Private sector offers 6-point flood plan

The joint standing committee comprising the Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and the Thai Bankers Association yesterday held a special meeting to brainstorm on the crisis.

Phongsak Assakul, chairman of the meeting and of the Board of Trade, said the meeting came up with six proposals on water management and flood prevention, to be submitted immediately to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
First, government agencies should unify their water-management measures to release the current deluge from Bangkok and other provinces urgently. An ad hoc com?mittee chaired by the prime minister should be set up. The committee should include representatives from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Army, the Royal Irrigation Department, the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, the Transport Ministry, the private sector, engineers and other experts to brainstorm on the most efficient method to drain the flood water.

Second, the government should urgently restore the agricultural, manufacturing and service sectors by getting a clear picture of what affected enterprises require and provide experts and human and other resources to help them. The FTI would be responsible for surveying affected businesses so that the government gets accurate information.
Third, the government should cooperate with private organisations on estimating losses to the economic system so that it can allocate a budget and prioritise plans for the recovery of each sector.

Fourth, as the government will need an enormous budget for restarting the country’s economy, it should revise its economic policies. For instance, the tax schemes to help first-car and first-house buyers should be suspended.
Fifth, the government should rapidly boost foreign investors’ confidence after the water has receded to ensure that Thailand will continue to be a major supply-chain centre for global industries. The government must have a sustainable plan on water management to prevent future flooding.

Finally, the government should postpone the plan to reduce corporate tax from 30 to 23 per cent next year in order to collect revenue for setting up a fund to help small and medium-sized enterprises affected by floods.
Phongsak said that the delay of corporate tax reduction should be understood by most companies as Thailand is needed huge budget for helping SMEs after floods.

The government will have about Bt70 billion fund from its suspension plan to reduce corporate tax in 2012. Currently, giant firms such as SCG and PTT has agreed to pay for 30 per cent corporate tax for another year.

The FTI and the Board of Trade will help negotiate with other companies and the Joint Foreign Chamber of Commerce to create understanding among foreign investors for the need of Thailand to collect full corporate tax, he said.
FTI vice chairman Thanit Sorat said the government must review its propaganda plan that will cause loss for the country’s incomes in order to restore the country after floods.

The government should also consider delaying its plan to raise the daily minimum wage to Bt300. If the government insists on proceeding with the wage hike, millions of labourers could lose jobs as enterprises keep spending in check so they have money to repair their businesses.
Meanwhile, the government has set up new distribution centres in Chon Buri, Phitsanulok and Nakhon Ratchasima to replace the flooded centre in Don Mueang Airport.
Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said yesterday that the new distribution centre will prompt to operate soonest. Those centres will collect goods from modern traders as well as donated goods for distributing to each modern trader branch and to shelters for helping flood victims.

Also, Kittiratt has reaffirmed that the severe shortage of drinking water would be relieved in the next two days after more than 1,000 small water producers nationwide increased their production capacity to offset the suspended operation of large producers.
Also, the government has asked companies to install 7,500-10,000 drinking-water vending machine in shelters, convenience stores, and hospitals.Kittiratt acknowledged that the government had found that the price of eggs has skyrocketed during the flooding to Bt8 each amid high demand and lower output, as many egg farms have been flooded. He called for people to consume other sources of protein such as pork, as its price is still low at Bt120 per kilogram.
The Commerce Ministry has been reported that egg price has increased largely to Bt180-200 per 30 eggs or average Bt6-8 per egg due to high demand during flooding.