Cabinet Approves a Draft Bill on the Two-Trillion-Baht Loan for Infrastructure Mega-Projects

(20/03/2013)

The Cabinet, during its meeting on 19 March 2013, approved a draft bill empowering the Ministry of Finance to borrow two trillion baht to finance transportation and logistics mega-projects. The two-trillion-baht loan will be secured gradually over the next seven year, until 2020. The Cabinet also approved criteria for budget allocation to repay the loan within the next 50 years. The loan repayment, with a grace period of 10 years, will begin in the 11th year after the bill takes effect. The Government will set aside a fund accounting for 2-3 percent of the loan for annual repayment. It has worked out three strategies for the planned investment in the infrastructure mega-projects. The first strategy seeks to develop lower-cost road transport. The second strategy calls for infrastructure development to facilitate travel and build transportation networks in the centers of all regions of Thailand, connecting with neighboring countries. The third strategy seeks to upgrade the transport system for greater flexibility, which will lead to GDP growth of one percent a year and generate job opportunities for 500,000 people. Government Spokesman Tossaporn Sereerak said that the Government would maintain fiscal discipline to ensure that debt repayment would not exceed 15 percent of the annual national expenditure. He said that Thailand might suffer a trade deficit from imports of capital goods for use on the transport and logistics mega-projects. However, fuel imports would drop and transportation costs would decline by 2 percent. As a result, Thailand is likely to save 100 billion baht a year from oil imports. In addition, the Government would ensure that the public debt would not exceed 50 percent of GDP. The next step is that the bill will be submitted to the House of Representatives for consideration in March. It is expected to pass in Parliament by September 2013, so that construction will begin as planned. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra stressed that the Government would ensure transparency in the mega-projects. A House committee would also be formed to monitor the implementation of the projects. She said that the Government opted to borrowing instead of funding the projects through the spending of the annual budget, since it could not set aside an enormous amount each year for the investment. If there were changes in the government, the investment projects might be affected or their continuation might be disrupted. The issuance of the bill would create confidence among investors, as it would be made clear that the plan must continue. She said that the loan would be obtained mainly from domestic sources. The Ministry of Finance would consider the plan for borrowing. When the draft bill on the two-trillion-baht loan is forwarded to the National Assembly, the Prime Minister said that she was ready to give an explanation to Parliament and other related agencies would also be ready give details.

Russia is an Important Partner to ASEAN

(20/03/2013)

H.E. Le Luong Minh, Secretary-General of ASEAN, welcomed the Letter of Credence of H.E. Mikhail Galuzin as Ambassador of Russian Federation to ASEAN and noted that ASEAN and Russia maintains cooperative political and security relations. He stated that ASEAN respect Russia as an important partner. While striving to achieve the ASEAN Community building by 2015, ASEAN appreciate the role played by Russia in maintaining peace and stability in the region. He noted that Russia participates in the ASEAN-led regional fora and its contributions are highly valued by ASEAN.

SG Minh expressed the hope that the planned 3rd ASEAN-Russia Summit will give impetus to further enhance the long standing ASEAN-Russia cooperation. He looked forward to working with Ambassador Galuzin to contribute to the ASEAN-Russia partnership.

Ambassador Galuzin stated that it is a special honour for him to be accredited as the Ambassador of Russian Federation to ASEAN. He informed that Russia attaches great importance to the multifaceted cooperation with ASEAN and regards ASEAN as the locomotive for economic integration in the region and beyond. He reiterated Russia’s support for ASEAN Centrality in the regional architecture.

With his accreditation, Ambassador Galuzin stated that he is committed to advance ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Partnership. Russia has pursued cooperative relationship with ASEAN through the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) to Promote Cooperation between ASEAN and Russia 2005-2015. He said Russia will explore concrete cooperation with ASEAN in the fields of energy, infrastructure development, agriculture, food security, science and technology, combating transnational crime, counter-terrorism, and disaster management, among others.

Ambassador Galuzin also briefed SG Minh on Russia’s efforts in forging economic integration with its neighbour countries in the Eurasian region by forming customs and economic union, which, he said, will bring profound economic impacts in the region.

Vice Minister of Labour explains ministerial regulations on home-based workers

(14/03/2013)

Mr. Ausorn Kraiwatnussorn, Vice Minister of Labour, explains core details of ministerial regulation on home-based workers to participants of the meeting on ministerial regulation on home-based workers, held in Chaophya Park Hotel in Bangkok. During the meeting, the vice minister of labour also hears opinions form home-based workers and employers on the ministerial regulation and the ILO’s Convention No. 189 on domestic workers.

Teaching Civil Responsibilities

(20/03/2013)

The Minister of Education, Mr. Phongthep Thepkanjana, chaired the opening of a training workshop, "Techniques for Learning and Teaching Civil Responsibilities to Practicum" held by the Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC) on 15 March 2013. There were 150 lecturers and educators from Thai universities taking part in the workshop.

The Minister of Education said that Thailand had 60 million people, so rules should be set up for peaceful living and national advancement. Civil responsibilities are important issues throughout the world because some countries are now facing violent situations, often with fatal consequences. By teaching civil responsibility, many countries could solve those problems because their people would understand and realize that living with others peacefully depends on respecting the rights of others and knowing and accepting one's own responsibilities.

At present, people get news and information from various channels. Some are correct and accurate while others are not. Therefore, careful consideration is crucial when receiving news from the media.

The teaching of civil responsibilities is supposed to give students opportunities to practice and experiment by themselves, from kindergarten to higher education levels, until they become familiar and comfortable with it. It is based on two main principles: honesty and open-mindedness. These come from a famous statement, "Even though I don't agree with what you say, I'm willing to give my life so that you have the right to say it." In truly democratic societies, people can listen to others and consider whether or not they are right or wrong. If they disagree with these opinions, they are able to express their own ideas and expect others to listen to them in return.

The Minister of Education said that teaching civil responsibilities was not only to be conducted in class but that teachers should encourage their students to listen to others and think carefully and analytically away from school. Sometimes, students may think differently from their teachers and teachers should allow them to express their opinions because what students think may also be correct.

The training workshop, "Techniques for Learning and Teaching Civil Responsibilities to Practicum" aimed to disseminate knowledge and experiment with teaching and learning civil responsibilities at university levels. It also served as a model for Thai universities to apply to classroom teaching and learning situations. The event participants visited classrooms teaching civil and social responsibilities at Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus.

Buddhist Ceremony for Education

(20/03/2013)

On 15 March 2013 at Panya Worakhun School in Bangkok, the Deputy Permanent Secretary of Education, Mrs. Siriporn Kitkuakul, chaired a ceremony to commemorate the founding of Panya Worakhun School. She presented honorary certificates to the school's administrators, teachers and contributors as well as attending a Buddhist ceremony to offer robes to monks in order to raise funds for education,.

Mrs. Siriporn said that this school had been creating high quality students for 44 years thanks to the great and constant contributions from many people. She also said that the Buddhist ceremony would bear productive results for education and would help develop the national education of Thai children.

Mrs. Siriporn added that this school had a nice environment and enjoyed the assistance and cooperation of the local community in developing its education. She suggested that the school should build an honorary museum for contributors and former students who had dedicated themselves to the school. This will make the students proud and recognize the strong relationship between the school and its surrounding community.

Founded on 15 March 1969, Panya Worakhun School is supervised by Local Office of Education Service Area 1 of the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC). With Mr. Khajitphan Suwansiriphak as the director, the school offers courses at secondary level from Grades 7 to 12. At present, 2,300 students attend the school.

Meeting on General Inspection Policy and Progress Report of 2013

(20/03/2013)

On 12 March 2013, the Inspector General of Education, Mrs. Ongjit Methayaprapas, who is responsible for supervising the 10th and 12th areas of general inspection, chaired a meeting on general inspection policy and the progress report of work being done under the Ministry of Education's policy for the fiscal year of 2013.

Participants at this meeting included staff from educational organizations in Khon Kaen, such as the local Office of Private Education and the local Office of Non Formal and Informal Education. They discussed their work, the problems and the challenges in their organizations and received useful suggestions from the Inspector General to assist them with their work.

The meeting took place at a meeting room at the local Office of Non Formal and Informal Education.