Probably the most common question any foreigner living in Thailand will hear from people planning to visit the Kingdom is "When is the best time to come to Thailand"...not an easy question to answer without knowing "why" a person wants to come to Thailand.

There are basically three seasons in Thailand (though of late the cold season seems to have gone missing), the seasons are, The Hot, The Wet and The Cold. Cold being a rather subjective description though, the shots of emergency blankets being handed out in the northern provinces when it drops to a chilly 10 degrees...that's 10 degrees Celsius. So what does each season offer.

The Hot
March to June : The hottest month is April when even the geckos stay inside and most expats look outside at lunch time and decide to not eat rather than melt on the walk to a food stall. The Hot season is beach season, if that's your thing then this is the time to come to Thailand, guaranteed sun sun sun all day long day after day. For Trekkers you might find this to be a tad hot to go trudging up hills unless mounted on an elephant, sun stroke and dehydration are high up on the list of things to beware of. Bangkok turns into a molten vat of pollution as the winds die and the smog just hangs around choking up the oxygen. Hotels are at their most expensive during the hot season and weekends will see many of the mid range ones fully booked.

The Wet
July to November : The change over from hot to wet is the worst time to be in Thailand regardless of what you're into. It's Hot, it's wet and the humidity is ruthless. You'll be desperate to take three showers a day at a minimum...living in a shower for a month might not be a bad plan. If you can imagine living in a sauna for a month then you get the right picture of Thailand at the start of the wet season...unless you're in Bangkok, then get in a sauna and pipe your car exhaust into the sauna to get the right idea...hmmm yummy. Then thankfully the skies really open up, the wind blows and things freshen up . Rain is pretty much a guaranteed feature on a daily basis and usually kicks off in the afternoon, sometimes lasting all night, Floods are common along with power cuts. So why come to Thailand now...the cost.... hotels are empty, tourists are away, it's a great time to see Thailand with fewer tourists than usual and get the best prices as even the Thai people stay home at the weekends.

The Cold
December to February : Thailand freezes over, snow falls from the sky and ice-skating is the nations most popular sport...well if you watched the TV or the Thai people running around dressed in winter jackets, boots, gloves and scarves you may start to think it's true.. in Bangkok it can drop to a bone chilling 15 degrees Celsius at night, and up north it has on occasions dropped down to 2 degrees, the south gets off much lighter and you can escape with a body warmer and a bobble hat. Thailand again is swarming with tourists who have come to take advantage of the cool weather to do see Thailand without burning up. This is the best time of the year to actually "see" Thailand, you'll enjoy seeing the sights and touring the cities and trekking will be at its best. Again prices will be up and hotels fairly full.

So in a nutshell the best time to come to Thailand is the time that suits what you want to do, Trekkers and Tanners will have different needs, those looking for bargains will have different needs. Just add that there are occasional down pours even in the hottest parts of the year and even the wet season can be dry for a week or more.....but leave your skis at home...there will be no snow.....guaranteed.

Article can be used with permission of Chris Sanderson as long as the signature and in place links are left unchanged. Chris Sanderson is an Affiliate Marketing Manager based in Bangkok Thailand with AMWSO.com and the owner of Xaap.com.

South Korea’s POSCO Group, the world’s third-largest steel maker, started work Wednesday on a cold-rolled steel facility in southern Vietnam.

The factory in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province’s Phu My Industrial Park 2 is estimated to cost $361 million.

It will churn out 700,000 tons of cold-rolled products annually from 2009.

Cold-rolled steel is used to manufacture different types of roofing and steel sheets used in construction, industry, and mechanical engineering.

Posco will also start construction of a hot-rolled steel facility in the complex in 2010.

Estimated to cost $767 million, it will be designed to produce 3 million tons annually.

All the plants’ products will be sold in the local market and neighboring countries.

Posco is also building a $13.8 million steel processing facility in nearby Dong Nai province.

To come up in Nhon Trach 5 Industrial Park, it will produce 100,000 tons per year once it goes on stream in June 2008.

Its feedstock will come partly from the Ba Ria-Vung Tau complex.

Besides, Posco is looking at building a separate integrated steel mill in the country.

Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., one among South Korea's leading steelmakers, is also considering investing in the Vietnamese steel industry.

The Korean firms view Vietnam as a gateway to the Southeast Asian market, the world's largest steel importer.

Posco expects to secure a frontline production base in the region by pursuing its plan to link its Vietnamese operation to ones in China and India, enabling it to obtain greater global competitiveness in the production and supply of steel-based products.

Vietnam forecasts import of over 2 million tons and production of 2.3 million tons of steel billets, and consumption of 4 million tons of construction steel this year.

Steel makers in the country had a combined annual production capacity of some 6 million tons by late last year, according the Vietnam Steel Association.

Vietnam’s partial dependence on steel billet imports has made local-made steel products less competitive as compared to imported products.

Thailand's investment into Viet Nam surged quickly in the recent past, making investment a successful cooperative area in the two countries' ties, said the Foreign Investment Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Thailand, with 153 investment projects and a combined registered capital of 1.54 billion USD, currently ranks 12th in the list 79 countries and territories or third among ASEAN countries to directly invest in Viet Nam.

They include 83 operational projects employing 12,000 workers, and also indirectly generating jobs for many workers in the areas of construction and services.

Almost all Thai investment projects focus on such areas as building infrastructure for industrial zones, new urban centers with hotels, and facilities for tourism and industry, concentrating on Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces, Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The Foreign Investment Department also reported that nearly 67 percent of Thailand's projects in Viet Nam are wholly-foreign invested projects, holding nearly 56 percent of the total registered capital; and 27.6 percent of projects are by joint venture companies, holding with 43 percent of the total capital.

Among Thai projects operating profitably in Viet Nam is the CP Viet Nam animal feeds company in Dong Nai province. With a capital of 328 million USD, it turns out feeds for cattle and breeding poultry. In 2006, the company fetched a revenue of 300 million USD, generating jobs for more than 5,000 locals.

Another successful Thai investor is Siam Cement, a 100-year-old economic group of Thailand. Siem Cement has invested in five chemical and building materials projects in industrial parks in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces. After 10 years' operation in Viet Nam, it decided to invest 220 million USD to build a high-grade wrapping paper factory in My Phuoc industrial park, southern Binh Duong province. The factory with a capacity of 220,000 tonnes of product per year will be the biggest of its kind in Viet Nam. Construction of the project will begin in the third quarter of this year and the factory is expected to be operational in 2009.

Vice President of Siam Cement Group Roongrote Rangsiyopash, said that Viet Nam's potential in natural resources, labour force in addition to stable political situation are the main factors to attract Thai investors to the country.

The Thai Chemical Group, which has operated many investment projects in Viet Nam, also plans to enter a joint venture with the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Corporation to launch a petrochemical complex in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province with a total investment of over 1.5 billion USD.

Thailand-based cement companies are also carrying out a plan to increase their investment into Viet Nam to 3 billion USD this year and to 6 billion USD in the next several years.

Speaking on the occasion of the Viet Nam visit by more than 100 Thai businesses last Mach, former Thai Foreign Minister Arsa Sarasin praised Viet Nam's high economic growth rate and affirmed that Thai businesses would continue boosting investment into Viet Nam.

For Viet Nam, Thailand is one of important addresses for its promotion activities to lure foreign direct investment.

Phan Huu Thang, Director of the Foreign Investment Department, said that Vietnamese localities and businesses will increase efforts to attract Thai investment into the production of export goods, processing industry, service industry and agricultural and rural economic development, IT applications, biotechnology and electronics.

Gold business remains good investment channel16:49' 31/07/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Investors are now injecting money in stocks rather than traditional investment channels (real estate, bank deposits). However, Huynh Trung Khanh, Senior Advisor to the World’s Gold Council in Vietnam, said that putting money in gold could still bring fat profit.   

The gold price has fluctuated heavily in the last few days. Could you please tell me your forecasts about the gold price?

 The main reason that has pushed the gold price up is the devaluation of the dollar against the euro. If the euro continues revaluating, it is very likely that the gold price will hit or exceed the $700/oz level. I have to remind you that gold purchasing power will further increase towards the year’s end, when Christmas and New Year come. Of course, the gold price still heavily depends on other factors, like the crude oil price, the dollar value and political situations; therefore, it is very difficult to give exact predictions about the gold price. However, the world’s experts all share the same view that the gold price will keep rising in 2008 due to the increasingly high demand.

 Gold imports coming into Vietnam have been increasing, estimated to reach more than 75 tonnes this year. Meanwhile, Vietnamese enterprises are not allowed to re-export gold. Where do you think the imported gold goes to?

 There has been no deep survey which can show where the imported gold has gone (in deposits in banks or being hoarded in peoples’ homes). I know that banks only hold 10% of the imported gold. Meanwhile, the imported gold cannot be re-exported while only a small volume of gold is illegally exported. As such, the other 90% of imported gold still lies among the public. The problem is that it is impossible to make a survey about this, because no one would reveal how much gold they are keeping.

 In fact, Vietnamese people still prefer gold for reserve, while considering gold as a payment tool in real estate transactions.

 But as far as I know, people now tend to make payments in cash rather than in gold. Do you think that people will ignore this means of payment?

However, in fact, gold imports coming to Vietnam have been increasing considerably. In 2006, for example, SJC imported the record volume of 1.6mil taels, which showed very big demand among the public.

 I have to acknowledge that the role of gold as a means of payment has become smaller, but the demand for buying gold for hoarding still keeps increasing. You may know that the gold price has increased by 20-25% in the last two years. If you bought gold at VND7-8mil/tael three years ago, you can get the big profit now as the price has is double.

 The gold purchasing power is decreasing on the domestic market, while gold imports keep increasing. Do you think that this will cause oversupply and difficulties in stabilising the price?

 
The purchasing power is decreasing, but the demand remains very high. Especially, in big cities, the demand for gold (both jewellery and bar gold) increases in seasons. I think Vietnamese people have a lot of money to make investments, and they inject money in different channels, because they fear risks.

17:00' 31/07/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Hans-Ulrich Doerig, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse, said in an interview with VietNamNet that changes could not come overnight, and Vietnam would need some five to 10 years to catch up with other countries, becoming more competitive in banking and finance.

What would you say about the potentials of Vietnam’s banking and finance sector, as an expert who has worked in the banking sector for many years, especially in Asian countries?

Vietnam is determined to build a market economy and follow an open-door policy. However, you cannot expect development overnight; you have to go step by step. One should not think of creating changes overnight. All countries have to follow a progressive model. You cannot skip on the way. If you go too fast, you may face crises.

The government of every country has to define goals for every stage of development. It will take Vietnam years to find suitable final solutions.

However, I think that the Government of Vietnam is on the right track and going at a suitable pace. There is no need to go faster or slower. In the time to come, the government will allow the deeper participation of foreign investors in the banking and finance sector. But it needs more time. Vietnam will need five to ten years to catch up with other countries in the world and become more competitive.

What suggestions would you give in order to, as you said, become more competitive, attract investment and catch up with the world in the banking and finance sector?

Firstly, Vietnam should maintain the low-cost scheme for the next five or ten years. Only by doing so can Vietnam maintain its competitiveness. If the inflation rate is high, which means higher costs and higher prices, you will find it hard to attract investment to Vietnam.

The most important thing for Vietnam is the anticipation of the mechanism. Investors should know under which mechanism they make investment.

In order to become successful, one should keep a positive view on the prospects of the country and the behaviour of people towards their work. If you keep a positive attitude, you will be able to work better and more effectively. Vietnam is one of the countries which own such advantageous factors.

Do you have any investment plan in Vietnam?

I studied in Japan in 1975-1976. I went to China 24 years ago, and then returned to the country two times at least every year. I can say I know a lot about Asia. I have had enough time to discover the continent and work with people here. My strategic interest in Vietnam, the promising nation, becomes bigger every day.

We now have a fund for the group’s activities in Vietnam. I myself got a volume of Vietnam’s Government bonds when Vietnam launched the bonds on the international market two years ago.

We think Vietnam is a special case among the burgeoning economies, and it will remain a burgeoning economy for many more years.

Do you have any suggestions about what to do to get success?

Vietnamese people are intelligent and they need to be given opportunities. They need to be well trained, and they need to learn experience from practice as well. Young people sometimes are impatient, they go too fast, and therefore, they can easily make mistakes. Many young people think that they should change their work after six months. In fact, they need to do the same work for at least three years to get more experience. They should work long enough to make mistakes and have enough time to correct mistakes.

What has helped create the success and fame of Credit Suisse?

First, we have a history of 151 years of operation. Second, we have big financial capability. Third, we have a network throughout the world.

 150 years ago, we were not a famous group. Our leaders tried to expand our business scope. We brought new ideas into life and experimented with initiatives.

Fifth, we have staffs coming from different nations, and the diversification in nationality can bring creativeness and differentiation.

Now we are one of the 25 biggest banks among 70,000 banks around the world.

Decisions needed to cope with high traffic

BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA

Passenger traffic and aircraft movements through Bangkok continued to grow robustly in the first half of 2007 despite the continuing teething troubles at the 10-month-old Suvarnabhumi airport.

From Jan 1 to June 30, a total of 22.4 million passengers, up 5.28% over the same period last year, went through Suvarnabhumi and the old Don Muang airport, which was closed last Sept 28 but reopened on March 25 this year.

Combined aircraft movements, both take-offs and landings, rose 9.95% in the period to 154,699, according to statistics compiled by Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT), which runs the country's six major international airports.

International passenger traffic through the capitaledgedup4.4% to 16.26 million passengers. Domestic passenger traffic, both through Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang which handles a limited scheduled non-connecting domestic services and chartered flights, rose 7.7% to 6.14 million.

International aircraft movements through Bangkok, almost all of them through Suvarnabhumi, increased 6.15% to 96,716. Domestic take-offs and landings through the two airports rose
16.94% to 57,983.

Air freight through the two airports slipped 3.1% to 612,386 tonnes: 584,794 tonnes on international flights (down 2.76%) and 27,592 tonnes on domestic (off 9.7%).

The figures indicate that the traffic through Suvarnabhumi continued to be heavy and congestion would have been worse if the 93-year-old Don Muang had not been reopened, aviation analysts say.

Don Muang helped to divert 1.46 million domestic passengers and scores of flights away from Suvarnabhumi since its reopening.

Some passengers' preference for the old airport's convenient location also spurred growth in total domestic passenger traffic, with volume rising from 11.5% in April to 18.9% in May.

Domestic passenger traffic handled by Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang is now split roughly 50:50.

Even though some domestic passengers are using Don Muang, total passenger throughput at Suvarnabhumi is most likely to reach the new airport's capacity of 45 million passengers for the whole of 2007.

In fact, Suvarnabhumi has been congested from day one if the availability of contact gates and the numbers of passengers using them in peak hours are used as a yardstick.

As a result, officials face a series of difficult decisions onhow to accommodate the incremental traffic.

They need to decide whether to dedicateDonMuangfor all domestic flights, connecting with international flights or not, and/or to shift some international services from Suvarnabhumi to the old site.

The government — most probably the next one after the general election — will have to decide to proceed with planned expansion of Suvarnabhumi without further delay, if it wants to sustain Bangkok's position as a major air hub in Southeast Asia.

The immediate plan includes the construction of a mid-field terminal, a third runway and supporting facilities that would raise Suvarnabhumi's capacity to 54 million passengers by 2011.

Two subsequent expansions, which would ultimately lift capacity to 120 million passengers a year by 2026, while doubling cargo-handling capacity to 6.4 million tonnes, are in place.

AoT is due to complete an internal study on air traffic trends and the need for airport development next month, which will be used an an initial basis in charting policy.

AoTcommissioned the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to look at whether Bangkok should have one or two airports. It is due to come up with a set of recommendations toward the end of this year.

The outcome of those studies is not expected to lead to a decision, but will be the subject of a debate by the next government, which is not expected to start working before March next year,

according to analysts