The United States closed its embassy in Bangkok on Thursday following the Thai troops’ clashes with red shirts protesters.
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US embassy in Bangkok closes service
What You Need to Know About Setting up a Business in Thailand
The Ministry of Industry administers The Factory Act, which governs factory construction and operation, as well as safety and pollution-control requirements. In some cases, factories do not require licenses, in other instances the requirement is simply to notify officials in advance of start-up, and in some cases licenses are required prior to commencing operations. Licenses are valid for five years, and are renewable.
Thailand recognizes three kinds of intellectual property rights: patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
The Patent Act protects both inventions and product designs and pharmaceuticals.The Copyright Act protects literary, artistic works, and performance rights, by making it unlawful to reproduce or publish such works without the owner’s permission. The Trademark Act governs registration of, and provides protection for, trademarks.
External stability in Thailand was upheld by high international reserves, while trade and current account were close to balance. Regarding internal stability, inflation rose from last year in line with higher oil prices, despite a downward trend during the second half of the year. Unemployment rate remained low in Thailand in 2008 but employment started to deteriorate in the forth quarter, particularly in the production sector affected by economic slowdown.
Thailand is among the region’s more open economies, with exports accounting for around 65% of gross domestic product (GDP)
Concerns are already rising that big foreign manufacturers, faced with financial problems in their home countries and declining regional demand for their products, could permanently shutter their Thailand-based facilities. Those worries intensified earlier this month when Japanese automotive and motorcycle producer Suzuki announced plans to close its Thailand operations. Ailing US auto giant General Motors’ local affiliate also raised eyebrows when it requested and was declined a 3 billion baht loan from Thailand’s Ministry of Industry for a diesel engine project.
Thailand’s banks and finance companies were at the heart of the country’s 1997 collapse
Lower provisioning requirements for nonperforming loan (NPL) stocks and impressive year-on-year loan growth, which was up 11% for the entire sector, drove those countercyclical gains. While extending new credits, the Thai financial system’s overall NPL rate fell from 9% of total outstanding loans in 2007 to 7% at the end of last year. Meanwhile Thai banks’ Tier 1 capital and capital adequacy ratios (the ratio of capital to risk-weighted assets) are now strong by international standards at 11% and 14% respectively.
It seems likely in the deteriorating global and local economic environment that Thai banks will relinquish some of those recent balance sheet gains. Analysts point to two particular areas of potential volatility, which if aggravated in the year ahead could raise questions about possible systemic risk: the first entails state-owned Krung Thai Bank’s low 40% loan loss coverage ratio for its NPLs; the other Thai Military Bank’s stubbornly high 16.4% NPL ratio.
US embassy in Bangkok closes service
