thegreglowe.com

By GREG LOWE
IN BANGKOK

ECONOMISTS lambasted the Thai government’s 115 billion baht (S$4.9 billion) fiscal stimulus package for being populist and insufficient to revive the country’s failing economy, when it was announced last week.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva defended the 18-project supplementary spending budget, which includes 19 billion baht in one-time handouts to low-income earners. He said it would inject liquidity where it was most needed to boost domestic demand. [Read more →]

By GREG LOWE
IN BANGKOK

THAILAND’S central bank yesterday slashed its key interest rate by 75 basis points, in line with market expectations, to offset the effects of the global downturn on an increasingly sluggish domestic economy. And a further rate cut is expected soon.

The Bank of Thailand’s monetary policy committee (MPC) reduced its policy rate to 2 per cent from 2.75 per cent. The market forecast was a cut of between 50 and 100 points. [Read more →]

Political stability must be achieved before any government initiatives to stimulate Thailand´s flagging residential property market will be able to restore confidence, according to industry chiefs and analysts. Extending the current tax breaks for developers and buyers may take the sting out of any downturn but will fall far short of its target without more aggressive action to liberalise foreign investment in property, support home loans and provide incentives for first-time buyers, they said.

Foreign and domestic buyer sentiment has been hammered by the double impact of the global financial crisis and entrenched domestic political turmoil. Investor confidence will remain shattered unless the government, its agencies and the security forces can enforce the law and make serious moves towards a peaceful reconciliation, experts said. More…

Street-side is where it’s at for lovers of authentic Thai dishes, but eating like a local calls for knowledge only a Bangkok insider can supply. GREG LOWE serves up a street food primer

Along with smiles, temples and beaches, Thailand’s food has to be considered a marquee attraction. And while this ?ery form of culinary expression has conquered the globe, even the most diehard Thai food fan hasn’t tasted anything until he has sampled the mouth-watering offerings from Bangkok’s street hawkers and shophouses.

Venture into this delicious demimonde and you’ll soon discover the energy involved in preparing the cuisine’s trademark dishes. More…

The extent of the damage to Thailand’s economy is just starting to come clear in the wake of the chaos wrought by anti-government protestors who drove away risk-averse investors and wrecked the tourism industry with the closure of Bangkok’s international airports.

With the Democrat Party’s leader Abhisit Vejjajiva installed Monday as the new Thai prime minister, business and tourism leaders are hoping that the political situation is finally starting to even out, although there is no guarantee that the “Red Shirt” backers of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra won’t take to the streets in outrage over what they regard as having had their democracy stolen from them in a Royalist coup. Read more…

Agencies feared children would be at greater risk of trafficking in the wake of Cyclone Nargis
MAE SOT, 11 December 2008 (IRIN) – When Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in May, leaving close to 140,000 people dead or missing, aid workers feared an increase in child trafficking from the region.

Burmese children have long been trafficked into Bangkok and other urban areas of Thailand where they are forced to sell flowers, beg or work in domestic service, according to World Vision. Others work in agriculture, fishing, construction and the sex industry, the NGO said. Read more…

By GREG LOWE
IN BANGKOK

THE luxury condominium market will dive next year as the global economic downturn continues to dry up the much-needed pool of cash-rich foreign investors, local property analysts said.

They predict that luxury condominium prices would drop by 10-20 per cent in the first half of 2009. Current high prices will stifle local demand, as the domestic political turmoil undermines investor sentiment, they said. [Read more →]

By GREG LOWE
in Bangkok

THAILAND’S longest-ever demonstration ended last Wednesday when the anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) called a halt to its street protests, and ended its eight-day siege of Bangkok’s two international airports. But its economic impact could drag the country’s economy into recession next year, according to analysts, who said that entrenched political turmoil would continue to erode the economy.

Last Tuesday, Thailand’s Constitutional Court ordered the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and two coalition partners to be dissolved for electoral fraud committed in last December’s general election. This led PAD to end its 192-day protest, which included a three-month occupation of Government House and airport blockades, which stranded 350,000 tourists. Violent clashes between PAD, the police and pro-government supporters killed eight and injured more than 700. [Read more →]

MAE SOT, 3 December 2008 (IRIN) – When Lynn Mon and his family arrived in the Thai border town of Mae Sot in June, they were penniless.

Cyclone Nargis had devastated their village in the Ayeyarwady Delta, destroying their home, farmland and livelihood, as well as killing 30 members of their family.

“We had to sell everything,” he told IRIN, “our land, farming equipment and jewellery. All we had left was the clothes we were wearing.

“We are lucky to be alive, but now there are so many difficulties, so many problems,” Lynn Mon said of his new life in Thailand. more…

By GREG LOWE
IN BANGKOK

THAILAND’S political deadlock, which has led to an eight-day blockade of Bangkok’s two airports by the anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), is unlikely to be resolved even if the Constitutional Court orders the ruling People Power Party (PPP) to be disbanded today, analysts say. [Read more →]