Thaksin touts golden visa, higher travel fees to boost Thailand
BANGKOK – Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra suggested the country create a golden visa scheme for wealthy foreigners to become long-term residents and called on Airports of Thailand to hike passenger service fees to boost the sluggish economy.
The golden visa scheme could potentially bring in the equivalent of Thailand's US$500 billion (S$643 billion) economy, Thaksin said in a speech at the 'Unlocking Thailand's Future' conference in Bangkok on July 17 evening.
He suggested the country could attract 600,000 people who would deposit US$1 million apiece for the visa. In return, they'd get rights to buy property in Thailand, helping the real estate sector, with the proceeds to fund education for Thai people.
'It will drive GDP growth, reduce public debt, spur domestic consumption,' Thaksin said. 'It's new, fresh money, and so worth pursuing.'
Thaksin retains significant influence with policymakers through the ruling Pheu Thai party, helmed by his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, despite having no formal title in the government.
His speech to business people on how to invigorate growth comes after the Constitutional Court recently suspended Ms Paetongtarn as prime minister while it deliberates on an alleged ethics violation case involving her handling of a border dispute.
Thaksin has his own legal troubles, including a decade-old royal defamation case that is due to be ruled on in August. He remains confident he will be found innocent, he told the seminar.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore Driverless bus in Sentosa gets green light to run without safety officer in first for S'pore
Asia Malaysia's King appoints Wan Ahmad Farid as new Chief Justice
World Trump diagnosed with vein condition causing leg swelling, White House says
World US strikes destroyed only one of three Iranian nuclear sites, says new report
Opinion Is your child getting drawn to drugs? Don't look away and don't give up
Business 5 things to know about Kuok Hui Kwong, tycoon Robert Kuok's daughter and Shangri-La Asia head honcho
Business Granddaughter of late Indonesian tycoon pays $25 million for Singapore bungalow
Singapore Sex first, then you can sell my flat: Women property agents fend off indecent proposals and harassment
Thailand's economy, which relies heavily on exports and tourism, has expanded at an average of under 2 per cent over the past decade, trailing other major South-east Asian economies. Gross domestic product will likely grow 1.3 per cent to 2.3 per cent in 2025, constrained by high household debt and slowing tourist arrivals, while the economy is also at risk of a 36 per cent tariff from the US, its largest export market.
Airports of Thailand should raise its passenger service charges by as much as 300 baht (S$11.90) per passenger to generate 40 billion baht in additional profit per year, he added. That would be a roughly 40 per cent hike from the current level.
'AOT should be an economic driver in terms of being an aviation hub, cargo center, and aircraft maintenance center, which can drive the economy much further,' he said. The proceeds could be used to improve the authority's six airports and help Thailand become South-east Asia's aviation hub, as well as drive businesses like cargo and aviation maintenance.
AOT shares rose 11 per cent in July 17 trading, closing at the highest since March, after local newspaper Kaohoon reported it planned to hike passenger service charges and landing and parking fees, and start collecting transit and transfer fees.
There are calls to revitalise the travel industry. Earlier this week, the Tourism Authority of Thailand lowered its forecast for foreign tourist arrivals in 2025 to 35 million from 40 million, with Chinese visitors falling short of projections.
Only 2.3 million Chinese visitors came to Thailand in the first half of 2025, compared with 3.4 million a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
News of a Chinese actor's kidnapping to Myanmar through Thailand increased safety concerns, said Thaksin, who suggested that he would personally insure any Chinese travellers to Thailand in order to win their confidence. Bloomberg
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Iran says it has replaced air defences damaged in Israel war
DUBAI - Iran has replaced air defences damaged during last month's conflict with Israel, Iran's Defah Press news agency reported on Sunday quoting Mahmoud Mousavi, the regular army's deputy for operations. During the conflict in June, Israel's air force dominated Iran's airspace and dealt a heavy blow to the country's air defences while Iranian armed forces launched successive barrages of missiles and drones on Israeli territory. "Some of our air defences were damaged, this is not something we can hide, but our colleagues have used domestic resources and replaced them with pre-arranged systems that were stored in suitable locations in order to keep the airspace secure," Mousavi said. Prior to the war, Iran had its own domestically-made long-range air defence system Bavar-373 in addition to the Russian-made S-300 system. The report by Defah Press did not mention any import of foreign-made air defence systems to Iran in past weeks. Following limited Israeli strikes against Iranian missile factories last October, Iran later displayed Russian-made air defences in a military exercise to show it recovered from the attack. REUTERS
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Iran could hold nuclear talks with European powers next week, Tasnim reports
DUBAI - Iran, Britain, France and Germany could hold talks next week on Tehran's nuclear programme, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, following warnings by the three European countries that failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on Iran. "The principle of talks has been agreed upon, but consultations are continuing on the time and place of the talks. The country in which the talks could be held next week has not been finalised," Tasnim reported, quoting a source informed on the matter. The report on possible talks comes a few days after the foreign ministers of the so-called E3 nations, as well as the European Union's foreign policy chief, held their first call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi since Israel and the U.S. attacked Iranian nuclear facilities a month ago. The three European countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to a 2015 nuclear deal reached with Iran - from which the United States withdrew in 2018 - that lifted sanctions on the Middle Eastern country in return for restrictions on its nuclear programme. The E3 have said they would restore U.N. sanctions on Tehran via the so-called "snapback mechanism" by the end of August if nuclear talks that were ongoing between Iran and the U.S. before the Israel-Iran air war do not resume or fail to produce concrete results. "If EU/E3 want to have a role, they should act responsibly, and put aside the worn-out policies of threat and pressure, including the 'snap-back' for which they lack absolutely [any] moral and legal ground," Araqchi said earlier this week. The snapback mechanism can be used to restore U.N. sanctions before the U.N. Security Council resolution enshrining the deal expires on October 18. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 1 in 3 vapes here laced with etomidate; MOH working with MHA to list it as illegal drug: Ong Ye Kung Singapore HSA extends hotline hours, launches new platform to report vaping offences Singapore Ride-hailing robot on trial for airport police is 2-in-1 patrol robot and PMD Asia Tearful relatives await news of victims in Vietnam boat capsize Singapore ComfortDelDro to discipline driver who flung relative's wheelchair out of taxi Multimedia How to make the most out of small homes in Singapore Asia Over 380,000 people affected by autogate glitch at JB checkpoint over 2 days Singapore Minor Issues: Why I didn't send my daughters to my brand-name primary school Prior to the Israel-Iran war, Tehran and Washington held five rounds of nuclear talks mediated by Oman but faced major stumbling blocks such as uranium enrichment in Iran, which Western powers want to bring down to zero to minimise any risk of weaponisation. Tehran maintains its nuclear programme is solely meant for civilian purposes. REUTERS
AsiaOne
9 hours ago
- AsiaOne
At least 32 killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid in Gaza, hospital says , World News
GAZA - At least 36 people were killed by Israeli fire while they were on their way to an aid distribution site in Gaza at dawn on Saturday (July 19), according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots at suspects who approached its troops after they did not heed calls to stop, about a kilometre away from an aid distribution site that was not active at the time. Gaza resident Mohammed al-Khalidi said he was in the group approaching the site and heard no warnings before the firing began. "We thought they came out to organise us so we can get aid, suddenly (I) saw the jeeps coming from one side, and the tanks from the other and started shooting at us," he said. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed group which runs the aid site, said there were no incidents or fatalities there on Saturday and that it has repeatedly warned people not to travel to its distribution points in the dark. "The reported IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activity resulting in fatalities occurred hours before our sites opened and our understanding is most of the casualties occurred several kilometres away from the nearest GHF site," it said. The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident. 'No more time' GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the accusation. The UN has called the GHF's model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which GHF denies. On Tuesday, the UN rights office in Geneva said it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks in the vicinity of aid sites and food convoys in Gaza - the majority of them close to GHF distribution points. Most of those deaths were caused by gunfire that locals have blamed on the Israeli military. The military has acknowledged that civilians were harmed, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions with "lessons learned". At least 50 more people were killed in other Israeli attacks across Gaza on Saturday, health officials said, including one strike that killed the head of the Hamas-run police force in Nuseirat in central Gaza and 11 of his family members. The Israeli military said that it had struck militants' weapon depots and sniping posts in a few locations in the enclave. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza. The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed around 58,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis, leaving much of the territory in ruins. Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and a hostage deal mediated by Egypt and Qatar, though there has been no sign of any imminent breakthrough. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are believed to still be alive. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was kidnapped from his kibbutz home and is held by Hamas, urged Israel's leaders to make a deal with the militant group. "An entire people wants to bring all 50 hostages home and end the war," Zangauker said in a statement outside Israel's defence headquarters in Tel Aviv. "My Matan is alone in the tunnels," she said, "He has no more time." [[nid:720297]]
