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Regulator briefed on talks with Channel 3
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission’s broadcasting committee has provided more details to the regulator on its negotiations with the operator of Channel 3 over the station’s refusal to switch from analogue to digital.
The committee will report the results of the negotiations to the Central Administrative Court on Saturday.
Sombat Leetapata, NBTC acting deputy secretary-general, said yesterday that the broadcasting committee was no longer negotiating with Channel 3 operator Bangkok Entertainment Company or its sister company BEC-Multimedia, which the committee wanted Channel 3 to simulcast its content on.
Sombat said the committee had also reported that a lawsuit filed over the NBTC’s decision to order cable and satellite TV operators to remove Channel 3 from their services would have its first hearing on Thursday.
SCB appointments
Siam Commercial Bank has appointed three first executive vice presidents.
Vipon Vorasowharid is the new group head for business banking, Kanchana Rojvatunyu is the division head for corporate strategic marketing management, and Pipavin Sodprasert is division head for retail banking group strategy.
Hotel room rates slide during first half
The latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index showed that the average price paid for a room in Thailand during the first six months of this year decreased by 5 per cent, to an average of Bt2,667 per night.
Room rates dropped at the start of the year, mainly as a result of the political situation. Phuket hotel prices saw a 10-per-cent to an average of Bt3,250.
On the Eastern Seaboard, hotel prices in Pattaya recorded a 9-per-cent drop to Bt2,503, while Bangkok prices decreased 8 per cent to Bt2,235. A 5-per-cent slide took Chiang Mai to an average of Bt1,855 while Koh Samui slipped 1 per cent to Bt3,098 per night.
Krabi, on the other hand, was the only destination on the survey that experienced a jump in prices, with the average room rate increasing by 5 per cent to Bt3,226 per night.
The survey found that when travelling abroad, Thais were more willing to pay higher rates. From all countries surveyed. Thailand was found to have the third-largest gap between domestic and international hotel rates after Argentina and India.
Of the 32 countries analysed, 27 of their nationals paid more abroad than at home, with several having a significant gap between the two sums. Argentineans spent Bt2,665 a night more on average when travelling abroad, followed closely by Indians at Bt2,315 and the Thais at Bt2,112.
Asia-Pacific growth dips
The World Bank expects slower economic growth for developing countries in East Asia and the Pacific this year but the pace outside China will pick up in 2015 on the expected gradual recovery in high-income economies, which will boost demand for exports from this region.
However, despite the slower growth, developing East Asia and the Pacific is still the fastest-growing region in the world. The bank has forecast gross domestic product expanding by 6.9 per cent for both 2014 and 2015 in the region.
Excluding China, growth in developing countries in the region is expected to bottom out at 4.8 per cent in 2014 and 5.3 per cent in 2015. While the region as a whole will benefit from the recovery of the global economy, the impact will vary across the region depending on each country’s investment and export environment.
Sudhir Shetty, the World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific chief economist, said the slowdown of China’s economic growth would have a minimal impact on the region, since its slowdown is gradual. Meanwhile the links between China and the economy in this region is not only through trade but also investment. The bank expects no reduction of Chinese investment in this region.
“The slowdown of China’s economy in the degree that we expect does not necessarily mean that investment flow from China will slow down, and in fact it might increase because of the rising wages and the relocation of Chinese manufacturing within and outside of China,” he said.
The World Bank expects China’s GDP to expand by 7.4 per cent in 2014 and 6.9 per cent in 2015, compared with real growth of 7.2 per cent in 2013.
Transformer order
Ekarat Engineering, a transformer producer, said yesterday that it had won a Bt320-million order from the Metropolitan Electricity Authority.
The delivery of 228 sets of 500-kilovolt-amp transformers to the MEA will be completed by the end of this year, said the company.
“This deal confirms we will achieve our expected growth for 2014,” said Ekarat’s chief executive Danucha Noichaiboon.
