Bangkok Post
Informal workers to receive 40% off SSF
The cabinet is expected to next week endorse a proposal to offer workers in the informal economy under the social security system a 40% discount on the monthly contribution to the Social Security Fund (SSF) for a period of six months.The proposed Covid-19 relief measure ...
Penchan Charoensuthipan
Home loan help for lower earners
More than half of this year’s new housing loan target of 215 billion baht will be provided with low interest rates to help low-income earners to purchase their own homes, says GH Bank.State-owned GH Bank plans to offer low-interest housing loans to low-income earners under ...
Wichit Chantanusornsiri
Regulator to shift oversight of ICOs to Securities Act
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to transfer oversight of initial coin offerings (ICOs) for investment and utility tokens to the Securities Act in order to remove regulatory overlap and promote digital assets.Nopnuanparn Pavasant, director of the Fintech Department at the SEC, said the ...
Bangkok Post Reporter
Govt targets 30% electric-car production to tackle pollution
Thailand will target having electric vehicles account for 30% of car production by the end of the decade, as part of efforts to tackle toxic air pollution.The government wants to “accelerate the use and production of electric vehicles, with national strategies focusing on the environment ...
A solution to plastic pollution: circular economy
The dire state of the world’s oceans can no longer be ignored. Discarded plastic waste — particularly single-use plastic — is putting marine life at risk.It’s not only big chunks of plastic and bags that pose a danger: plastic exposed to salt water and ultraviolet ...
Bangkok Post Reporter
Pandemic pauses plans for higher revenue collection
Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith has expressed concerns over how a continuous drop in tax revenue collection will affect fiscal policy conduct in the long run.As the government aims to implement a long-term fiscal expansionary policy framework, the lower revenue collection as a percentage of GDP ...
Wichit Chantanusornsiri
B8.8bn HR fund plan promoted
The government is establishing an 8.8-billion-baht fund for human resources development in higher education, focusing on advanced technology.The Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Policy Council chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Don Pramudwinai last Thursday approved the establishment of the fund, mainly to supply targeted ...
Bangkok Post Reporter
RCEP going to parliament, instant enforcement likely
The Commerce Ministry is scheduled to propose to parliament on Tuesday the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade pact, the world’s biggest free trade deal, signed by 15 nations in Asia-Pacific including Thailand last November.Sansern Samalapa, commerce vice-minister, said the ministry expects ...
Phusadee Arunmas
Lofty goal set for R&D spending
The government aims to accelerate the country’s R&D spending to 2.2% of GDP in seven years to improve economic development and reduce social disparity in the face of future uncertainty.“We are on a roadmap to become an innovation country as we are scaling up efforts ...
Suchit Leesa-Nguansuk
Displaced Karen demand land back
A civic group protested in front of the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry building on Friday as part of a campaign to pressure the government to resettle ethnic Karen villagers displaced from the Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi over a decade ago.Twenty activists and ...
Apinya Wipatayotin