UTCC: Q1 growth hinges on post-flood measures,荷兰网

Published: 30/11/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business

Experts believe the government should revamp the economy in next year’s first quarter to avoid any severe effects on employment figures.

Thanavath Phonvichai, director of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce’s Economic and Business Forecasting Center, yesterday said the country’s economic growth will depend largely on the success of government rehabilitation measures.

If they fail, unemployment could reach 1.7%, he said.

Risk factors next year will include the fragile global economic situation stemming from the EU financial crisis, while the US and Asia may not expand at a satisfactory rate.

Dr Thanavath urged the government to help industries by alleviating economic burdens such as the oil prices and high interest rates.

He believes the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will cut the key policy rate by 50 basis points to revive the economy by the end of the first quarter.

A centre survey of business entrepreneurs showed 74.4% of more than 700 respondents found their performances in the fourth quarter have been slower than in the same period last year in terms of both revenue and profits while costs have been rising.

The main factor affecting their businesses is the flood crisis,铁丝, followed by oil prices and the global economy.

The centre reaffirmed its estimate that flood damage will shave 3.1 to 3.4 percentage points or almost 350 billion baht off the gross domestic product.

Damage will be 200 billion baht to the industrial sector, 80 billion to agriculture, 25 billion to tourism,Thai PM leaves hospital, visiting Vietnam Wednesday afternoon-Hesco Bastion, 30 billion to trading and 6.7 billion to other sectors including transport and services.

However, taking into account damage of 500-700 billion baht to public and private assets and 100-200 billion baht to exports, the total estimate comes in at 1-1.2 trillion baht.

Sauwanee Thairungroj, the university’s vice-president for research, said the government should also cover education expenses, as people will need money for home repairs after the floodwater recedes.

A recent survey showed home repairs would take up 23% of victims’ household budgets. But the respondents said they need 80% of their budget for necessary items.

Military Barriers/Hesco Bastions

Information

The QIAOSHI’s Military Barriers or Hesco Bastions is a modern gabion used for flood control and military fortification. It is made of a collapsible wire meshes container and heavy duty fabric liner, and used as a temporary to semi-permanent dike or barrier against blast or small-arms. One of the less heralded life- and labor-saving devices of war, it is used on nearly every United States Military base in Iraq as well as on NATO bases in Afghanistan.

Originally designed for use on beaches and marshes for erosion and flood control, the Hesco Bastion quickly became a popular security device in the 1990s.

Assembly
Assembling the Hesco Bastion entails unfolding it and (if available) using a front end loader to fill it with sand, dirt or gravel. The placement of the barrier is generally very similar to the placement of a sandbag barrier or earth berm except that room must generally be allowed for the equipment used to fill the barrier. The main advantage of Military Barrier, strongly contributing to their popularity with troops and flood fighters, is the quick and easy setup. Previously, people had to fill sandbags,Thailand’s Thongchai in floods appeal-Steel Fence Post, a slow undertaking,Leadership under crisis Learning from the unexpected-Binding wire, with one worker filling about 20 sandbags per hour. Workers using Military Barrier and a front end loader can do ten times the work of those using sandbags.
The Hesco Barrier come in a variety of sizes. Most of the barriers can also be stacked, and they are shipped collapsed in compact sets. Example dimensions of typical configurations are 46″ x 36″ x 32 (1.4m x 1.1m x 9.8m) to 7 x 5 x 100 (2.1m x 1.5m x 30m).
A new system of Hesco Bastion developed specially for military use is deployed from a container, which is dragged along the line of ground where the barrier is to be formed, unfolding up to several hundred meters of barrier in minutes, ready for filling with soil by a backhoe.

Protection
Filled with sand,expanded mesh, 60 centimetres (24 inches) of barrier thickness will stop rifle bullets and shell fragments. It takes 1.5 metres (five feet) of thickness to prevent penetration by a rocket propelled grenade round. Approximately 1.2 metres (four feet) of thickness provides protection against most car bombs.

Specification