Investment slowdown in Thai far South

BANGKOK, August 4 (TNA) - The Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) has acknowledged that international business operators appear not to be willing to invest in the country's insurgency-plagued far South due to continual violence although the state-run BOI has offered attractive incentives. BOI Secretary-General Atchaka Sibunruang told reporters Saturday that the continual unrest in the Thai deep South since early 2004 has affected local investment, causing existing industries in the troubled region appear not to be successful, including rubber, palm oil, processed seafood and halal food. Atchaka proposed that the Finance Ministry and security agencies concerned come up with security assurance for the would-be investors in the southernmost Thai region to boost local investment, along with the BOI's offered incentives including an exemption of corporate tax for the first eight years and 50 per cent for another five years. According to the BOI chief, because of the continual unrest, local business operators in the restive South are requesting the BOI to make the troubled Thai region a special economic zone and to offer a longer period of corporate tax exemption. (TNA)