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BANGKOK (BLOOMBERG) - Thailand, already facing its worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic, is considering cutting its prison population by as much as 16 per cent to counter the rapid spread of infections among inmates and workers in overcrowded facilities. More than 10,000 new Covid-19 cases have been reported in about a dozen densely packed Thai prisons. These latest clusters have pushed the country's daily case count to record highs twice in the past week, including on Monday (May 17) when more than two-thirds of the 9,635 infections were reported in prisons, official data showed. The outbreak in the correctional system reflects conditions in many parts of metropolitan Bangkok, where infections have spread quickly in dense slums, crowded construction sites and even a government-housing complex. The slow rate of vaccinations has added to the challenge facing the authorities. "If we can't get enough vaccines or if we can't contain the spread quickly, we'll have to think about reducing the number of inmates in the system through early release," according to Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin. "They're already incarcerated. They shouldn't have to suffer more than that." With about 311,000 inmates, Thai prisons are running at 5 per cent above official capacity. More than 80 per cent of those incarcerated face charges for narcotics violations. The Justice Ministry is looking at a special early-release programme for about 50,000 inmates, that could include the use of electronic-monitoring systems and adjustment of criteria. However, Mr Somsak said that the ministry's current priority is to administer vaccines to inmates and correctional officers to cut infections. In the longer term, Thailand's drug laws will be changed to allow shorter jail sentences for minor offences and to focus more on rehabilitation, which will reduce overcrowding and costs, he said. if anyone recall the news a few years ago... thailands prison conditions damn atrocious 2019 jail conditions....................... if the 2021 jail condition is not any better then........................................ https://mothership.sg/2019/12/thailand-prison-video-leak/

uh oh.... i/r going up anytime soon? High debt-GDP ratio could hurt in face of global slowdown Bylivia yap THE rapid rise in household debt here, coming amid the uncertainty of global financial markets, has been red-flagged. Kelvin Tay, the regional chief investment officer for the Southern Asia-Pacific for UBS Wealth Management, said the high household debt levels, coupled with high property prices, could make Singapore vulnerable to a rise in unemployment, a reduction in incomes and asset deflation if a slowdown in global economic markets happens. Singapore's household debt - total consumer loans of Domestic Banking Units - stood at 279 per cent of the total gross domestic product in the first quarter of this year, up from 177 per cent in the corresponding quarter in 2007. The 279 per cent figure is even higher than the 198 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2009, after the 2008 financial crisis. Mr Tay said 80 per cent of household debt here is made up of mortgages, which, coupled with the climb in property prices since 2009, explains why household debt as a percentage of GDP shot up so sharply from 2007. He said: "With (household debt) at such significant levels, it will be difficult for the government or policy makers to stimulate demand to offset the sluggish exports we are currently experiencing." This has been worsened by panic selling of risk assets, such as US high yield and Asian local currency bonds, since the US Federal Reserve's indication last week that it might start tapering its bond-buying programme later this year. Mr Tay said a rise in US treasury yields usually leads to a rise in Singapore government bond yields. As the USD is a major component in the basket of currencies used to manage the SGD, interest rates here usually follow the trends of USD interest rates. "Given the sharp rise in credit growth over the last few years, I would not be surprised if an increase in interest rates is followed by deterioration in the loans portfolio of banks and other financial institutions; this would in turn lead to a tightening of credit supply and a higher cost of financing for credit in general." He still believes the Asian market will continue growing, despite the impending halt of liquidity from the Fed. He rejects the notion that this could lead to a repeat of the Asian financial crisis "because the circumstances of both the global economy and, more importantly, the Asian economies, are now very different from 1994". Mr Tay said the Asian economies, excluding Japan, have strong fundamentals, with total foreign exchange reserves comprising more than half the world's GDP (52 per cent), much higher than in 1994 (23.6 per cent). Corporate balance sheets are similarly healthy, and although the net debt-to-equity ratio increased to 26.1 per cent from 18.3 per cent after the Lehman Brothers' crisis in 2008, this is still well below the 41.8 per cent in 1994, when the Fed began to raise interest rates. Despite a relatively sharp rise in debt over the past few years, the gross debt-to-GDP ratio for Asian economies excluding Japan averaged 46.4 per cent, with GDP growth for this year and the next likely to average 6.3 per cent. This is well above the 3 per cent growth rate for the world. Mr Tay said: "In short, the Asian story not only remains intact, but is also more attractively valued than before. "Compared to the years just before the Asian financial crisis, Asia excluding Japan has significantly more FX reserves, lower net debt-to-equity levels and sovereign debt levels and healthy growth rates."

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ST, 27/09/06 Firm will improve training and review resource allocation: Camry chief engineer TOYOTA Motor expanded too rapidly and, as a result, did not devote enough time to maintaining quality for some of its products, admitted the carmaker's chief engineer for the new Camry. Mr Yasuyuki Kawamoto, who unveiled the new executive sedan at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore yesterday, said rapid expansion was the reason for the spate of recalls that Toyota had to initiate in the last few months. 'I believe we've expanded fast, and as our volume increased, our development work could not catch up,' said the 48-year-old, who is one of Toyota's youngest chief engineers. From being the world's fourth-largest vehicle maker in 1999, Toyota has overtaken Volkswagen and Ford to become No. 2. It is now on the verge of beating No. 1 General Motors (GM). To achieve this, it makes cars in various countries, primarily the United States, Europe, Thailand and China. More than half of the nine million vehicles it produces are made outside of Japan. Mr Kawamoto said that maintaining consistent quality is a top priority. 'This is the main challenge of globalisation. 'Whether we overtake GM is not that important. We must have the range of cars that people want and maintain our standard of quality.'' He added that Toyota has realised its mistake and is making 'drastic adjustments' to address the quality issue. 'If there are models we can delay, we will delay. Also, we are reviewing our allocation of resources,' he said, referring, in particular, to outsourcing. 'Some of these outside resources are not used to the Toyota way.' From within, the company will raise efforts to nurture and impart know-how to younger workers whom, he admitted, were 'a little different' from the older generation. There had been reports blaming Japan's quality lapse on the country's repudiation of lifelong employment and a seniority-based system for American-style performance-based rewards. This had apparently led to workers taking a short-term view of their careers, with little or no loyalty to the company. Meanwhile, quality lapses have prompted the Japanese government to call on Toyota and Sony - which had to recall faulty laptop batteries - to buck up. Influential motoring quality consultants JD Power has even placed South Korea's Hyundai ahead of Toyota at the top spot for the first time in a recent poll. Mr Kawamoto said, however, that the Camry is still one step ahead of the Hyundai Sonata - its direct South Korean rival. 'Before Hyundai made the new Sonata, it studied the previous Camry closely. But before we made the new Camry, we studied the new Sonata closely. On the surface, the quality of the two cars looks very similar. But deep down, the Camry has better durability,' he said. Buyers here seem to agree. Since Toyota agent Borneo Motors started taking orders for the car in June, it has collected more than 1,300 bookings - or 350 units a month. In the first eight months of the year, Hyundai sold 560 Sonatas, or about 70 a month.