The ASEAN leaders’ spouses have visited the National Royal Barge Museum and viewed demonstrations of rowing and singing rituals. The tour greatly impressed the visitors.

The prime minister has expressed his satisfaction with the latest Bloomberg Misery Index which indicates that Thailand has the least miserable economy in the world.

To promote Thai investment abroad, all sectors must help one another boost competitiveness. However, it is necessary to invest in what that country needs, which will help strengthen the Thai business sector.

The effort of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME D Bank) to promote Thai processed agricultural products to markets in China succeeded further when a Chinese company decided recently to pilot the purchase of 16,000 tons of Thai processed fruit products, which will generate more than two billion baht in total for farmers on small land holdings.

The Government has continued to support low-income earners with various projects, such as the state welfare card scheme. Not only does the scheme benefit low-income earners, it also helps small vendors to earn more revenue. 

The World Bank has forecast Thailand’s economic growth to slightly slow down and rise 3.8% this year while the general economy of East Asia and the Pacific is expected to slow down and rise 6% this year and next year.

The government has long placed importance on the issue of intellectual property infringement, and has worked tirelessly to put an end to it. The United States has recently praised Thailand’s ongoing protection of intellectual property which has yielded concrete results.

The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) has maintained its economic growth forecast for this year at 3.8 percent. It is not yet able to evaluate the expected new government that must expedite economic stimulation in the second half of the year to build confidence for investors.

The exemption of fees for visa on arrival is expected to draw more Chinese tourists to Thailand during the Lunar New Year festive season. 

Thai-Muslim women of the southern province of Yala have continued the tradition of “Bungah Sireh”, a type of flower arrangement, engaging in a competition to find the most beautiful creation.