It is not only businesses directly affected by the flood that require state assistance, as indirectly affected businesses also want special government treatment such as tax benefits, note business leaders.
Alan Lim, chairman of the Singapore-Thai Chamber of Commerce, said the Board of Investment (BoI) in particular should provide tax benefits to indirectly affected businesses.
"Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said that incidents like these will not be repeated in the future, because Thailand will build strong dykes and the canals will drain water at a faster rate," Mr Lim. "But some of our members have noted there is not a large amount of information in English provided by the media."
Mr Lim, who is also vice-president of fabrication sales at Foamtec International Co Ltd, said damage at his company totals 400 million baht, as it ships products to Western Digital, Seagate and Toyota, which have stopped operating.
Foamtec's plant in Malaysia had to stop operations because of a lack of suppliers.
The company has three factories, with the one in Hi-Tech Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya already shuttered.
The other two plants, operating at 40% capacity, are located in Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate and Laem Chabang.
Although the company is still paying a salary to its 2,000 employees, Mr Lim said he will reassess the situation next month.
"We are still confident of [investing] in Thailand in the future due to the workforce and location. Thailand will become the centre of the Asean Economic Community once it is formed," he said.
"In every crisis there is an opportunity. For instance, the construction industry was booming in Japan after the tsunami, and we expect Thailand will have an infrastructure boom as well that will help the surrounding economies."
Anurat Khokasai, marketing and chief operating officer of Prantalay Marketing Co, proposed the Export Promotion Department cooperate with relevant state agencies on measures to stimulate exports, including tariff waivers on machinery imports to expedite recovery.
"One of the crucial components of exports is raw materials, which remain stranded at ports en masse. The government needs to assign the Port Authority of Thailand to accelerate clearing off those stranded raw materials as soon as possible and extend financial aid or packing credit to these operators," said Mr Anurat.
The BoI approved three measures yesterday: a waiver of import duties for machinery to replace those damaged by the flood, but eligible participants must expand their capacity; an agreement in principle to reduce the corporate income tax from 30% for flood victims; and the delay of the ban on migrant labour for BoI-promoted companies until May.
In a related development, Industry Minister Wannarat Channukul said he will propose four rehabilitation measures to the cabinet today for approval.
The measures comprise 50 million baht to set up evacuation centres, 22 million baht for environmental and waste management in inundated factories, 25 million baht for examining soil, water and hazardous chemicals in factories and 15.84 million for assistance in draining water out of industrial estates.
Phongsak Assakul, chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking, said Thailand will postpone to next year a meeting of the Japan-Thailand Joint Trade and Economic Committee originally scheduled for Nov 28.
"The Japanese want to know our rehabilitation plans and want reassurances [to bolster confidence]," Mr Phongsak said.
Mr Phongsak, also chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said after seven industrial estates were inundated, the government should prevent water from entering the other estates and Bangkok, the logistics hub of the country.
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