Cigarette and liquor prices are expected to rise once new measures for calculating excise taxes take effect.

The cabinet yesterday approved draft amendments of four acts _ the Liquor Act, Excise Tax Act, Excise Tariff Act and Tobacco Act _ under which ex-factory prices would be clarified to make it easier for calculating taxes.

A review was needed given that ex-factory prices had been left unchanged for over a decade, resulting in discrepancies with actual market prices, said Suparat Nakboonnam, a deputy government spokeswoman.

The review would not only check whether manufacturers' self-declared ex-factory prices were accurate, but also if there were big gaps with retail prices, indicating possible profiteering or tax evasion.

Tax rates for liquor are based on an ad valorem or specific rate, whichever is higher. An ad valorem tax generally means a tax collected on the value of goods or services. The ad valorem tax for fermented liquor would increase to 90% (of the value of the products) from 60%, with tax for distilled liquor such as white spirits and blended liquor to increase to 90% from 50%.

Taxes on tobacco, currently levied at 80%, would be raised to 90% if the new legislation takes effect.

The number of Thai companies that were forced to close down during the first half of this year nearly hit 7,000, up 22% compared with the same period in 2007, news reports said .

Altogether 6,899 companies were shut down in the January to June period, with 1,681 firms closing in June alone, according to figures released by the Business Development Department.

Thai firms are facing a myriad of challenges this year including rising oil prices, an inflation rate that reached 8.9% in June, a slow down in consumption and growing political instability that has affected foreign investment.

During the first six months of this year, some 1,206 new companies were registered, up 6% cent, the department's deputy director-general Pranit Lortragood told The Nation.

Thailand currently has a total of 548,818 registered companies.

The temple of Preah Vihear is one of the most spectacular and historic sites in South-East Asia. Now it is threatening to make history for a different reason, as the first World Heritage Site to become a battleground.

Thai and Cambodian troops pulled guns on one another in a tense stand-off in the 1,100-year-old Hindu temple, after several days of increasing military tension. Stoked by a build-up of soldiers, accusations of corruption and a developing political crisis in Thailand, Preah Vihear has emerged as Asia’s newest flashpoint.

About 400 Thai and 200 Cambodian troops have moved into the temple area since Tuesday, after three Thai activists were detained briefly for entering the temple to assert Bangkok’s claim to the land. Yesterday a Cambodian general reported that soldiers from both sides levelled weapons at one another on Thursday night, after the Thais drove Cambodian forces out of one of the temple buildings. We exercised patience to prevent weapons from being fired, Brigadier-General Chea Keo said. He said that the Cambodian troops had been escorting monks and nuns, but withdrew after the encounter.

Cooking up a treat

Thailand's embattled government announced a $1.4 billion package of tax cuts and other measures as it seeks to shore up popular support after suffering legal setbacks that could lead to a ban on the key party in the ruling coalition.

Political analysts here described the economic-stimulus package as a countermove to recent court rulings against the populist government led by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and backed by his political patron, former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The government has been locked in political combat with Thailand's military-backed opposition for control of one of Southeast Asia's anchor economies.

The feud has taken a toll on the country's economy, reflected in declining stocks. After buying up shares earlier in the year, investors have dumped Thai equities in recent weeks. The key Bangkok stock-exchange index fell 3.3% to close at 693.41 Tuesday as worries about the global economy added to the concern about Thailand's own worsening political and economic outlook.

Prime Minister Samak announced the stimulus measures Tuesday in a televised news conference. They include slashing duties on diesel and gasoline-ethanol hybrid fuels to near zero, reductions in water and electricity charges for low users and free bus rides in Bangkok, in a bid to ease the rising cost of living.

Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee said the package would help poor households save about 1,000 baht, or $30, a month while keeping Thailand's inflation rate this year within the government's 6%-to-7% target.

Preah Vihear, a stunning temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, is perched on a Cambodian cliff-top straddling the Thai border. It was finally awarded World Heritage status this month, despite fierce protests from ardent Thai nationalists and the parliamentary opposition in Bangkok.

Now, according to a Cambodian official, 40 Thai troops have crossed the border and entered the temple complex.

The temple's ornate structures date back to the eleventh century, but the site was occupied two hundred years earlier. Preah Vihear has become an explosive issue in domestic Thai politics. It has also exposed how narrow-minded nationalism can obstruct efforts at world conservation. Indeed, according to the Thai opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, the dispute over the temple's ownership is the "knockout punch" that could bring down the Thai government.

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As many as 12% of Britons travelling overseas have been victims of crime in the last five years.

Most of the incidents involved theft of personal belonging but 1% of travellers suffered physical or sexual assaults, the statistics from the InsureandGo company revealed.

The majority of crimes took place in Europe, with visitors to Spain suffering the most. Almost twice as many crimes against Britons have occurred in Spain as in the second-most "dangerous" country - France.

However, based on the numbers of Britons who go to each country every year, Spain is actually relatively safe and, proportionately, Thailand is the country where Britons are most likely to become crime victims.

InsureandGo said Britons made almost 14 million visits to Spain last year - 32 times more than to Thailand. But there were only four times as many British victims of crime in Spain as in Thailand, which means an estimated 10% of British visitors to Thailand suffer crime.

These were the top 10 countries for crime involving British tourists in the last five years:

1. Spain 871,569
2. France 457,832
3. Austria 252,068
4. Italy 215,329
5. Thailand 213,416
6. Greece 184,771
7. India 155,096
8. USA 150,191
9. Australia 106,095
10. Turkey 105,899

TV Chef told not to give up the day job

Thailand’s political troubles are fast morphing into economic woes as Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's coalition government moves slowly, and some say with continued complacency, to rein in inflation, risking a sharp and sustained economic downturn.

Earlier expectations that his four-month-old administration may be toppled in a military coup or through a still possible court-ordered dissolution of his ruling People's Power Party (PPP) on electoral fraud charges are now joined by speculation that Samak's beleaguered government may instead collapse under the weight of its own economic mismanagement.

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A top leader of Thailand's People Power Party (PPP) was found guilty of vote buying and banned from politics for 5 years on Tuesday, a ruling that could lead to the dissolution of the main party in the coalition government.

The Supreme Court decision against deputy leader Yongyut Tiyapairat piles more pressure on the six-party coalition, already weakened by a street campaign against Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej which has unsettled investors.

There was enough evidence to believe that (Yongyut) had violated the 2007 election law, said a judge who read out a verdict broadcast on national television.

The PPP appeared to be in disarray after the ruling.

Gan Thiengaew, another deputy leader, said he would urge Samak to dissolve parliament and hold fresh elections, but the party's chief spokesman rejected the idea. It is not necessary. What are we running away from? Can a house dissolution help us escape a party dissolution, PPP spokesman Kuthep Saikrachang said.

The guilty verdict against Yongyut paves the way for the Election Commission to investigate whether the party was involved in the vote buying in the December poll. The EC could then pass its findings to the Constitutional Court, which could disband the PPP as happened to Thaksin's former Thai Rak Thai partyafter the coup.

The court ruling came on the same day the Supreme Court opened the first graft trial against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, nearly two years after he was ousted in a bloodless 2006 coup. Thaksin, who did not appear in court, is accused of using his position as prime minister to influence the sale of a prime piece of Bangkok land by a state agency to his wife.

From the Bangkok Post

The government suffered its third justice-administered setback in 24 hours on Wednesday as the Constitution Court kicked Public Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsab out of office.

Judges even back-dated Chaiya's dismissal to March 6, for failure to declare his wife's holding in a company.

This leaves Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej in a tight spot when he begins what appears to be an inevitable cabinet reshuffle in coming days. He is under strong pressure from both within the PPP and the opposition to get rid of under-performing and controversial ministers, and to appoint competent replacements, to try to regain authority lost in the past several months of political chaos.

He has three basic choices: Bow to the "party financier" on the public health ministry, ignore or try to negotiate with him and appoint someone else - or dissolve parliament and call yet another election.

The premier said he would make no direct comment on his next actions until Sunday, when he speaks to the nation on his weekly morning TV show.

He got strongly conflicting advice from all sides on Wednesday about whether to call a snap election. Even within the PPP, opinion was divided. Only Samak has the power to dissolve the House.

Update: Foreign Unemployment

11th July 2008

Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama has resigned after a top court ruled he had violated the constitution by signing a deal over a disputed temple.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has sharply cut its projection for the number of international visitors and tourism revenue next year due to soaring oil prices, which are discouraging international travel and have led to cuts in inbound flights.

It targets only a 3.3% growth in the number of international visitors in 2009, a sharp downward revision from the original projection of 10%. From a projected 17 million, or a 10% growth, the TAT expects only 16 million travellers to visit the country. About 15 million visitors are expected in 2008.

The TAT also halved it revenue-growth projection for next year to 5%, though spending per head per trip is expected to increase from Bt38,760 this year to Bt39,375. Revenue projection for this year is Bt600 billion The authority is maintaining next year's domestic projection of 87 million trips with revenue of Bt407 billion.

Deputy governor for international marketing Santichai Eua-Chongprasit said the three key negative factors were oil prices, world economic uncertainty and fewer flights into the Kingdom.

British adult video director John T. Bone was arrested June 12 in Bang-na, Bangkok after authorities received a tip that a group of foreigners were shooting porn in a local apartment complex.

Police arrested Bone (a.k.a. John Gilbert Bowen) and five others in the raid, including three Brazlian men, a Filipina woman and a Thai "katoey" or transsexual "bar girl," according to the Pattaya Daily News. The report states that officers caught Bowen and his crew in the act of shooting a group sex scene.

Police told the Daily News they found a fully equipped studio inside the apartment with lights, camera equipment, lube, DVDs, stills and boxes of condoms. The report identifies Bone as the ringleader of the group.

The production and sale of pornography is illegal in Thailand. Bowen and two associates were arrested in April 2007 on the same charges in Pattaya, Thailand, southeast of Bangkok.

According to the Daily News, Bowen and his associates will face 3 years in prison and fined up to 6,000 baht ($180) for the crime.