Briefs
Zoning rules stymie solar farm projects
Solar projects in many areas of the country will be disqualified from the government's latest round of solar-farm development if zoning regulations are not relaxed, say energy regulators and private companies.
Dusit Kruangam, chairman of the Thai Photovoltaic Industries Association, said that according to the current zoning codes, the entire province of Ratchaburi, for example, was not allowed to construct any new power plants.
Energy Regulatory Commission member Kraisi Karnasuta said the ERC had asked the Interior and Industry ministries to consider relaxing the rules to allow solar-farm development in those areas where the commission has invited bids in state and agricultural cooperatives’ properties.
The ERC this month called bids for a programme entailing a total purchase of 600 megawatts from solar farms. Qualified bidders will be selected through a lucky-draw process on December 15.
Rice deal with China
Thailand is set to sign a government-to-government deal to sell 1 million tonnes of rice to China soon.
The Office of the Attorney-General is vetting the contract to ensure the process is transparent, Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said yesterday.
Thailand signed a contract two years ago to send 1 million tonnes of rice to China, of which about 600,000 tonnes has already been delivered this year.
By selling more to China, promoting more trade to other markets such as Iran, the Philippines and other countries on a G2G basis and open auctions, Thailand should be able to export up to 10 million tonnes of rice this year, she said.
From January to September 22, Thailand was able to ship out 6.9 million tonnes of rice.
Pact for Travelodge
Absolute Hotel Services Group yesterday announced a joint venture with Travelodge Hotels Asia to form Travelodge (Thailand) Company, which will be responsible for rolling out the Travelodge brand and sub-brands in this country.
Travelodge Asia has created three sub-brands, namely Nano by Travelodge, One by Travelodge, and Skye by Travelodge, to complement the core Travelodge brand for its aggressive expansion plans for Asia. There are close to 1,000 Travelodge-branded hotels worldwide.
Absolute Hotel Services owns the Eastin Grand Hotels, Eastin Hotels & Residences, Eastin Easy and U Hotels & Resorts brands, which are in operation or under development in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, the Middle East and Europe, with more than 60 hotels in its portfolio.
The CEO of Absolute Hotel Services Group, Jonathan Wigley, said Thailand continued to be one of Asia’s most popular holiday and business destinations. Travel and tourism are key contributors to the Thai economy.
Specifically, the mid-scale hotel segment that Travelodge and its three sub-brands operate in is expected to fit in well with the travel demographics of Thailand. The company targets more than 4,000 keys in Thailand for Travelodge by 2020.
Energy Earth looks to solar business in Europe
Thai coal miner Energy Earth is setting up a team to conduct a feasibility study on investment in the solar-power-plant business in Europe, beginning with Italy, said managing director Khajonpong Khamdee.
The study is expected to be completed soon.
Earth has already expanded its coal export market to cover Thailand, China, India and South Korea, and is in talks with partners to distribute coal to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines. Next year it plans to join with a partner in China to bid to build two coal-fired power plants in Indonesia. The company is also conducting feasibility studies on these projects.
Pilot issue of local-currency bonds launched
The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Mizuho Bank offering of Bt3 billion in baht-denominated bonds, the first issue under the Asean+3 Multi-Currency Bond Issuance Framework (AMBIF) cooperation.
AMBIF, an initiative of the Asean Bond Market Forum (ABMF), aims to boost product quantity and variety and the growth of the bond market in Asean+3 (the 10-member Southeast Asian bloc plus China, Japan and South Korea) in response to the demand of fund-raisers and investors in the region. Bond issuers will be enabled to raise funds through multi-jurisdictional offerings to non-retail investors with a standard filing form prepared in the English language.
SEC secretary-general Rapee Sucharitakul said: “With the Mizuho Bank pilot issuance of baht-denominated bonds in Thailand under AMBIF, bond-market development in the Asean+3 region has reached another milestone. This also reflects international recognition on the solid foundation of the Thai capital market.
“In addition, the AMBIF initiative will help widen access to a variety of financial options for Thai businesses while staying cost-competitive, while providing Thai investors with more choices of investment and better diversification.”
RS plans two exhibitions as part of integrated plan
RS is investing Bt10 million in two shows as a part of an integrated strategy to promote its media business during low season.
Chief operating officer Pornpan Techarungchaikul said “Beauty Now & Next 2016” and “Tiew Tua Thai Tour Tua Lok” would be held from December 3-6 at Impact Muang Thong Thani, expecting to welcome more than 200,000 visitors and stimulating at least Bt500 million in spending during four days of events.
More than 400 exhibitors from the beauty and health and wellness industries are expected to join the first edition of Beauty Now & Next, while more than 300 travel operators, airlines, car-rental businesses, cruise lines, spa operators and hotels will participate in Tiew Tua Thai Tour Tua Lok.
RS aims to use the two on-ground events to engage with target audiences and promote its media business, including Channel 8 digital TV, Cool 93 radio station, and two satellite TV stations, Channel 2 and Plern TV.
AirAsia announces three new U-tapao routes
AirAsia is launching new routes to three destinations, flying from U-tapao Airport to Macau, Singapore and Udon Thani at promotional fares after the success of the U-tapao-Nanning and U-tapao-Nanchang routes.
The airline is promoting U-tapao as a full-fledged flight base able to attract Chinese travellers to the Kingdom’s Eastern region this year-end as well as presenting new travel options to Thai people.
Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia, said the carrier was fully ready to launch new routes out of U-tapao-Rayong-Pattaya International Airport, the airline’s fifth flight base. Its three newest routes will see daily direct flights to Macau, Singapore and Udon Thani.
He affirmed Thai AirAsia’s belief in U-tapao Airport as a commercial flight base, ready to handle the Eastern region’s growing tourism sector.
“The reason we are continuously launching new routes from U-tapao Airport this year-end is because we see its potential and the opportunity to draw travel and investment to the Eastern region, whether it is to the popular entertainment destination Pattaya or to Rayong’s industrial centre.
