Aeronautical Radio of Thailand reports 55% drop in flights to 464K flights last year, but reported 11.5% rise in December, while AAV had the most flights at 7,668.
Ministry mulls new round for co-payment: The Finance Ministry plans to add another registration round for the second phase of the co-payment subsidy at the end of this month because 1.34 million rights have not been exercised. Bangkok Post
Retail slump prompts calls for action: The retail sector lost 500 billion baht in 2020, while the retail index for the first quarter this year is expected to fall by 7-8%, according to the latest predictions by the Thai Retailers Association (TRA). Bangkok Post
Tour firm exits peak last month: More agents give up their tour licences. The pandemic continues to ravage tourism operators as the number of tour companies withdrawing their licences reached its peak in December, while 65-70% of outbound agents closed indefinitely amid the tight border restrictions. Bangkok Post
B210bn hardship aid gets nod: But netizens fume over ‘no cash’ rule. The cabinet yesterday confirmed 210 billion baht of handouts to alleviate hardship caused by the recent Covid-19 outbreak. Bangkok Post
Premier set on repairing cancelled Dawei contract: Thailand remains committed to the Dawei development project, despite a recent setback on SET-listed Italian Thai Development’s (ITD) concession termination, says Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Bangkok Post
World Bank: 1.5m fell into poverty: Ratio of poor may be 8.8% for 2020. Around 1.5 million Thais were estimated to enter into poverty in 2020 due to the pandemic, says the World Bank. Bangkok Post
FDA approves AstraZeneca: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the emergency use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and 50,000 doses will arrive in Thailand in February. Bangkok Post
BMA defends fare-ceiling hike: The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is sticking by its plan to raise the fare ceiling on the BTS skytrain Green Line train from 65 baht to 104 baht from Feb 16 despite opposition from a House committee on transport. Bangkok Post
Thailand climbed two places to the top spot out of 176 countries in fixed broadband internet speed testing based on the Speedtest Global Index in December last year, driven by fierce local competition.
