Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday gave a keynote speech at the annual dinner of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) at the Intercontinental Hotel in Bangkok. The Thai premier had once again met with FCCT members and guests after 14 months, and this year’s speech of his seems to have reflected a lot of things, not only in relation to what have been going on and what will be happening in Thailand but also, of course, what the Oxford-educated prime minister of Thailand is thinking now.
Here is the …

Listed companies on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) have reported their combined net profit of 592.45 billion baht for 2010, up 38.98 percent from the previous year.
According to a SET report released yesterday, the companies on the Thai bourse, excluding property funds, saw their 2010 income from sales and services increase 17.67 percent from the previous year to 7.40 trillion baht, approximately USD244.90 billion while the combined operating profit rise 15.16 percent to 663.81 billion baht.
Other income, mostly the gains on investment and foreign exchange, during last year grew …

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) yesterday decided to raise its 15-month-long key policy rate of 1.25 percent by 0.25 percent, due to the country’s economic recovery and the central bank’s confidence in continuous economic growth.

In April last year, the BoT’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had cut the one-day repurchase rate from 1.50 to 1.25 percent when the global financial crisis, which hit its peak in September and October 2008, still affected Thai economy significantly through the contraction of the country’s exports.
The 1.25-percent policy rate was then put on hold during …

Thailand’s Cabinet yesterday endorsed the nomination of Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul, currently the president of Kasikornbank Plc, as the new governor of the Bank of Thailand (BoT).
The 58-year-old, Harvard-educated, banker will succeed Dr Tarisa Watanagase who will retire at the end of September, after receiving a Royal appointment from His Majesty the King.
Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering respectively at Chulalongkorn University and the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok before moving to Harvard for an MBA and doctorate on a scholarship from the Ananda Mahidol …

Q1 (by Nirmal Ghosh, Straits Times): Since assuming office you’ve spoken of reconciliation. Yet one and half years later, we see Thailand even more divided. There’s no sign of any reconciliation. It seems as if there is suppression of the elements that you are talking about, part of the Red Shirt movement, the leadership, and so forth. How realistic is this reconciliation plan of yours given this history?
PM Abhisit: Well, first, I’ve always talked about reconciliation that is based on the rule of law.  Every time that we took an initiative …

PM Abhisit (centre) is seen briefing the foreign press about the recent Bangkok violence
Last Saturday, ten days after the violent riot in Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok ended with arson attacks and lootings, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had an official meeting with the representatives of foreign media, after a briefing to foreign envoys and representatives of international organisations, to explain what had happened during the two-month-long protest of a group called the “United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD)” or the “Red Shirts” and what the government plans to do …