E.E.C. News

People in Bangkok struggle to achieve the work-life balance, with the city ranks 43rd out of 50 major cities worldwide for qualities that make working and living easier, according to Kisi, a Us-based security specialist.

Eastern High-Speed Rail Linking Three Airports Co Ltd, a consortium led by Charoen Pokphand Group, is ready to start the construction of high- speed rail, take over the operation of the Airport Rail Link (ARL) and train new staff for future service.

A new car, truck and passenger ferry service between Chon Buri and Songkhla will start soon, which could later include a stop in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Transport Minister Saksayam Chid‐ chob has said.

Thailand has an opportunity to become an aviation and logis‐ tics hub, thanks to its prime location in central Southeast Asia and infrastructure development in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), but the country needs to adjust to the pandemic crisis.

The overall infrastructure outlook in Thailand remains posi‐ tive with untapped opportunities to further upgrade the country’s infrastructure and increase its global competitiveness, according to PwC.

WHA Corporation Plc, Thailand’s largest developer of built-to‐ suit logistics facilities, plans to catch the global trend in health‐ care this year by diversifying into digital technology for health businesses, including telemedicine.

The Treasury Department is preparing to launch an online auction of lawfully seized assets this month to enhance trans‐ parency of asset sales

Real investment in the government’s Eastern Economic Corri‐ dor (EEC) is estimated to reach 400 billion baht this year, driven largely by private investment and key infrastructure develop‐ ment projects.

The Department of Highways (DoH) is preparing to collect toll fees on Motorway 7 on the Pattaya-Map Ta Phut exten‐ sion from next month, after opening it for free last year.

The government’s touted Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) seems to be the only flagship economic development project Thai‐ land has initiated in recent years, with little to no follow-up on similar projects.

BOT is okay for commercial banks to set up a bank-owned asset warehouse to freeze non- performing assets (NPAs) in the hospitality sector, according to a banking industry source.

The National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with SIASUN, China’s leading robotics and automation company, to jointly develop an innovation centre in the Eastern Economic Cor‐ ridor of Innovation (EECi).

Land prices in Greater Bangkok are projected to rise at a rapid rate in the second half of 2021, in part because of the fore‐ cast of an economic recovery. Vichai Viratkapan, acting directorgeneral of the Real Estate Information Center (REIC), said land prices in Greater Bangkok last year kept increasing, with a year-on-year rise of 17.1% in the price index of vacant land in the fourth quarter.

Colliers projects growth at 5-10% in 2021 buoyed by state investment and stimulus, writes Kanana Katha‐ rangsiporn

Landowners in prime Sukhumvit areas are offering land prices 30% lower than previous years as condo developers delay purchases, according to property consultant CBRE Thailand.

The Department of Lands yesterday launched a smartphone application to allow people to place a booking for services and submit documents prior to visiting the department’s offices na‐ tionwide.

The Eastern Economic Corridor Office aims to attract 300 bil‐ lion baht in investment applications for the flagship Eastern Eco‐ nomic Corridor (EEC) this year.

A renewal of the reduced property tax measures for another year can help boost housing demand and purchasing power, says a property consultancy, even as the cut in transfer and mortgage fees remains capped at 3 million baht a unit.

EECO signs memorandum of understanding to develop the Eastern Fruits Economic Corridor in Rayong.

This puts most Phuket condominiums in direct competition with actual hotels, which are offering heavily discounted prices to attract Thai customers who are eligible for benefits under the We Travel Together campaign, in which the government subsidises accommodation costs up to 3,000 baht

SET-listed developer Land & Houses Plc (LH) scaled down its residential launches this year to 12 projects, down 25% from last year, worth a combined 20.7 billion baht.

Average prices for new and resale condo supply are projected to continue falling this year as the glut of unsold condos is over‐ whelming, with new units added to the stockpile.

The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Office seems prepared to propose the government extend promotional privileges for in‐ vestment in the EEC area until 2022 in a bid to sustain investment momentum.

2020, the residential sector in 2021 is forecast to see only a slight improvement as unsold inventory remains high and many risks from the previous year are likely to spill over into 2021.

The impact of the pandemic caused a slight drop in land sales in industrial estates in fiscal 2020, but investment value rose sharply by 683%, says the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT).

The government is optimistic that investment in its flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) can reach 400 billion baht next year, driven both by private investment and infrastructure development.

The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) is building more ecoindustrial towns to make factories more compatible with the environment while bolstering business competitiveness.

CG Corporation Ltd, a joint venture between CP Land and China’s Guangxi Construction Engineer‐ ing Group, expects to close land sales of 240 rai worth around 1 billion baht in the CPGC Industrial Es‐ tate in Rayong by the second half of next year.

Germany is the second European country to have produced guidelines tailored to the new Indo-Pa‐ cific reality, after France which bills itself as an Indian Ocean country by virtue of having more than a million French citizens living in overseas territories in the region including Reunion, New Caledonia and French Polynesia.

C.P. Land Plc, a property arm of Charoen Pokphand Group, plans to freeze new office and condo projects next year and focus on hotel development targeting local travellers.

NTT Thailand, the local operating unit of the Japan-based technology firm, plans to spend nearly 3 billion baht to develop a new data centre in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) to cater to new S- curve industries and global content production in 2024.

Magnolia Quality Development Corporation (MQDC) says progress on its 125-billion-baht green development project, The Forestias, is 95% completed in terms of utilities and tunnelling work, raking in 4 billion baht in booking deposits.

The country’s success in containing Covid-19 has come at a price: huge losses of income from for‐ eign visitors. To lure overseas visitors and give the tourism industry a shot in the arm, the government introduced a special tourist visa (STV) scheme and recently approved a guideline for foreign tourists and crews of foreign superyachts looking to dock in Thailand.

Certain competitors feel the conglomerate has a monopoly in retail, with the conditions imposed by the OTCC considered insufficient for maintaining competition, write Phu‐ sadee Arunmas, Lamonphet Apisitniran and Nuntawun Polkuamdee

The Agricultural Land Reform Office (Alro) has revamped its regulations to allow Sor Por Kor land‐ holders to develop their plots into apartment buildings, gas stations and food-processing plants, among others.

‘‘ Digital technologies like 5G, Cloud and AI technologies are crucial infrastructure that can turn Thailand into the digital hub of the region. PRAWIT WONGSUWON DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ‘‘ Our digital infra especially 5G networks has surpassed others in region, even Singapore.

Global tech powerhouse Huawei has vowed to invest 700 million baht to establish its third data centre in Thailand next year, in support of making Thailand a digital hub in Asean.

Global tech powerhouse Huawei has vowed to invest 700 million baht to establish its third data centre in Thailand next year, in support of making Thailand a digital hub in Asean.

The Mall Group is planning a rebranding for the first time in its 39 years of operation, trying to create a happy place. The Mall Group, one of Thailand’s biggest retail conglomerates, is rebranding its image for the first time in its 39 years of operations, with plans to splurge a combined 20 billion baht during 2019-23.

Icon​siam launches its year-end light dec​o​ra​tions, in​clud​ing a Thai-in​spired Christ​mas tree by the world’s renowned graphic de​signer Mike Perry. Icon​siam won as global win​ner for Best De​sign and De​‐ vel​op​ment 2020 for ‘in​ge​nu​ity, in​no​va​tion and for​ward-think​ing vi​sion’ by the In​ter​na​tional Coun​cil of Shop​ping Cen​ters which has 70,000 mem​bers across 100 coun​tries.

Lazada, an Asean e-com​merce arm of Alibaba, is gear​ing up ef​forts to in​vest in ar​ti​fi​cial in​tel​li​‐ gence (AI) tech​nolo​gies, lo​gis​tics op​er​a​tions in the East​ern Eco​nomic Cor​ri​dor (EEC), and an ar​ray of new ser​vices to be​come a life​style app that goes be​yond a shop​ping plat​form.

Ford Thai​land, the pro​duc​tion and dis​tri​bu​tion arm of US-based Ford Mo​tor, has seen car sales over past 10 months dive 40% to 21,800 units from last year, but re​mains op​ti​mistic about fu​ture prospects af​ter pro​duc​tion fully re​sumed in re​sponse to the im​prov​ing Thai auto in​dus​try.

Peo​ple in Bangkok strug​gle to achieve a work-life bal​ance, with the city ranked 43rd out of 50 ma​‐ jor cities world​wide for qual​i​ties that make work​ing and liv​ing eas​ier, ac​cord​ing to Kisi, a US-based se​‐ cu​rity spe​cial​ist.

Chee Chan Golf Re​sort has been voted Thai​land’s Best Golf Course 2020 at the sev​enth World Golf Awards. We are de​lighted to hear that Chee Chan Golf Re​sort has been voted the best golf course in Thai​‐ land of the year 2020. We would like to ex​tend our sin​cere thanks to all vot​ers who have ded​i​cated their valu​able time to sup​port us,” Chee Chan Golf Re​sort CEO Narit Chia-Apar said.

The Board of In​vest​ment (BoI) chaired by Prime Min​is​ter Prayut Chan-o-cha yes​ter​day ap​proved a fresh priv​i​lege pack​age for elec​tric ve​hi​cles (EVs) fol​low​ing the ex​pi​ra​tion of the pre​vi​ous pack​age in 2018.

The Com​merce Min​istry looks set to pro​pose the cabi​net re​move three ser​vices — telecom​mu​ni​ca​‐ tions, fi​nance and soft​ware devel​op​ment — from List 3 of the For​eign Busi​ness Act (FBA) to fa​cil​i​tate for​eign in​vest​ment in Thai​land.

The Industry Ministry is courting Canadian officials and investors to take part in public/private partnerships (PPPs) as the government attempts to fund a variety of economic recovery infrastructure projects in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

Ad​vanced Info Ser​vice (AIS), the coun​try’s largest mo​bile op​er​a​tor by sub​scribers, has part​nered with U-tapao air​port to sup​port dig​i​tal in​fras​truc​ture for a 5G net​work, WiFi 6 and other tech so​lu​tions in a bid to turn it into a smart air​port. U-tapao air​port is lo​cated in the Eastern Eco​nomic Cor​ri​dor, one of the gov​ern​ment’s strate​gic pri​‐ or​i​ties un​der the Thai​land 4.0 pol​icy. AIS chief ex​ec​u​tive Som​chai Lert​su​ti​wong said 5G tech de​ploy​ment and dig​i​tal so​lu​tions could be a way to shore up the econ​omy in the wake of the pan​demic

The project is situated on Na Jomtien Beach and worth 3 billion baht. Real estate firm Ocean Property plans to develop a new luxury high-rise condo project worth 3-4 billion baht on Na Jomtien Beach after the last large units sold out during the lockdown.