok Post
• Ministry of Public Health is promoting marijuana, cannabis extract and kratom into economic cash crop.  It aims to promote a total of 12 herbal products with the goal of tapping into global the market worth 1.8 trillion Baht.  It expects the domestic market to grow by 78 billion Baht in 5 years.  Source:  Thansettakj
• The National Shippers Council supports Thailand to join RCEP as joining more FTAs will prepare Thailand to adapt to future trade rules and regulations in the global arena.  RCEP will also expand Thailand’s trade and investment opportunities in 15 countries.  Source:  Krungthep Turakij newspaper, 11 November 2021
• RCEP is expected to boost FDI in the ASEAN region since it presents investors with an opportunity to tap into the Global Value Chain forged by a large number of RCEP member countries.  Source:  Krungthep Turakij newspaper, 11 November 2021

Headlines summary as of 8 November 2021

News

Newly confirmed case(s)	Total Cases	Patients under severe conditions and those using ventilators	Discharged from hospital	From 1 April, totally confirmed cases (third wave)	1st dose vaccine recipients (from 28 Feb)	3rd dose vaccine recipients (from 16 July)
7,592 (711 from prisons); (excluding ATK 3,797)	1,975,591 (last seven days: 55,402)	1,997/ 441	1,857,463 (+7,495)	1,946,728	43,990,610 (+ 76,492) BKK: 8,514,748 (+1,439)	2,596,465 (+ 8,310) BKK: 712,187 (+644)
Local transmission	From abroad	Being hospitalised/ in field-hospital/ quarantined	Confirmed cases in Bangkok	Death toll	Total vaccination (doses)	2nd dose vaccine recipients (from 28 Feb)	Percentage of detection rate (past seven days)
6,871 [6,743 (get tested in hospital) + 128 (active case finding)]	10 (in SQ)	98,425 [56,232 in field hospital]	405,556 (+856)	19,073 (+39) (last seven days: 443)	80,499,612 (+817,382) BKK:  15,988,026 (+278,059)	33,912,537  (+  193,257) BKK: 6,761,091 (+50,165)	11.95 %

• It is expected that the PM will meet with Deputy PM and Energy Minister Supattanapong, Interior Minister Anupong, Finance Minister Arkhom and the Director-general of the Custom Department to discuss the Long Term Resident issue in Thailand.—Krungthep Turakij
• The government spokesperson said that Thailand has inoculated 80 million doses of covid prevention vaccines and expected that within a month, 75 percent of the Thai population will receive the first dose.—Prachachat Turakij

Politics

• On Friday, there was a bit of turbulence on the political affiliation of partner to Captain Thammanat (Palang Pracharat Party’s secretary-general) when the leader of micro New Democracy Party said the party is ready to welcome her to be the party’s Chief Strategist.—Krungthep Turakij
  • Later, Captain Thammanat denies the reports saying that his partner is eyeing to move to other parties and affirming that she is still the PPRP member.—Krungthep Turakij
• It is the strongest signal from the PPRP leader on accepting former Interior permanent-secretary Chatchai and former Police Chief Chakthip joing the party. General Prawit said that if they want to join the party, I will welcome them.—Thai Rath
• After being appointed as government whip by the PM, PPRP Nirote Suntornlekha will host the first government whip meeting at the Government House.—Krungthep Turakij
• Signals on election are approaching as junta-appointed Senators resigned from position. It is expected that one of the senators will join the PPRP leader in the campaign in the South.—Krungthep Turakij
• After two days of launching, the campaign for the abolition of royal defamation laws has almost 200,000 signatures. The Progressive Movement, campaign organiser, boasted that the campaign could secure more than 100,000 signatures within the first 24 hours. The campaigner said that though the signature is way above the minimum requirement to propose new laws to the Parliament, but the campaign will be on going as it is reflective of what people is thinking.—Thai Rath
• Nida Poll released its latest results on the Bangkok governor popularity, the results show that former Transport Minister Chatchart remains top of the league, following by the incumbent governor Pol Gen Asawin.—Nida Poll

Name	Nov 2022	Oct 2022	Jul 2022
Chatchart	33.18%	29.74%	27.71%
Asawin	16.59%	9.33%	9.57%
Undecided	14.09%	27.92%	24.60%
Any candidate from Move Forward Party or Progressive Movement	6.47%	2.73%	5.24%
Any candidate from Pheu Thai Party	5.99%	2.20%	3.27%
Rossana-former Senator	5.91%	4.10%	4.10%
Dr Suvajjavi-KMITL rector	4.09%	3.26%	1.67%
Any candidate from Democrat Party	3.03%	1.97%	2.20%

Analysis/ opinion

• It is reported that after Pheu Thai chief strategist issued a statement calling for the revision of royal defamation laws, sedition laws, computer crime acts and other related to the Emergency Decree, ousted and self-exiled former PM Thaksin Shinawatra made a call to the party executives questioning who issued the statement. It is reported that though there was no one step forward in admitting to be the lead in making the statement, the CARE group under the party director has been spearheading the progressive agenda in a bid to win more votes from the ever growing young voters.—Krungthep Turakij

Economic:

Electric Vehicles (EV)

• Japanese carmakers are objecting against Finance Ministry’s plan to overhaul the excise tax system to promote the use as well as domestic manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (EV).  Spearheading this effort is Toyota Motors, whose executives convened a video conference with Finance Minister Arkhom.  Toyota asked MoF to ensure the transition of the tax structure to promote EVs is slow and to think of the existing manufacturers of internal combustion engine-powered cars that have an established supply chain in Thailand.  This is because Toyota has only one brand of EV, the Lexus, and needed time to transition into EV production, otherwise it fears losing out to competing Chinese imports. 
• Finance Ministry revealed that by 2022, it will roll out a package that promotes the import of CBU EVs, which will benefit Chinese carmakers most as they are already paying zero tariff under Thailand and Chinese trade agreement.  By 2026, MoF will launch a new structure wherein excise tax will be raised for eco-cars, hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars.  As such, carmakers are concerned about the rising costs of manufacturing the abovementioned cars in Thailand going forward.  Source:  Krungthep Turakij newspaper, 8 November 2021
• Finance Ministry affirms it will maintain a balance between supporting existing manufacturers of internal combustion engine-powered cars and promoting electric vehicles (EVs) in its restructuring of the vehicle excise tax system, said a ministry source who requested anonymity.  Source:  Bangkok Post
• DPM Supattanapong reiterates that a new package to promote EV will be submitted to the cabinet in December.  As part of the package, an EV fund will be set up to subsidise 20 percent of the cost of buying an EV car in a bid to boost domestic demand.  Source:  Krungthep Turakij newspaper, 8 November 2021

RCEP

• Ministry of Commerce confirms RCEP will enter into force on 1 January 2022 after 6 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and 4 non-ASEAN countries (Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand) have submitted ratification for the trade pact.  MoC is working with relevant agencies to set up an RCEP centre to provide details of the trade pact.  MoC is also developing a Trade Monitoring System to track irregular trade movement to give Thailand time to implement the necessary trade measures.  Source:  Department of Trade Negotiations press release
• Commerce Ministry is educating farmers nationwide on the benefits of RCEP.  For example, South Korea is reducing tariff on Durians from 4.5 percent to 0 percent in 10 years, while China is reducing tariff on processed fruits to zero percent in 20 years.  Source:  Manager Online

Others

• From 1- 6 November, the number of arrivals into Thailand totalled 12,978 under the Test & Go scheme; the sandbox scheme; 7-day quarantine and 10-day quarantine.  The total number of infected people is 5 percent, which is 0.04 percent of total arrivals.  Source:  Thansettakij
• Inflation in October increased by 2.38 percent YoY in a second consecutive month of growth and also rising at the fastest pace since May.  The increase is attributable to the easing of the lockdown, the surge in gasoline price and the rise in the prices of food such as vegetables and eggs as a result of the flooding in several provinces.  Inflation from January – October 2021 increased by 0.99 percent YoY.  Commerce Ministry does not anticipate inflation in November and December to rise as much as in October as the government is expected to subsidise oil prices.  Sources:  Bangkok Post  Ministry of Commerce Press Release  Krungthep Turakij

Headlines summary as of 4 November 2021

News

Newly confirmed case(s)	Total Cases	Patients under severe conditions and those using ventilators	Discharged from hospital	From 1 April, totally confirmed cases (third wave)	1st dose vaccine recipients (from 28 Feb)	3rd dose vaccine recipients (from 16 July)
7,982 (144 from prisons); (excluding ATK 3,001)	1,935,442 (last seven days: 58,451)	2,181/ 466	1,826,492 (+8,029)	1,914,561	43,112,788 (+297,188) BKK: 8,475,174 (+3,401)	2,495,219 (+27,092) BKK: 696,532 (+3,312)
Local transmission	From abroad	Being hospitalised/ in field-hospital/ quarantined	Confirmed cases in Bangkok	Death toll	Total vaccination (doses)	2nd dose vaccine recipients (from 28 Feb)	Percentage of detection rate (past seven days)
7,972 [7,762 (get tested in hospital) + 66 (active case finding)]	10 (in SQ)	97,470 [55,099 in field hospital]	402,425 (+827)	19,462 (+68) (last seven days: 456)	77,831,474 (+817,382) BKK:  15,600,813 (+ 76,166)	32,223,467 (+ 493,102) BKK: 6,429,107 (+69,453)	13.21%

• The PM has returned from Glasgow and has got the Covid test right away, the result turned negative. He has thanked all related agencies on cooperation for the reopening of the Kingdom.—Thai Rath
• It is expected that the Deputy PM and Public Health Minister Anutin will propose at the weekly cabinet meeting to procure 2 million tablets (equal to 50,000 courses) of molnupiravir to be used in conjunction with favipiravir to treat Covid-19.—Krungthep Turakij

Politics

• The PM Prayut speech on COP 26 has been criticised for being very similar, if not the same expression, to that of former US President Obama. The PM said he does not take the criticism seriously as it is possible that leaders may think alike and he has already consulted with the MFA on this.—Prachachat Turakij
• After the government whip has to stop his representative status due to a court sentence, it is expected that the PM will head the cabinet meeting with an agenda to nominate the new government whip with five PPRP MPs.—Prachachat Turakij
• As there have been more local elections coming up and that it is unconstitutional for political parties to assist in the election, the Deputy PM and government legal pundit Wissanu hinted that there will be an amendment before the upcoming Bangkok governor election. The legal pundit said that the motion to amend the regulation could be expedited in the House.–Matichon
• The freshly appointed main opposition Pheu Thai Party gave an interview on the flip flops of Pheu Thai Party stances saying that despite its chief strategist statement to amend lese majeste law, the party will not propose the amendment. Dr Chonlanan said that if student-led protestors proposed the amendment motion, the party will facilitate the motion.—Inside Thailand
  • On Wednesday, the Party leader held a press conference on behalf of the Opposition that the motion to amend the royal defamation law will be up to each party and any individual MP to propose. He underlined that Pheu Thai Party will not take the lead in collecting names or propose an amendment of Article 112, rather the party will act as a mediator in introducing the problems to the House.–Matichon
• After returning from the COP26 summit, the PM announced that the government will not amend the royal defamation laws. The PM said he spoke on behalf of the coalition that the ruling parties will not amend the law as it is a matter of national security. The PM said some politicians should not destruct what Thai people revere.—Krungthep Turakij
• So far, the parties stances on amending Article 112 has been as followed:

Parties		Stances
Government	Prime Minister	Against
Pheu Thai	Chief Strategist	For
	CARE Group (Think Tank)	For
	Thaksin	Against
Palang Pracharat	Party leader (Prawit Wongsuwan)	Against
	Party leader advisor (Pirapan Salirathavibhaga)	Against
Bhumjaithai	Party leader	Against
Chatthai Pattana	MP and Party director	Against
Move Forward	Secretary-general	For
Progressive Movement	Secretary-general	Abolish
Seri Ruamthai	Party leader	For
Democrat	Party leader	Against
Kla	Secretary-general	Against

Economic:

At the seminar Boost Up Thailand 2022, Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Supattanapong forecasted Thailand’s GDP could grow by 5-6 percent next year since the economy has already passed the lowest point.

• DPM Supattanapong confirmed the package to promote Electric Vehicles (EV) will be finalised within next month (December) and will be subsequently presented to the cabinet.  This will ensure Thailand can become the centre of production for all types of vehicles.  It will also correspond with Thailand’s policies to promote clean energy following PM Prayut’s announcement at the 26^th UNFCCC: COP that Thailand will achieve net zero emission by 2065.
• He announced that the value of Thailand’s investment application through the BOI in the first 9 months of 2021 had tallied 520 billion Baht, which doubled from the 210 billion Baht reported during the same period in 2020.  He forecasted that at the end of this year, investment application will reach 600 billion Baht, which is close to the 2019 value of 756 billion Baht.  He attributed this to the relocation of factories, which is incentivised by net zero emission.
• In the next 3 years, he expects Thailand to be the largest bio-plastic investment base in the world.  This is already taking shape through a foreign investment in the bio-complex industrial estate in Nakhon Sawan province, which is set to kick off next year.  Source  Prachachat Turakij   Bangkok Post

Experts have called on the government to find new ways to subsidise diesel prices, target only specific groups of customers for help and end the current blanket subsidy for all motorists.  The government is promoting EVs through tax and non-tax incentives, to be rolled out in December.  Permanent Secretary of the Energy Ministry, Kulrit Sombatsiri, said the EV policy will add a new financial burden on the government.  Source:  Bangkok Post

PM Prayut has instructed all government agencies to seek new ways of working to revamp Thailand’s image.  As such, the TAT is promoting Thai tourism in 2022 through the theme Amazing Thailand, Amazing New Chapters to promote the new normal COVID-19 standards.  It also reported that a total of 4,150 tourists have travelled into Thailand, with 3 infected cases through the Test and Go scheme and 3 cases from the 7-10-day quarantine.  Source:  Krungthep Turakij newspaper, 4 November 2021

Australia

Australia and New Zealand announced that both countries had ratified RCEP on 2 October.  Australia also announced that the world’s biggest free trade agreement will come into effect on 1 January, given that RCEP will come into effect 60 days after ratification by at least 6 ASEAN states and at least 3 non-ASEAN states.  Sources:  Daily News  Post Today

Headlines summary as of 2 November 2021

News

Newly confirmed case(s)	Total Cases	Patients under severe conditions and those using ventilators	Discharged from hospital	From 1 April, totally confirmed cases (third wave)	1st dose vaccine recipients (from 28 Feb)	3rd dose vaccine recipients (from 16 July)
7,574 (515 from prisons); (excluding ATK 2,113)	1,927,763 (last seven days: 60,900)	2,219/ 473	1,809,981 (+8,279)	1,898,900	42,548,483 (+160,018) BKK: 8,441,359 (+6,245)	2,433,046 (+  22,453) BKK: 677,659 (+3,348)
Local transmission	From abroad	Being hospitalised/ in field-hospital/ quarantined	Confirmed cases in Bangkok	Death toll	Total vaccination (doses)	2nd dose vaccine recipients (from 28 Feb)	Percentage of detection rate (past seven days)
7,049 [6,793 (get tested in hospital) + 256 (active case finding)]	6 (in SQ)	98,444 [56,274 in field hospital]	400,826 (+789)	19,338 (+78) (last seven days: 473)	76,226,116 (+515,839) BKK:  15,356,827 (+ 77,871)	31,244,587 (+  333,368) BKK: 6,237,809 (+68,278)	13.93%

• The President of AstraZeneca (Thailand) has issued an open letter that the company is able to increase the capacity of the vaccine production by 20 percent from 580,000 doses per lot to 700,000 doses per lot. The open letter said that in October, the company delivered 10.5 million doses. So far, the company has managed to deliver 35.1 million doses of AZ vaccines to the Kingdom. The open letter also pledged the delivery of 60 million doses in 2022.—Khao Sod
• Thammasat University field hospital announced that they will no longer proceed their attempt to take in the Moderna vaccines doses as per donated by Poland. –Khao Sod
• The head of the National Security Council who concurrently head the Operation Centre of the CCSA said that if the businesses could abide by the regulations set by the CCSA, there will  be further ease of the restriction, but pointed out that the pubs and night clubs will remain closed for the time-being.–Matichon

Politics

• Political parties are announcing their stances on the amendment of the royal defamation laws. The report on opposition party seek to review the law is on Reuters.
  • The party leader of the main-ruling Palang Pracharat Party (PPRP) said the party will not amend article 112. General Prawit has stated that his party stance that the PPRP main ideology is to uphold and defend the three main institutions: the Nation, the Religion, and the Monarchy. Any party action must not affect the three main institutions.—Krungthep Turakij
  • The opposition whip from the main opposition Pheu Thai Party said that the party will discuss with other opposition party leaders before proposing the motion to the House for discussion.—Krungthep Turakij
  • The freshly established Kla Party led by the former Finance Minister Korn said announced that the party is against the amendment as the revision would stir conflicts within the society. The party secretary-general said that the party does not have a plan to gain popularity by creating hatred.—Krungthep Turakij
  • The spokesperson of the royalist Action Coalition of Thailand Party said that the party oppose the revision and has asked the Pheu Thai and Move Forward Party if they are sure that the Thai society will let then get away with this action.–Matichon
  • MP Rawee Machamadon from a micro party has announced that his party and the other micro parties will do anything in their powers to oppose the advocacy to amend the law.—Krungthep Turakij
  • Last night, the Thammasat University student-led protest at the Bangkok Ratchaprasong CBD ended without a clash with the police. Panusaya ‘Rung’ the group leader used a razor blade to cut her left arm as number ‘112’ before the end of the rally. Panusaya read a statement calling for the abolition of article 112.—Thai Rath
• Former Police Chief General Chakthip Chaijinda who is highly anticipated to run for the Bangkok governor seat has announced his withdrawal from the campaign.
  • He announced with his Bangkok Metropolitan Council candidate team that he will not proceed with the campaign. It is reported that the police general does not want to compete with the incumbent governor who is his police senior.—Krungthep Turakij  
  • The PPRP leader said that he does not know any information about this. The Police General did not discuss anything with him and the party does not support anyone to take the BMA seat.—Krungthep Turakij
  • The secretary-general of the Move Forward Party analysed that the withdrawal of the Police General might signify the early election of Bangkok Governor seat within this year or early next week.–Matichon
• The restructuring of the main-ruling Palang Pracharat Party (PPRP) and the ploy to drive out the party secretary-general is far from over as the freshly appointed party advisor said that his first draft of the plan for the restructuring has an initial nod from the party leader. The party advisor said that there will be a clearer distinction of labour between the party secretary-general and the party director.—Inside Thailand

Economic:

Akara Mine

• The Pheu Thai Party Leader Dr Chonlanan Srikaew accused PM Prayut of making secret exchanges with Australia’s Kingsgate Consolidated in order to allow Chatri mine in northern Thailand to resume operations.  His accusation erupted following the news that the arbitral tribunal will hold the award until 31 January 2022; a postponement from the original date of 31 October 2021 to give time for both parties to reach a formal settlement. Dr Chonlanan said the government has been hiding the truth from the people and that PM Prayut is using Thailand’ national asset to compensate for his own mistake in illicitly ordering the closure of the Chatri mine.  This has caused irreparable damage to the country.  Source:  Matichon
• Government spokesperson Thanakorn dismissed the accusation by the Pheu Thai Party Leader Dr Chonlanan that the government has been making secret exchanges with Australia’s Kingsgate Consolidated company to allow Chatri Mine to reopen.  Thanakorn said the postponement of the arbitral tribunal award is to give time for the Thai government to conclude a settlement negotiation with Kingsgate, which is a preferable option and for which the government is acting in the nation’s best interest.  Thanakorn added the current government will not cause colossal damage to the nation as the rice farming subsidy scheme did during former PM Yingluck’s regime.  In fact, the government spokesperson suggested Dr Chonlanan call the former PM back bear the consequences of her actions.  Sources:  Thai Government press release  MCOT  Krungthep Turakij

Others

• The first day of Thailand’s reopening on 1 November to fully vaccinated visitors saw 61 commercial flights land at Suvarnabhumi airport with slightly over 3,000 passengers arriving, plus 3,613 at other international airports, bringing the total to over 6,600+ arrivals.  Some 2,300 arrivals were foreign tourists, most of whom are from Europe while the rest were Thai returnees.  Transport Ministry estimated that 3,260 international flights will arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport in November, carrying 135,407 passengers.  
• Tourism Authority of Thailand now expects over 1 million tourists to come in the next 6 months, or about 300,000 per month. Those figures are about 10 percent of the numbers recorded in 2019.  Source:  Source:  Bangkok Post
• The tourism, retail, automobile, real state and event organizing sectors, which are the drivers of economic growth, are organising economic activities worth over 2 billion Baht to rev up spending and spur the Thai economy following its reopening on 1 November after 2 years of border closure.  Source:  Krungthep Turakij newspaper, 2 November 2021
• Commerce Minister Jurin met with Chinese Ambassador to Thailand Han Zhiqiang yesterday.  He asked the Chinese ambassador to convince the Chinese government to reopen the Mohan and Guan Lei checkpoints in Yunan province to facilitate cross border trade into Thailand.  The 2 cross border checkpoints have remained closed to curb COVID-19 outbreak.  Thailand and China will also collaborate on bringing RCEP into enforcement for the benefits of the 15 member countries.  Minister Jurin also asked China to speed up rice purchases through the G2G deal.  Both countries also agreed to collaborate on the construction of the high-speed rail.  Source:  Bangkok Post  Krungthep Turakij newspaper, 2 November 2021  Poojadkarn Daily 360 Degrees, 2 November 2021
• Thai Airways is planning to borrow 25 billion Baht from the private sector this year and is expected to make the first loan within January 2022.  The airline insists it will not revert back to a state own enterprise status and reiterates that it has sufficient fund to resume operations next year.  Source:  Krungthep Turakij newspaper, 2 November 2021
• Commerce Ministry is keeping a close eye on rising prices of vegetables, which had gone up by 3-4 times, as well as other consumer products, the costs of which weren driven up by floods and higher oil and raw material prices.  Commerce Ministry will continue dispatching 50 mobile grocery buses to sell vegetables and other essential items to communities throughout Bangkok and the vicinity.  Sources:  Bangkok Post The Nation TV