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Thai Airways International is ready to support the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) in the examination by The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on aviation safety management from July 11-21 under ICAO's Universal Security Audit Programme Continuous Monitoring programe, said Thai acting president Usanee Sangsingkeo.
She said the company’s security system follows CAAT and ICAO standard.

Liberalised LPG PRICES

The Energy Policy Administration Committee, chaired by Energy Minister Anantaporn Kanjanarat, on Wednesday approved the full liberalisation of LPG prices for the first time, starting on August 1, said the ministry permanent secretary Areepong Bhoocha-oom. 
As a result, the practice of determining prices at gas separation plants, and refinery plants will be scrapped, while LGP companies will no longer have to contrubute to the Oil Fund. The announcement of wholesale price at gas depots will also be stopped.

VILASINEE IN PBS TOP ROLE

Former Thai PBS deputy director-general Vilasinee Pipitkul has been selected to head the public television station.
Four of the seven members of the station’s policy committee present at a meeting yesterday voted to appoint her to the top job in the final round yesterday. The committee has nine members.
There were seven candidates for the post of director-general in the first round which was won by Vilasinee, and the other candidate, former Nation Broadcasting Corp president Adisak Limprungpatanakij.
Vilasinee replaces Krissada Rueangareerat, who had resigned in March after coming under criticism over Thai PBS’ investment in the debentures of Charoen Pokphand Foods.
 

Omise absorbs Paysbuy in 

Online payment technology service provider Omise is acquiring the payment services of Thailand’s Paysbuy. Paysbuy’s assets and services will be merged into Omise.
Founded in 2004, Paysbuy was one of Thailand’s first payment gateway service providers. The acquisition gives Omise a larger share of the market and promises to accelerate its growth in Southeast Asia.
Omise said in a press release that the acquisition would also benefit innovations such as its recently unveiled OmiseGO (OMG) wallet. Paybuy’s well-established e-wallet service will turn OMG into a “decentralised wallet solution”, said Jun Hasegawa, chief executive and founder of Omise.
He said the combined entity would continue to be Dtac’s online payment-solution partner and help improve the online payment experience for Dtac customers. 

PASSENGER NUMBERS UP

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced global passenger traffic results for May, showing demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometres, or RPKs) rose 7.7 per cent compared to the same month in 2016. This was slower than the 10.9 per cent growth recorded in April. 
However, figure was still well ahead of the 5- and 10-year average growth rates. Capacity climbed 6.1 per cent, and load factor rose 1.2 percentage points to 80.1 per cent, which was a record high for the month. All regions, excluding the Middle East and North America, posted record-high load factors in May.