The industry minister expects the final list of industrial projects that could cause severe environmental and health impacts, to be announced within the next two months. Regarding the latest development in the Map Ta Phut impasse, the National Environmental Board has assigned the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to conduct a further study on 18 industries that are deemed harmful to the environment and the health of people living nearby.

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Harmful Industries List to Be Declared Within Next 2 Months

A severe drought and a decline in rice prices in early 2010 do not bode well for agricultural production and consumption, although increased employment in manufacturing will partly offset the impact to agriculture.
However, the upside is limited due to political and regulatory uncertainty, including from possible political violence and the Map Ta Phut court case. The government investment plan is proceeding at a slow pace, but public investment should contribute to growth.

With economic pundits forecasting that Asian economies will lead global growth over the next few years, led by emerging giants China and India, it seems logical that investors will shift their funds to Thai and Asian equity markets in search of higher yields.
The 2009 market rally reflects the perception that valuations are about long-term potential, and that political crises in Thailand rarely have a dramatic impact on the fundamentals of the economy. If we look at the EV/EBITDA multiples of the oil and gas sector, for example, valuations are still low compared to regional peers : this is partly a reflection of regulatory risks and political instability in Thailand.

The modern Thai capital market can essentially be divided into two phases, beginning with “The Bangkok Stock Exchange” which was privately owned, followed by the establishment of “The Securities Exchange of Thailand”.

The inception of the Thai stock market began as far back as July 1962, when a private group established an organized stock exchange as a limited partnership. The group later became a limited company and changed its name to the “Bangkok Stock Exchange Co., Ltd.” (BSE) in 1963.
Despite its well-intended foundation the BSE was rather inactive. Annual turnover value consisted of only 160 million baht in 1968, and 114 million baht in 1969. Trading volumes continued to fall sharply thereafter to 46 million baht in 1970, and then 28 million baht in 1971. The turnover in debentures reached 87 million baht in 1972, but stocks continued to perform poorly, with turnover hitting an all time low of only 26 million baht. The BSE finally ceased operations in the early 1970s.

It is generally accepted that the BSE failed to succeed because of a lack of official government support and a limited investor understanding of the equity market.