Environmental Amendment Approved

14 October 2009

To conform to Article 67 of the Constitution, Cabinet approved amendments to the Environmental Protection Act of 1992 yesterday.

The amendments would allow the natural resources and environment minister to set forth regulations on the kind of industries negatively impacting the environment and health.

Moreover, an independent environmental body will be established to assist in the enforcement of laws based on Article 67 within the forthcoming 90 days.

TCDC to Supervise the Creative City Project

14 October 2009

Yesterday the Thailand Creative & Deisgn Centre (TCDC) in Bangkok made known that it will manage and supervise the Creative City Project next year.

The government’s Creative City Project focuses on encouraging Thai entrepreneurial creativity, innovation, and design in order to attract a greater clientele base, boost tourism in Thailand, and promote an image of Thailand as a creative country.

These efforts are intended to stimulate Thailand intellectual property development.

The government has allocated 30 billion baht to support a creative economy. Of that amount, 190 million baht will be provided to the TCDC to manage the Creative City Project.

The TCDC will use the funds to develop Bangkok as a Creative City, as an example for other cities to follow, establish a creative zone for foreigners and Thais to develop their creative talents, and develop a Creative Industry Expo.

Design-advisory director Kittiratana Pitipanich said that the TCDC intends to ask the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to include Bangkok in their Creative City Network. If UNESCO affirms Bangkok as such, the city would be a coveted destination for foreign tourists. It would also be easier to promote creative businesses in the city.

US Offshore Accounts Crackdown Continues

14 October 2009

The I.R.S is continuing its crackdown on Americans that use offshore accounts to evade US taxes.  October 15 is the leniency deadline, whereby the wealthy can come clean about their money stashed in out of country banks. 

If tax evaders come clean about their funds by 15 October, fines will range between equal to 5 to 20 percent of their tax bills, as opposed to the regular 50 percent.  The penalty will be paid once, based on the highest balance of the account over the past six years, rather than for each of those six years.

The Swiss bank UBS has released the names of 4, 450 American clients to the US government officials.  Even still, many wealthy Americans are hoping that their names were not on this list so that they may continue using offshore accounts in anonymity.

The I.R.S is continuing to warn that after 15 October, penalties will become far stiffer—and the risk of prosecution will increase.

Cambodia Approves Dispute Settlement Body for ASEAN

12 October 2009

On Monday Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was reported by media sources as saying he approved of Thailand’s proposal for ASEAN country representatives to discuss a dispute settlement mechanism to resolve conflicts amongst ASEAN countries.

The discussions will take place at the 15th ASEAN Summit scheduled for October 23 to 25 in the beachside resorts of Cha-am and Hua Hin in Thailand.

In a speech last Thursday, deputy director-general of the Thai Foreign Affair Ministry’s Department of Information Thani Thongphakdi said that the Thai-Cambodian controversy over territorial rights to land next to the Preah Vihear temple is not the focus for the dispute settlement mechanism, but that the mechanism is much wider in scope. However, he stated that the structure may assist in resolving the current dispute over the temple.

See the International Court of Justice ruling on the sovereignty of the Preah Vihear temple