Headlines summary as of 5 July 2022

KEY ISSUES AT A GLANCE

• Albanese pledges extra $100m and more military aid on Ukraine visit. The prime minister met President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv during a surprise trip on Sunday. He earlier toured the devastated towns of Bucha and Irpin, describing what he saw as a “war crime”. The aid package, worth 100m Australian dollars ($68m; £56m), includes drones and 34 additional armoured vehicles. Mr Albanese also announced sanctions and travel bans on a further 16 Russian ministers and oligarchs and an end to imports of Russian gold. Source: Khaosod, Matichon Weekly
• Party-list voting to face fresh scrutiny. Parliament set to examine changes to organic poll laws. A fierce debate is expected in parliament on Tuesday as MPs and senators hold a joint session to examine proposed amendments to two organic laws aiming to accommodate a dual-ballot election system following second and third readings. The bills, which have been vetted by the House-Senate committee, deal with political parties and the elections of MPs, and its contents divide lawmakers. One key issue is the calculation method for party-list votes. The majority of the scrutiny committee has opted for the use of 100 to calculate the number of party-list votes gained by all parties nationwide as proposed by major parties. Meanwhile, small parties argue for the use of 500 to calculate party-list seats, with 11 minority committee members asking to address the chamber on this point. Source: Bangkok Post
• Inflation is unstoppable and soared by 7.66 percent in June.  Kasikorn Thai expects it to peak in August.  Ministry of Commerce revealed that the 7.66 percent rise in inflation in June is the highest in 13 years, attributable to the rise in energy price such as fuel, electricity and cooking gas that account for 61.83 percent of the June inflation.  Food and non-alcoholic beverages also reported a 6.42 percent inflation and accounted for 34.27 percent of June’s inflation.  Kasikornbank added that inflation will peak in August at close to 9 percent as energy price remains an important component.  Commerce Ministry anticipates that inflation in Q3 will continue to grow at the same rate as Q2.  For 2022, inflation is expected at 4.5 percent. Source: Prachachat Turakij, Krungthep Turakij
• AIS preparing deal to acquire TTTBB, JASIF.  AIS announced its plan to acquire fixed broadband provider Triple T Broadband (TTTBB) and Jasmine Broadband Internet Infrastructure Fund (JASIF) for 32.4 billion Baht in a bid to drive growth in the broadband internet frontier and add business value.  Expert believes this is likely to AIS’s move in response to the merger between True and DTAC.  The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) will set up a panel to scrutinise AIS’s deal.  The Thailand Development Research Institute commented that if both mega-merger deals go through, the telecommunication market will follow the monopolistic paths of other Thai markets such as movies, retail and hospitals.  Small businesses and Thai consumers would be the most affected.  Source:  Bangkok Post, The Nation, Channel News Asia

GENERAL

• Unused overhead cables in Bangkok to be removed this year. Unused overhead cables in 16 districts of inner Bangkok will be removed this year in a new bid to speed up the process of moving all overhead cables into underground ducts, according to a decision adopted at a meeting today (Monday) between the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and National Telecom Public Company (NT). According to the decision today, unused and redundant overhead cables, covering 800km, will be removed. The work will be undertaken by the telecom service providers, who own the cables at their own cost. For active cables, which are to be relocated underground, the meeting agreed to form a panel, comprising representatives of the BMA, NBTC, NT and Krungthep Thanakom, an investment arm of the BMA, to reconsider rental fees for the use of underground ducts. Source: Thai PBS World
• 40 tonnes of drugs to go up in smoke this week. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and narcotics suppression authorities on Monday inspected more than 40 tonnes of confiscated illegal drugs worth over 34.6 billion baht before they are incinerated at a designated facility this week. The illicit narcotics, which were kept in FDA storage, will be destroyed on Tuesday and Wednesday at a facility in Samut Prakan’s Bang Pu industrial estate. The total is made of 23,365kg of methamphetamine pills, 14,482kg of crystal methamphetamine or ice, 738kg of heroin, 29kg of opium and 4kg of ecstasy. The remaining drugs were other psychoactive substances. Source: Bangkok Post

AUSTRALIA IN THE NEWS

• Australia floods worsen as thousands more Sydney residents evacuate. SYDNEY, July 5 (Reuters) – Torrential rains kept battering Australia‘s east coast on Tuesday, intensifying the floods crisis in Sydney as thousands more residents were ordered to leave their homes overnight after rivers swiftly rose past danger levels. About 50,000 residents in New South Wales, the bulk in Sydney‘s western suburbs, have been told to either evacuate or warned they might receive evacuation orders, up from Monday’s 30,000, state Emergency Management Minister Steph Cooke said. An intense low-pressure system off Australia‘s east coast brought heavy rains with several places receiving about a month’s worth since Saturday. Source: Thai PBS World
• Albanese pledges extra $100m and more military aid on Ukraine visit. The prime minister met President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv during a surprise trip on Sunday. He earlier toured the devastated towns of Bucha and Irpin, describing what he saw as a “war crime”. The aid package, worth 100m Australian dollars ($68m; £56m), includes drones and 34 additional armoured vehicles. Mr Albanese also announced sanctions and travel bans on a further 16 Russian ministers and oligarchs and an end to imports of Russian gold. Source: Khaosod, Matichon Weekly

COVID/ HEALTH

• 1,917 new cases and 18 deaths. Source: Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health
• BA.4 and BA.5 COVID sub-variants may become dominant in Thailand. Medical Sciences Department Director-General Dr. Supakit Sirilak has predicted that the COVID-19 Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants are likely to become dominant in Thailand, after random testing of 948 Omicron cases last week showed 489 BA.4 and BA.5 infections, 447 BA.2 infections, 10 BA.1 and two B.1.1.529 infections. He said that there is, however, only limited information about the severity of the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants, but warned that those who have recovered from a COVID-19 can be re-infected, due to the easy transmissibility of the two sub-variants. He said that the BA.2.75 sub-variant has not yet been detected in Thailand. Source: Thai PBS World

POLITICS

• Party-list voting to face fresh scrutiny. Parliament set to examine changes to organic poll laws. A fierce debate is expected in parliament on Tuesday as MPs and senators hold a joint session to examine proposed amendments to two organic laws aiming to accommodate a dual-ballot election system following second and third readings. The bills, which have been vetted by the House-Senate committee, deal with political parties and the elections of MPs, and its contents divide lawmakers. One key issue is the calculation method for party-list votes. The majority of the scrutiny committee has opted for the use of 100 to calculate the number of party-list votes gained by all parties nationwide as proposed by major parties. Meanwhile, small parties argue for the use of 500 to calculate party-list seats, with 11 minority committee members asking to address the chamber on this point. Source: Bangkok Post

• Panel names Chotiwat as new Supreme Court chief. The Judicial Commission has appointed Chotiwat Luengprasert as the country’s 48th Supreme Court president. Mr Chotiwat, who currently serves as president of the Labour Case Division of the Supreme Court, will succeed incumbent Piyakul Boonperm when she retires at the end of September. Mr Chotiwat, who is the most senior judge in line for the post, will serve as the Supreme Court president for one year before his mandatory retirement. Mr Chotiwat assumed several key posts including vice president of the Court of Appeal Region 1, chief justice of the Central Labour Court and president of the Court of Appeal Region 6 before being appointed president of the Labour Case Division of the Supreme Court. Source: Bangkok Post
• Thanathorn to hand ‘Unlock Local’ petition to Parliament. The Progressive Movement says its national campaign for charter change to decentralise power has received enough public support to trigger a motion in Parliament. he 90-day “Unlock Local” campaign to amend Article 14 of the Constitution received 80,772 signatures between April 1 and June 30, Progressive Movement leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit announced on Monday. The amendment would shift power from central government to local administrative organisations (LAOs). The campaign is pushing for the following five changes; 1. LAOs to have power over all public services except national finance, military and foreign affairs; 2. Reduction of overlapping duties among LAOs, regional and central authorities; 3. LAOs to be allocated 50 per cent of the national budget; 4. LAOs to have full jurisdiction without intervention from regional and central authorities; 5. Local people to be able to participate in public hearings on important local issues, and to vote to remove local administrators. Citizen councils to be established to supervise budget planning and allocation. Source: The Nation
• No house dissolution before APEC despite silence from prime minister. Thailand’s ruling party will not dissolve the house until after the final APEC meeting this November, according to sources inside the ruling party, and despite the prime minister refusing to comment on related questions. Prayut has come under increasing pressure from within his own party after the high profile departure of Thammanat and it is thought that he may splinter off and form his own party ahead of the next polls, whenever they are held. Source: Thai Enquirer

ECONOMICS

• Inflation is unstoppable and soared by 7.66 percent in June.  Kasikorn Thai expects it to peak in August.  Ministry of Commerce revealed that the 7.66 percent rise in inflation in June is the highest in 13 years, attributable to the rise in energy price such as fuel, electricity and cooking gas that account for 61.83 percent of the June inflation.  Food and non-alcoholic beverages also reported a 6.42 percent inflation and accounted for 34.27 percent of June’s inflation.  Kasikornbank added that inflation will peak in August at close to 9 percent as energy price remains an important component.  Commerce Ministry anticipates that inflation in Q3 will continue to grow at the same rate as Q2.  For 2022, inflation is expected at 4.5 percent.  Source:  Prachachat Turakij, Krungthep Turakij
• What is FTA Fund and who will gain from it?  On 28 June, the cabinet approved of the establishment of the FTA Fund, which aims to provide remedies for the agricultural manufacturing, manufacturing and service sectors that are affected by an FTA’s enforcement.  Ministry of Commerce had drafted the FTA Fund Act and will spend the next 3-4 months organising a public hearing before submitting the draft Act for the cabinet’s approval.  The 5-billion Baht FTA Fund will provide assistance through 2 formats, namely cash payout or revolving fund for the affected.  Source:  Thansettakij
• Thailand commences FTA talks with Efta.  Thailand has kicked off the first round of FTA talks with the European Free Trade Association (Efta) from 28-30 June, in the hope that a deal could be reached within 2 years.  The negotiation panels agreed to discuss 16 topics and Efta will host the next round of bilateral meetings from Oct 31 to Nov 4 in Geneva, Switzerland.  Efta comprises Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.  Source:  Bangkok Post
• AIS preparing deal to acquire TTTBB, JASIF.  AIS announced its plan to acquire fixed broadband provider Triple T Broadband (TTTBB) and Jasmine Broadband Internet Infrastructure Fund (JASIF) for 32.4 billion Baht in a bid to drive growth in the broadband internet frontier and add business value.  Expert believes this is likely to AIS’s move in response to the merger between True and DTAC.  The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) will set up a panel to scrutinise AIS’s deal.  The Thailand Development Research Institute commented that if both mega-merger deals go through, the telecommunication market will follow the monopolistic paths of other Thai markets such as movies, retail and hospitals.  Small businesses and Thai consumers would be the most affected.  Source:  Bangkok Post, The Nation, Channel News Asia

OTHER

• 8 places to catch outdoor movie screenings in Bangkok in July. Source: BK Magazine Online

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