Thai Prime Minister to Ease Rules to Boost Investment

[LivinLOS]

Thai Prime Minister to Ease Rules to Boost Investment (Update2)

By Rattaphol Onsanit and Suttinee Yuvejwattana

Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Newly appointed Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said the government will ease restrictions on foreign investment to help the economy grow faster.

Thai central bank-imposed curbs on funds entering the country will be lifted, Samak, who leads the first elected government since a military coup in October 2006, said in a press conference with foreign media today. ``There will be a declaration about it, please wait,'' he said.

Limits on bringing money into the country imposed on Dec. 18, 2006, dented investor and consumer confidence in Thailand. The central bank imposed the rules to curb a 16 percent gain in the currency that year and protect exporters. The controls were reversed for stock investors one day after their imposition prompted Thailand's biggest stock market plunge in 16 years.

Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy grew at the slowest rate of the six largest Southeast Asian nations in last year's third quarter. Samak, leader of the People Power Party, has pledged to revive economic policies of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who engineered the fastest economic growth in almost a decade in 2003.

Building a 300-kilometers (186 miles) mass rapid transit system is a ``top priority,'' Samak said. The junta-backed government in October approved 23 new railway lines. Bangkok, a city of more than 8 million people, now has a 20 kilometer subway line.

Accelerating Growth

Thailand's baht traded close to the highest level in more than a decade on speculation quickening economic growth will encourage overseas investors to buy more local assets. The currency was 32.93 per dollar in onshore trading as of 5:30 p.m. in Bangkok, from 32.92 yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Growth in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy may accelerate to as much as 6 percent this year, from 4.8 percent in 2007, the central bank said last month.

Samak said Thaksin, who has been in self-imposed exile since the coup, will get a fair trial when he returns to Thailand to face charges, and the government will not intervene with the judiciary system. Thaksin said Dec. 25 he will return as early as February as a ``normal citizen'' and will stay out of politics.

Loyalists of Thaksin formed the People Power Party after a court dissolved his Thai Rak Thai Party.

Samak appointed Thaksin's brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat as deputy prime minister and Noppadol Pattama, a former lawyer of the Shinawatra family, as foreign affairs minister.

An anti-graft agency set up after the coup, the Asset Examination Committee, froze more than 60 billion baht ($18 billion) worth of assets belonging to Thaksin and his family. The 11-member committee said Sept. 10 that it planned to investigate Thaksin's purchase of Manchester City soccer club last year.

Thaksin's wife Pojamarn retuned to Thailand Jan. 8 and pleaded not guilty to corruption charges over a land purchase. The Supreme Court issued arrest warrants for Thaksin and Pojamarn after they failed to return to Thailand to face charges over their involvement in buying land from the central bank.

[ATMwalking]

What they are talking about is just a part of what needs to be reversed. Saw another article saying they are going to push more through the BOI. But not sure if they really see the whole picture yet.

Read another article that made a good argument for the baht being at 25/dollar very soon.

[K2]

Thai central bank-imposed curbs on funds entering the country will be lifted, Samak, who leads the first elected government since a military coup in October 2006, said in a press conference with foreign media today. ``There will be a declaration about it, please wait,'' he said.

Limits on bringing money into the country imposed on Dec. 18, 2006, dented investor and consumer confidence in Thailand. The central bank imposed the rules to curb a 16 percent gain in the currency that year and protect exporters. The controls were reversed for stock investors one day after their imposition prompted Thailand's biggest stock market plunge in 16 years.

Once this is announced (by the Bank of Thailand) there will be no longer any difference between onshore & offshore rates.

Anyone with large amounts of THB should hurry up and convert offshore!