CSR & Humanitarian Concerns US lawmakers back from a trip to Laos said they saw no signs of ill-treatment of ethnic Hmong recently expelled from Thailand, but rights advocates voiced fear they would face persecution later. Thailand last month defied US, UN and EU appeals and forcibly repatriated some 4,500 Hmong into Laos. The Hmong, a hill people, fought alongside US forces in the Vietnam War, bringing the wrath of the communist Lao government. Three US congressmen active on Asian affairs -- Anh "Joseph" Cao, Eni Faleomavaega and Mike Honda -- visited Laos as part of a four-nation trip over the holiday recess and asked to see the camps for repatriated Hmong. "We heard all these rumors that they would be executing or harassing the repatriated Hmong," Honda told AFP in an interview. "We didn't get that sense." Honda, a member of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party from California, said that the Pha Lak camp appeared to be at maximum capacity with more than 500 people inside. But he said the accommodation seemed "relatively new" with corrugated roofs and proximity to wells built through British and French assistance. Finance Foreign Investment Applications in Thailand up 18% in 2009, Dow Jones, Jan 14 Global businesses continued to pledge more new investments in Thailand in 2009, making up for the decline from Japan and shrugging off concerns about the legal limbo over a major industrial estate. New foreign investment applications by value in Thailand last year jumped 18% while those from Japanese investors fell 24%, Board of Investment Secretary- General Atchaka Brimble said Thursday. Foreign investors applied to invest in 788 projects--which entitled them to tax incentives--with a combined value of THB350.75 billion, she said in a statement. The service and infrastructure industry drew the most interest from these investors.
2010 GDP expected to rise 3.5%, Baht could reach 32.5 per Dollar, Bangkok Post, Jan 14 Mr Abhisit said at the 'Green GDP, Thailand's Future' seminar on Thursday morning that there was a possibility the country's gross domestic product would rise by up to 3.5 per cent by the end of 2010. The GDP in 2009 contracted three per cent. Thai Economy may expand 15% In 1 st Quarter, Bloomberg, Jan 15 Thailand’s economy may expand 5 percent in the first quarter, fueled by exports and government spending on infrastructure, a finance ministry official said. “The main growth drivers are rising exports to Asia and the disbursement of government investment programs,” Ekniti Nitithanprapas, spokesman for the ministry, said in an interview in Manila today. “Domestic demand is experiencing a slower recovery compared to export growth.” Thailand’s overseas shipments climbed for the first time in 13 months in November as the global economic recovery lifted exports from Singapore to South Korea. Consumer confidence in December jumped to the highest level since August 2008 because of improving economic outlook. “Asia has begun its emergence from the global downturn,” Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda said yesterday, predicting the region’s economy, excluding Japan, will expand 6.6 percent this year from 4.5 percent growth in 2009. Still, “There remains an underlying fragility to this recovery.”
Food & Agriculture Department of Commerce weighs lifting tariff on Thailand shrimp, Daily Comet, Jan 12th The U.S. Department of Commerce is weighing opposing arguments from two shrimp-industry groups to determine if tariffs on shrimp from Thailand should be lifted. The Southern Shrimp Alliance, which represents shrimp-industry interests from eight states, including Louisiana, won the tariffs, along with those against other nations in 2004, after proving that overseas shrimp was being dumped illegally into the U.S. market. Now the alliance’s board contends the industry would be better served if it accepts a payout of as much as $100 million from Thailand to lift the tariff. The money would go into an account to be split among state governments, which would decide how to distribute it to the industry. Who will maintain the account has yet to be determined. The American Shrimp Processors Association, whose membership includes processors from Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes, split with the alliance over the tariff issue last year and opposes the change.
Infrastructure Cabinet OK’s plan for panel to help end Map Ta Phut row, Bangkok Post, Jan 13 The four-party panel tasked with resolving the Map Ta Phut dispute has called for a 19-member coordinating committee to be set up to help work out how the ad-hoc independent advisory body would be formed and what its exact role would be. Once established, the ad-hoc body would advise the government on the approval process of projects deemed harmful to the environment and public health. Section 67 of the 2007 constitution requires the establishment of a permanent independent health and environmental body to advise the government on whether to approve "harmful" industrial projects. The government hopes the setting up of the ad-hoc body would provide a legislative bridge until the permanent body is formed. The permanent independent body is one of three elements required by Section 67. The other two, which have both been fulfilled, are the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry's drawing up of regulations regarding environmental and health impact assessments, and holding public hearings on the projects. The government is confident the ad-hoc body will help solve the Map Ta Phut deadlock which has dragged on since the Central Administrative Court ordered the suspension of 76 industrial projects last September. "We can say that we now have all regulations required by the constitution," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday. "The government has made a lot of progress [towards solving the Map Ta Phut dispute]." Thailand, Laos, Expand bilateral cooperation, The Nation, Jan 14 Thailand and Laos agreed to expand their bilateral cooperation utilizing the East-West Corridor and initiated a new scheme forjoint-fishery cooperation and improve power grids. In a bilateral discussion Thursday between Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya with his Laotian counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisolith on the sideline of the third Asean Political Security Council, the Lao go vernment expressed gratitude and appreciation of Thailand's effort in assisting repatriation of Hmong refugees at the end of last month. According to deputy spokesman, Thanee Thongphakdee, Laos briefed Thailand on the progress of resettlement of the 4500 Hmongs inside the country. Thongloun assured their safety and eventual reintegrationinto the society. Both sides also discussed ways to strengthen their bilateral cooperation in developing and joint fishing venture andd common power grids. After the Mukdahan-Suvannakhet Bridge, linking Thailand and Laos, was open three years ago, contacts and trade between the two countries have increased enormously. Kasit broached the idea that Laos, Vietnam and Thailand could developa tripartite joint cooperation in fishery. Northeastern Thailand and Laos are potential markets for the marine products from Vietnam. He said that by using Route 9, Vietnamese seafoods could reach markets in Laos and neighboring Thailand in a few hours, maintaining freshness ofthe same-day delivery. The Thai foreign minister helped to organize the land tour via Route 9 for the Asean foreign ministers to Danang, where they are scheduled to meet today and tomorrow. They began their journey on Jan 12 from Suvannakhet and traveled by car to Danang to see first-hand the potential of Rout 9 as part of the Asean Connectivity plan to improve infrastructure throughout Asean members. Politics New Cabinet lineup heads for royal approval, Bangkok Post, Jan 15 "The reshuffle will involve five positions," Mr Abhisit told reporters. "The Secretariat of the Cabinet has already checked their qualifications." Thai PM urges end to reliance on King, AFP, Jan 15 Speaking to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand, Abhisit said the country had "struggled at times of crisis to solve problems", in which 82-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej's role had been "critical, crucial, vital". He noted in particular events of 1992, when the King publicly admonished the then-PM and a protest leader to end bloody clashes in Bangkok. The monarch has also made more recent calls for unity to prevent the country's collapse. "Now what I'm saying is that it would be better if we can all resolve these issues without having to rely on His Majesty's interventions, even though they are always within the framework of the constitution. It will take time," Abhisit said late Thursday. Matters surrounding King Bhumibol, the world's longest reigning monarch, are a sensitive topic as the king -- regarded as the only stabilising force in a politically turbulent country -- has been in hospital since September. Other
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