Army probes Democrat claims of poll meddling: Army chief Gen Narongphan Jitkaewthae has ordered a probe into a report of soldiers interfering in the Democrat Party’s preparations for a by-election in Chumphon, said army deputy spokeswoman Sirichan Ngathong. Bangkok Post
Tackling household debt high on govt’s 2022 agenda: The government has set its sights on hastening the economic recovery and marking 2022 as the year of tackling household debt, said Prime Minister Prayut Chano-cha in his New Year message. Bangkok Post
Staff urged to WFH for 2 weeks: Kalasin, Chon Buri clusters spur alarm. The government has asked state agencies and private companies to allow staff to work from home for at least 14 days as Omicron infections soared to more than 1,500 cases nationwide as of Jan 1. Bangkok Post
Doubts linger over 2022: Visitor mix and access will decide tourism hubs’ fate, operators say. Tourism in major tourist destinations has clearly been picking up despite the lingering spread of Covid-19, especially since the country’s reopening on Nov 1. But all of a sudden, there came an unexpected turning point – the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Bangkok Post
B254bn spent on four economic relief schemes in last year: More than 41 million people participated in four popular economic relief programmes with their combined spending exceeding 254 billion baht last year, says the Finance Ministry. Bangkok Post
Cabinet okays B3.185tn budget for fiscal 2023: The cabinet approved yesterday a fiscal 2023 budget worth 3.185 trillion baht with a deficit of 695 billion. The fiscal 2023 budget is 2.74%, or 85 billion baht, higher than the fiscal 2022 budget, according to government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana. Bangkok Post
Covid strikes military spending: Pandemic forces army, navy to balance welfare with national defence, likely triggering procurement delays. Military spending has faced intense scrutiny in recent years, and due to budgetary pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic several weapon purchase programmes have been shelved or scrapped to pool money into addressing the crisis and its economic fallout. Bangkok Post
Crypto traders subject to 15% capital gains tax: Profits from cryptocurrency trading are now subject to a 15% capital gains tax, according to a source from the Finance Ministry. The ministry recommends investors identify their income from cryptocurrencies when filing tax this year to avoid legal penalties. Bangkok Post
Stay on target: Production, logistics costs set to increase. The Commerce Ministry is keeping its inflation range for 2022 at 0.7% to 2.4% despite a spike in fresh food prices. Despite a sharp rise in the prices of fresh food such as vegetables, pork, eggs, cooking oil, rice and curry, the Commerce Ministry is maintaining its headline inflation forecast in the range of 0.7% to 2.4% (average of 1.5%) this year. Bangkok Post
More pork imports are being mulled as another option to curb the problem of rapidly escalating pork price, the Swine Raisers Association of Thailand (SRAT) says.
