Thai government needs much more time before starting the 10,000-baht handout
Well, another week gone, this is Fishwrap for the first day of Week 213 to flatten the curve.
Ducks wake up each morning at the quack of dawn.
THAILAND HIGHWAYS TRAVEL
'7 dangerous days' of road travelling begin
Thailand attempts to cut world-record highway deaths
The annual count of deaths and injuries on the highways mark the Songkran holiday, April 13-15.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2774889/
[Reminder]
THAILAND ECONOMY TOURISM
The 'tourism confidence index' dropped below normal in the first quarter of the year, according to Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT).
Photo (below) foreign tourists in Bangkok's Chinatown (better known as Yaowaraj).
Many domestic tourists travelled during the New Year holiday and Children's Day. Arrivals from short-haul countries also flooded to Thailand during Chinese New Year, including from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia.
Steady growth of long-haul visitors pushed total foreign arrivals to 9.4 million in the Januarty-to-March period.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/2775044/
The TCT report said negative factors will continue to hamper the confidence index in the second quarter, including the end of the diesel price cap at 30 baht per litre, high domestic airfares, rising non-performing loans and weak purchasing power.
THAILAND ECONOMY HANDOUT
Government seeks legal advice on obtaining loan to finance 10,000-baht handout
Just over a year after promising every Thai citizen a handout of 10,000 baht (about US$275, with no strings attached)
The Thai government has officially recognised that it hasn't enough money to meet such political promise, and has asked the shadowy Council of State if it would be okay to borrow the money from state and foreign banks, and go ahead with the handout some time late this year.
Meanwhile... government is also supervising programmers as they write "a super-app" that will have to be used by citizens to actually get the promised money, and that's going be quite expensive, said Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who made the promise of such a large handout during last year's election campaign.
Bangkok Post: https://shorturl.at/tDIOU
PHOTO: Thai Prime Minister Sraettha Thavisin, who is also minister of finance, briefs the media yesterday on the digital wallet plans.
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GLOBAL WARMING
Possible Candidate in The Can You Out-Greta Greta Contest and Hot-Chili Tournament
Number One Top Expert Science Guy Does What He's Paid Large Bucks To Do
Humans have 2 years left 'to save the world'
Simon Stiell of Grenada, Executive Climate Secretary, United Nations.
https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-finance-un-elections-stiell-0b176237b1e4a78d28d5dbcbbf7809f0
ENTERTAINMENT COUNTRY SINGER
Hands Up! all Fishwrap readers who knew that Taylor Swift (and her promoters) took all Tay-Tay music off of Tik-Tok 10 weeks ago.
Well, anyhow, the vids have all returned.
https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/taylor-swift-songs-return-tiktok-1235967738/