Thailand Travel News

THAILAND is moving an Asian summit in October away from the island of Phuket because it coincides with a religious festival where devotees pierce their bodies with skewers, a minister said Friday.

The meeting of leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and regional dialogue partners will now take place in the royal beach resort of Hua Hin, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said.

Thailand, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the 10-member bloc, has repeatedly changed the venue and date of the summit due to the ongoing political turmoil in the kingdom.

China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India will attend the summit along with Asean’s 10 member-states. The Democrat-led government held a meeting with 10 Asean leaders in late February in Cha-Am/Hua Hin, but the six dialogue partners did not attend.

The following Thai-hosted Asean summit was abandoned after anti-government protesters stormed the meeting’s venue in Pattaya.

Prime Minister Abhisit Abhisit, however, said the exact venue of the summit is still not decided and said that concerned officials are considering several factors before making the final decision. The prime minister said it might be “inconvenient” to hold the summit in Phuket as the community will hold its annual vegetarian fair, and that the necessary security arrangement could negatively impact tourism at that time.

The Philippines and Thailand have agreed to strengthen bilateral ties, with leaders of both countries vowing to increase trade, investment and political cooperation.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and visiting Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva made such commitments during a 40-minute bilateral meeting at Bahay Pangarap at the compound of the Presidential Security Group on Friday.

Philippines, for its part, is seeking greater access for Thai fruits and poultry products, Mr. Remonde said, adding President Arroyo had suggested establishing a mutual pest risk analysis system to allow freer exchange of agricultural products.

The two leaders also agreed to activate the joint trade commission between the Philippines and Thailand. Other issues discussed were the nuclearization of North Korea and Thailand’s request for the Philippines to support its bid in the UN Security Council, reactivation of the DOHA round of talks; and climate change.

This is Mr.Abhisit’s first visit to the Philippines since he was elected prime minister in 2008. Thailand and the Philippines recently celebrated 60 years of diplomatic relations in June. Government data showed trade between the two countries amounted to about $5.78 billion from $5.16 billion in 2007.

An arms dealer arrested by U.S. agents in a 2008 sting operation at a Bangkok hotel could go free this week after a Thai judge’s unexpected decision Tuesday to reject an American request for extradition. Viktor Bout, 42 was caught in a sting operation by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officers posing as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a guerrilla group known as FARC.

The US officials alleged Mr Bout’s agreement to sell arms to FARC was tantamount to an act of terrorism, as the weapons would be used by the rebels to kill US citizens and destroy US property in Columbia.

The DEA maintains that Bout agreed to supply ground-to-air missiles that could have been used to target the agency’s operatives, who are assisting in the Colombian government’s attempts to wipe out the country’s cocaine crops.

Bout is a former member of the Soviet air force. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, he used his contacts and the huge surplus of aircraft and crew members to start an air transport company. His detractors allege that he also became one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers, sending weapons to fighters in conflicts across Africa and the Middle East.

The court yesterday dismissed US claims that FARC would use the weapons to kill US citizens and destroy its property due to a lack of evidence.

An alleged extortion scam targeting foreign travellers shopping at duty-free shops in Bangkok’s international airport has turned up the heat on the Thai authorities.

Several European tourists say they were falsely accused of shoplifting at the Thai capital’s main airport and some recount being taken to seedy motels where they were shaken down for thousands of dollars by a shady middleman.

In most instances, the victims claimed they were accused of shoplifting or theft, arrested and then made to part with a substantial sum of money to secure their release. Central to the scam is a man who helps mediate between the accused and the police – for a fee.

A British couple paid the equivalent of $11,000 to secure their release five days after being accused of stealing a Givenchy wallet that was never found, say police, who along with airport authorities deny any wrongdoing.

Britain, Denmark and Ireland have issued advisories warning their citizens to be on their guard. The Thai government has vowed a crackdown at Bangkok’s scandal-plagued Suvarnabhumi Airport, which has barely recovered from last year’s public relations disaster when anti-government protesters shut it for a week and stranded 300,000 visitors.

Allegations of the scam surfaced about two months ago in e-mails circulating among travellers which then found their way onto travel websites and blogs.

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) said on Wednesday it would let large Thai companies with minimum assets of 5 billion baht ($147 million) invest directly in foreign securities without going through mutual or private funds.

The central bank’s decision to relax controls on foreign investment slightly was aimed at helping ease upward pressures on the baht, which has gained about 4 percent against the dollar since May.

But the announcement had little immediate effect on the exchange rate, and any investments under the new regulations will take time. The baht was steady at 34.00/04 per dollar on Monday.

In addition, the central bank gave exporters and importers approval to make derivative deals to hedge against currency exchange risks with commercial banks for product and service payment. The Bank of Thailand is confident the relaxation of the rule would help contain the strengthening of the baht and keep the capital inflow and outflow in balance.

The bank has previously allowed foreign investment to be done only through financial funds regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or other authorities. Foreign securities that large Thai firms can now invest in include derivatives used for hedging against currency, interest rate, bond yield, commodity price or market index risks

Since early this year, the baht has appreciated by 2.4 per cent while the US dollar has weakened by 4 per cent. The Indonesian rupiah rose by 9.8 per cent and South Korean won by 3.5 per cent.

Thailand and Myanmar will start commercial gas production from offshore Block M9 natural gas project on the Gulf of Martaban, south of Yangon in late 2013. Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) (PTTE.BK) was expected to sign a gas sales agreement with parent company PTT PCL (PTT.BK) by the fourth quarter of this year, Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul told reporters.

PTTEP is expected to supply an initial 300 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) from M9, of which 240 mmcfd would be delivered to Thailand and the rest to Myanmar, Wannarat said. A PTTEP subsidiary owns 100% of Block M9, which lies about 300 kilometres south of Yangon. It is believed to hold reserves of 1.5 trillion cubic feet and needs at least $1 billion for investment, he said.

The negotiation was earlier delayed due to the economic crisis and the decreasing demand for electricity and gas, said the energy minister.

A passenger plane skidded off the runway and crashed into a building after landing on the Thai resort island of Samui on Tuesday, killing the chief pilot and injuring at least seven people including foreign tourists.

The Bangkok Airways flight landed in stormy weather and hit the airport’s old air traffic control tower, which had been converted into a fire station, said Kanikka Kemawutanond, director-general of the Department of Civil Aviation.

Almost half of the 72 people on board were hurt, though only six passengers and a co-pilot were taken to hospital.

Bangkok Airways confirmed two other Brits suffered minor injuries, alongside foreign nationals from Italy, Spain, Switzerland, France and Germany. Kanikka Kemawutanond, of the Department of Civil Aviation, said that the pilot was killed when the plane hit the unmanned control tower.

The aircraft was flying from Krabi, another popular resort area in southern Thailand. Ko Samui, located 298 miles (480 kilometers) south of Bangkok, is an island in the Gulf of Thailand popular with foreign tourists. The ATR72-500 twin-turboprop had 68 passengers, two pilots and two crew members on board.

Puttipong Prasartthong-Osoth, managing director of Bangkok Airways, said the chief pilot had 19 years of experience.

June  14

Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporter, plans to start selling rice from its huge stockpiles this month, but India said on Monday its export ban would remain in force, which will provide support for prices. At present, the government holds a record six million tonnes of rice.

Some traders said the government stockpile could rise to seven million tonnes of milled rice by the end of July, when the latest government buying scheme is due to end.

A senior trader at a rice convention in Bangkok said benchmark Thai rice could go as high as $800 per tonne later this year if the Indian ban remained in force.

Thai Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu said the government would open tenders to sell rice from its stocks this month, selling grain gradually instead of releasing big amounts as it used to do in the past, which depressed market prices.

Despite Thailand’s plans, rice prices are unlikely to fall significantly as traders do not expect India to resume exports soon, since the New Delhi government is worried about the current crop after the monsoon came quite late. The Indian export ban played a big part in pushing rice to a record high of $1,080 a tonne in April 2008.

“Red-shirt” supporters of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra ended a rally in Bangkok on Saturday, claiming more than 5 million signatures for a petition seeking royal clemency for the fugitive billionaire.

The petition takes Thailand’s deeply divisive political conflict to a new level. The establishment has swiftly closed ranks. On Saturday, army chief Anupong Paochinda instructed his generals to have officers explain to the public why the petition violated procedure.

United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) leaders have claimed that 5,411,928 people had signed the petition by the time it closed at midnight on July 31. The government maintains that the normal practice is for a royal pardon to be sought by the jailed subject and his relatives. In this case, Thaksin has not served any jail time, but is overseas dodging his two-year sentence for corruption.

Thaksin who won the elections in 2001 and 2005 was over thrown by the military in 2006. The ex Prime Minister was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to two years in prison.

The petition, which may be submitted, next week, calls on the 81-year-old king to pardon Thaksin to help pave the way for his political return. The campaign has caused outrage among royalists and political opponents, who accuse Thaksin and his backers of insulting the revered monarch by trying to drag him into a political dispute.

More than 10,000 Red Shirt supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra rallied Friday as organisers said that one million Thais had signed a petition asking for a royal pardon for the fugitive former premier Mr Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup.

He fled Thailand last August to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption, but still enjoys huge support among the rural population. A court found him guilty in a case involving government land purchases and he was sentenced to two years jail.

But government politicians say the petition drive is not legal, as a person must already be serving a prison sentence before seeking a pardon. While the petition is unlikely to have legal consequences, it threatens to renew political tension between rival political groups that have staged sometimes-violent protests over the past three years.

The protest in Bangkok took place despite warnings from the government that a pardon could only be sought by Thaksin himself or by his relatives. Billionaire Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006.

More than 10,000 people had gathered at the Sanam Luang parade ground in downtown Bangkok by late afternoon. Nearly 3,000 police were at the rally site, police commander Lieutenant General Worapong Chiewpreecha said.