Headlines summary as of 6 August 2021

News

• The government-flagship project ‘Phuket Snadbox’ is facing its greatest challenge, thus far as a Swiss nationalst who entered the island on the scheme has found dead near a waterfall.—Reuters  Authorities have responded to the case as followed:
• The PM, via the government spokesperson, expressed his condolence to the family of the deceased and has expedited the probe.—Krungthep Turakij
• The Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Don has also expressed his condolences and had made a call to the Swiss ambassador to Thailand.—Matichon
• The Police Chief, accompanied by a task-force, has went down to Phuket to lead the probe.—ThaiPBS

Politics

• The Civil Court has made a verdict that the PM order under the Emergency Decree to ban the report on ‘information which may stir fear’ and the authority to close down IP address of the outlets are unconstitutional and that the Emergency Decree did not allow the PM to have authority to ban the use of internet. The online media outlets filed a requests to the civil court asking for a temporary protective measures against the Emergency Decree order.—all media outlet
• The Democrat’s secretary-general denied the reports that coalition parties have supplied classified documents to the Opposition during the upcoming censure debate.—Matichon
• Pro-monarchist Political Science professor Chaiyan Chaiyaphorn posted on his social media pondering why student-led protestors are. Noosing 7 and 10 August as the day of their protest that the former was the day when the now-defunct Thai Communist Party picked up weapons to fight the Thai state; and the latter was the day of French Revolution.—Manager
• Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, secretary-general of the opposition Progressive Movement countered the argument as a logical fallacy.—Matichon
• Yesterday, Parit ‘Penguin’ Chiwarak posted what is regarded as a ‘leaked’ recording of police plans against the protest on 7 August. In the clip, the police planned to charge the protestors with Article 112 (royal defamation), 113 (overthrow the regime) and 116 (sedition). The recording indicated that the police focused very much on the Royal portraits of the Royal family members to be set on fire.—Prachatai
• The police has deployed 38 battalions of police from all over the country to take control of the protest.—Krungthep Turakij
• A source in the Police said that they are tightening up protective measures within the grounds of the Grand Palace and have stationed military inside the palace to prepare for any emergency.—Krungthep Turakij

Economic:

• Australia’s Minister for Trade, Investment and Tourism, Dan Tehan, convened a WebEx meeting with Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin, noting that Australia is keen to forge a strategic economic partnership with Thailand in addition to the existing Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA).  Thailand and Australia agreed to pursue a strategic economic partnership to boost bilateral trade and investment, with TTIM Tehan inviting Minister Jurin to Australia to sign the deal next year.  DPM Jurin has also asked Australia to consider donating COVID-19 vaccines to Thailand.  TTIM Tehan informed the DPM that Australia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently considering the matter.  Sources:  Prachachart Turakij  Thai Post  Post Today  Department of Trade Negotiations Press Release Thansettakij
•  The long road to recovery for Thai tourism marked a milestone following the first month of operation of the Phuket sandbox scheme.  The island welcomed 14,055 international travellers, contributing 829 million Baht, which created a multiplier effect of 1.9 billion Baht for the local economy and led to 2,719 full-time jobs, according to the Tourism and Sports Ministry.  Phuket’s reopening definitely had a positive financial impact as for the first time in over a year, many hotels have managed to cover operating expenses.  Hoteliers remain confident that demand will pick up towards the end of the year.  Source:  Bangkok Post
•  The 7+7 sandbox island extension scheme looks set to launch in August, with registration for certificates of entry (COEs) for inoculated tourists due to be ready on Aug 15.  The scheme was previously scheduled to launch on Aug 1, but it was postponed due to a surge in local cases on Phuket and Koh Samui.  CCSA will provide final approval at its meeting on 11 August.  Source:  Bangkok Post
• Ministry of Agriculture reveals that agriculture GDP in Q2 2021 (April – June 2021) expanded by 1.2 percent, an improvement from Q2 of 2020 which contracted by 3.1 percent due to better climate conditions.  Farmers also benefitted from the government’s debt holiday program as well as the rise in prices of agricultural goods.  However, Agriculture Ministry will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation, which has affected distribution activities as well as suspended the activities of some factories.  For 2022, agricultural GDP is anticipated to expand by 1.7-2.7 percent YoY.  Source:  Naew Na
• Commerce Ministry reported that inflation was 0.45 percent in July after tallying 1.25 percent in June, 2.44 percent in May and 3.41 percent in April.  Month-on-Month, CPI dropped by 0.12 percent from June.  Core CPI, which excludes raw food and energy prices, rose 0.14 percent YoY in July. The decline is attributable to government subsidies for utilities, tuition and education fees to alleviate the impact of the prolonged Covid-19 outbreak.  Core CPI, which excludes raw food and energy prices, rose 0.14 percent YoY.  For the first 7 months of 2021, headline inflation averages at 0.83 percent YoY and core inflation 0.26%.  Source:  Bangkok Post