Taxes on golf courses, spas may be waived
Play
The Excise Department will consider abolishing the tax levied on golf courses and spas. Director-general Somchai Poonsawat said yesterday that Finance Minister Sommai Phasee had assigned his department to reform taxes to promote tourism and public healt
The department collects 10 per cent of golf-course membership fees and golf-course and spa service charges.
CHANNEL 3 BAN UPHELD
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission yesterday upheld the broadcasting committee’s decision last week to require that Channel 3 analog programmes of Bangkok Entertainment Co be dropped from satellite and cable TV networks on September 28.
The company petitioned the NBTC last week.
The committee is talking with BEC about ways for the company to simulcast analog content on a digital TV channel. The second round of negotiations will come soon after it was postponed from today.
The committee has ruled that cable-sat networks can carry only digital TV channels, as they are regarded as “free TV” now, not analog channels.
The NBTC also decided at its meeting yesterday to pay only Bt369.86 million to the RS subsidiary RS International Broadcasting and Sport Management, which was the Fifa World Cup broadcast-rights licensee.
The company had requested compensation for allowing the 2014 World Cup matches to be broadcast live on free-to-air television. The commission has already paid Bt118 million to RS.
Darm Nana, chief executive officer of RS, said that if the company ends up with just Bt370 million, it would be unfair.
RS plans to appeal against the resolution.
COMMON TICKET PLANNED
The Transport Ministry hopes to launch a common ticket for Bangkok mass-transit systems by the end of next year in time for the new Purple and Blue Lines.
Padet Praditphet, director of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning in charge of the one-ticket project, said yesterday that the office had sent the details of the contract to develop the system to the Public Debt Management Office for review.
The PDMO is expected to complete the review by the end of this month and forward the details to the Transport Ministry for approval before the contract with BSV Group can be signed.
The consortium comprises Bangkok Mass Transit System, which is the Skytrain operator, Smart Traffic Co and Australia’s Vix Mobility.
CARRIAGE TOR TO CHANGE
The State Railway of Thailand yesterday instructed Airport Rail Link to revise the terms of reference for the procurement of seven carriages worth Bt4.8 billion. SRT chairman Ormsin Chivapruck said qualified bidders must show production capacity of at least 500 carriages over the past decade instead of the 100 carriages required in the original ToR.
The condition that the new carriages must be able to connect with the existing carriages must be deleted to encourage more bidders, besides the three from China, South Korea and Germany that have expressed their interest to serve as the supplier. The German company is Siemens.
