The Cabinet met on Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at Command Building I, Government House. Some of the resolutions are as follows;
The Cabinet acknowledged and agreed upon the proposals made by Ministry of Finance as follows:
1. The Cabinet acknowledged implementation of policy loan as contingency fund for farmers who suffered from 2015/2016 drought disaster, and "One Tambon One Agricultural SME" policy loan to promote sustainability of Thai agricultural sector which is implemented by Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).
2. The cabinet approved for BAAC to implement Community Project for modal change of production to fight against drought crisis during the period of February 23, 2016 to December 31, 2018. The project is to be implemented under Public Service Account (PSA).
Ministry of Finance reported that BAAC proposed relief measures for drought-affected farmers and agricultural competitiveness enhancement. The detail is as follows:
1. Relief measure for drought-affected farmers: implementation of policy loan as contingency fund for 50,000 farmer clients of BAAC who suffered from 2015/2016 drought disaster.
2. Measures for agricultural competitiveness enhancement:
2.1 "One Tambon One Agricultural SME" policy loan to promote sustainability of Thai agricultural sector
2.2 Community Project for modal change of production to fight against drought crisis for 100,000 farmers in drought-affected areas of 26 provinces in the Chao Phraya River basin and along the Mae Klong River.
The Cabinet acknowledged and agreed upon the proposals made by Ministry of Labor as follows:
1. The Cabinet acknowledged Vietnamese migrant workers import procedure which allows employers to make direct request for worker import with Vietnamese recruitment agencies, or with registered recruitment agencies in Thailand.
2. The Cabinet approved Migrant Workers Management Plan 2016 as follows:
1) Approved post-March 31, 2016 Migrant Workers Management plan and reporting procedure for work permit application. Employment of 2 groups of legal Myanmar, Lao, and Cambodian migrant workers [migrant workers who hold non-Thai identification card (Pink ID card) and those with legal document issued at country of origin] will be terminated on March 31, 2018.
2) Agreed in principle for Myanmar, Lao and Cambodian migrant workers in all industries, who have been granted temporary stay, to continue working in Thailand for up to 2 years. Extension can be requested 4 times for the period of 2 years per each request without having to return to country of origin (8 years maximum). Extension of employment is in accordance with rules and regulation specified by Department of Employment.
3) Agreed to amend definition of seafood processing industry to include the fish and other seafood sorting process.
4) Agreed to issue ministerial regulation on specification of work permits. Ministry of Labor is ordered to amend ministerial regulation on work permit format to be relevant with format and information specified on the Pink ID card.
Ministry of Labor reported that European Union suggested that Thailand extend employment period of migrant workers in fishery and seafood processing industry for four consecutive years without returning to their country of origin, and may extend for another four years. Ministry of Labor has also received complaints from entrepreneurs in fishery sector on labor shortage especially in fish sorting process.
The Cabinet approved resolution plan for civil aviation as proposed by Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, in his capacity as vice-chairman of the 5th Steering Committee.
1. Civil Aviation Resolution Plan consists of 4 parts: Part 1: Selection and recruitment of personnel; Part 2: Enhancement of aviation safety authority’s qualifications in accordance with ICAO?s standard; Part 3: verification and evaluation for new air operator certification; and Part4: Issuance of new air operator certificate.
2. International cooperation on improvement and upgrade of long-term air safety audit system according to Cooperation Framework Agreement on Aviation Safety with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The objective is to enhance Thailand's capability in improving and upgrading long term air safety audit system in eight aspects:
1) rules and regulations;
2) agencies and responsibility on air safety audit;
3) personnel licensing;
4) operation of aircrafts;
5) aircraft airworthiness;
6) accident/incident investigations;
7) air navigation services; and
8) airport and ground handling services.
3. Technical cooperation under “Civil Aviation Safety Oversight Improvement Project” with Japan during 2 years and 5 months period (April 2016-September 2018). Japan will dispatch long-term and short term experts for Improvement of Mandatory Safety Reporting System on aircraft maintenance.
The Cabinet approved the proposal made by Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to submit the Agreement of ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR), Thailand’s proposal on establishment of Secretariat Office of APTERR in Thailand, and resolution of 12th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Forestry with Ministers of the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, to Coordinating Committee of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) for its deliberation before forwarding to NLA together with Draft Act on protection for the operation of ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve Secretariat, B.E….
--Cabinet Meeting (Prayut Chan-o-cha) February 23, 2016--