The cabinet meeting on Tuesday 14, September 2010 has come to the following decision :
The Cabinet acknowledged and approved the following two proposals from the Ministry of Labour.
1. The Cabinet acknowledged the consideration for the Labour Relations Act (No....) Year... and the industrial conflict in which the Ministry of Industry and relevant agencies are a party involved.
2. The Cabinet approved the draft of the Labour Relations Act (No....) Year... which has already been scrutinised by the Council of State, as proposed by the Ministry of Labour. The draft is to be forwarded to the coordinating committee of the National Assembly in order to be presented to the House of Representatives for consideration.
The Cabinet endorsed the directive for the resolution to the outstanding debt the Russian government owes to Thailand, as proposed by the Ministry of Commerce. The options for settlement were made by the Russian government, and the Cabinet has decided to opt for the second option, which is Draft Cash. The principle debt, 36.44 million US dollar, is to be settled by cash within 30 days after a protocol is signed.
The Cabinet acknowledged the report on the result of the Ministry of Interior's operation to solve the problem of personal debts in the informal financial sector, as proposed by the Ministry of Interior.
As the government has assigned the Ministry of Interior to be the primary agency to lead the operation to settle people's personal debt in the informal financial sector with outstanding debt remains within the range of 50,001-200,000 Baht. The Ministry of Interior reported that there are 756,073 debtors registered with the Ministry of Interior.
In the operation, provinces and districts nationwide have appointed 6,095 negotiation teams to settle the debts in the informal financial sector. As of May 31, 2010, 640,688 cases, or 97.97% of the number of total registered cases, have been successfully settled while the other 15,385 cases, or 2.03%, have been unable to settle the debt.
For the successful cases, 514,135 cases have expressed the intention to refinance their debt with participating banks. The Ministry of Interior has a policy to facilitate the request for credit via provincial and district offices. The operation was scheduled to expire in August 31, 2010.
The Ministry of Interior also followed up with the overall bank approval process, and, as of August 31, 2010, it has been found that the banks have brought the credit information of 393,814 cases, or 76.6% if the total number of those who have expressed the intention to refinance, into the approval process system. Of this number, 223,990 cases have obtained approval from the banks already while 49,348 cases were approved by then banks but failed to present collateral to the banks. 83,244 cases were denied by the banks whereas the rest 37,231 cases withdrew from the scheme. Also, another 120,322 cases, or 23.4% of those who expressed the intention to refinance have not had their information brought into consideration by the banks.
The Cabinet acknowledged and approved the resolution made by the third meeting of the year 2010 of the Cabinet committee on five southern border provinces, on September 9, 2010, as proposed by the Secretary General to the National Economic and Social Development Board and the Secretary to the Cabinet committee on five southern border provinces.
1. The report of the 3rd/2010 meeting resolution on September 9, 2010, was acknowledged.
2. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, which has been spending less than the targeted disbursement rate, has been assigned to speed up projects and report on the implementation of projects and the disbursement of budget for Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) to Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thuangsuban, who is the chair of the sub-committee on the implementation of the five southern border provinces development plan, which is responsible for presenting the monthly report to the Cabinet.
3. The Cabinet approved 7 community-adjusted career development projects for 696 villages, budgeted for 41.99 million Baht. The funding would come from the reserve of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives’ budget for the projects under the five southern provinces development plan, which is part of the 2010 programme of the “Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength” investment package, as proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
4. The Cabinet approved the project to promote raising livestock as a career for the southern border provinces in 26 villages of the Satun Province. The project is under the “Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength” investment package and is expected to cost 17 million Baht. The project would also be funded the reserve of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives’ budget for the projects under the five southern provinces development plan, which is part of the 2010 programme of the “Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength” investment package, as proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
5. The Cabinet approved the 1.88-billion-Baht budget to comply with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives’ 2011 Village Community. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has also been assigned to make an agreement with the Budget Bureau in order to reduce complication and construction costs, in compliance with the criteria set by the Budget Bureau. The goal of the Village Community was also reiterated, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has been assigned to present the project as a project that is part of the “Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength” and present it to the Cabinet as soon as possible. Also, the Cabinet extended the operation timeline of the 2011 Village Community into 2012. The additional budget from the alteration of the project has also been allocated to fund the projects in no. 6, 9, and 11.
6. The Cabinet approved the medical doctor scholarship programme for the Faculty of Medicine, Princess of Naradhiwas University. The programme is expected to cost 950 million Baht, and the Budget Bureau has been assigned to give further support for the project.
7. The modification to the area for the poverty eradication project in five southern border provinces of 5 sites in Satun Province has been approved, as proposed by the Department of Groundwater Resources.
- Expedition and development of groundwater resource for clean drinking water system of a school has been shifted to Ban Toong School, Chalung District, from Ban Ra Wai School, Toong Wah District. The reason for the change is that the groundwater at the original site has been found too salty. Ban Ra Wai School will instead get the help for water treatment in order to provide a ground water resource that can be used for drinking in the future.
- Providing clean water to 4 villages experiencing drought condition. The villages are (1) Ban Suan Sawai Village, Sator Sub-District, Kone Don District, (2) Ban Tone Village, Toong Nui Sub-District, Kuan Ka Long District, (3) Ban Nam Lah Village, Toong Nui Sub-District, Kuan Ka Long District, and (4) Ban Wang Raad, Kuan Ka Long Sub-District, Kuan Ka Long District. The Changes have been made as the original sited have had their water resources developed already.
8. The Cabinet approved the modification for the construction and construction items for the Southern Teacher Centre in Yala Province, as proposed by the Office of Basic Education Commission. The budget of the project is 160.08 million Baht.
9. Modification to the work plan and budget for the Promotion of Efficiency and Quality of Life for Civil Servants in the Southern Border Provinces has been approved. The operation’s 6-month schedule (April-September 2010) has been reduced to 4 months (September-December 2010), reducing the cost to 85.76 million Baht. The project is to be funded from the 8.5-billion-Baht reserve in accordance to no.16 of the 2009 regulation of the Prime Minister’s Office on the administration for the projects under the “Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength” investment package.
10. The Cabinet has assigned the Fish Market Organisation to conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment for the hygiene improvement project for the wharf in Satun Province. The assessment would be considered by the National Environment Board for approval to proceed.
11. The sub-committee on public relation for the operation to resolve the problems in the southern border provinces has been assigned to modify the public relation plan, consisting of three parts, which are (1) routine activities as public relation, (2) public relation by local language via local media outlets, such as, local radio, and (3) public relation for the rest of the country to create understanding.
12. The Ministry of education has been assigned to consider the directions for help for the teachers and officials in the southern border provinces in (1) additional wage for working in combative zone and elevation in academic standing to special case, (2) additional rights for teachers equivalent to other civil servants, and (3) stepping up security. The first two proposals have been presented to the Prime Minister on Monday September 13, 2010, while the third proposal has resulted in the assignments for relevant security agencies to strictly follow the security plan.
The Cabinet approved the draft of the joint statement for the 2nd ASEAN-US Leaders’ Meeting, as proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the event that the draft needs to be edited in the part that is not thesis nor any clause vital to the Thai interest, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been authorised to edit without having to propose the change to the Cabinet for further consideration.
The draft of the joint statement for the 2nd ASEAN-US Leaders’ Meeting is the direction for cooperation between ASEAN and the United States in political, security, social, economic, and it includes development issues around the world and in the region. Also, the support from the United States for ASEAN’s achievement of the ASEAN Community by 2015 is also part of the statement. At the moment, both ASEAN and the United States are considering the possibility in elevating the joint statement into joint declaration for this meeting, so that it would better express the intention of both the ASEAN and American leaderships in strengthening the relationship and cooperation between ASEAN and the United States.
--Cabinet Meeting (Abhisit Vejjajiva) September 14, 2010--