Shares of companies linked to a billionaire politician who campaigned in Thailand’s election on a pledge to legalize marijuana on Monday leaped after partial results suggested that his party could be a key part of a coalition government.
Results from Sunday’s election showed that a pro-military party and an opposition party linked to the army’s nemesis, self-exiled former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had won the largest share of parliament seats announced so far.
However, both the pro-army Palang Pracharat and the opposition Pheu Thai could seek support from Anutin Charnvirakul’s Bhumjaithai (“Proud to Be Thai”) Party to cobble together a majority of parliamentary seats needed to form a coalition government.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The Bhumjaithai Party won 39 of 350 lower house seats already decided. The winners of a further 150 seats, which were contested according to a system similar to proportional representation, might not be known before May 9.
Anutin, an amateur pilot, could be a compromise candidate for prime minister if neither of the two leading parties can form a government, and members of his party could receive influential ministry portfolios.
Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction PCL shares closed up 3 percent and steelmaker STP&I PCL rose 2.5 percent.
They bucked the Thai index, which closed down 1.2 percent on concerns that the election would be inconclusive and a broader regional decline.
Anutin holds a 10 percent stake in STP&I and is the former president of Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction.
“This is all knee-jerk reaction,” said Maria Lapiz, head of institutional research at Maybank Kim Eng Securities Thailand, adding that Sino-Thai’s balance sheets were already strong and would not be affected by the outcome of the election.
Anutin, which also backs a four-day work week and legalizing ride-hailing, was part of a previous Thaksin-led government, but is also seen as close to the junta that took over after a 2014 military coup.
Last year, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha visited Buriram Province, Bhumjaithai’s stronghold, where thousands of supporters filled a stadium to welcome him.
In October last year, ride-hailing start-up Grab launched a program in Buriram to support the local economy.
Shares in Thaksin-linked companies fell on Monday amid concerns that Pheu Thai had fared worse than expected in the election. Real-estate developer SC Asset PCL closed down more than 5 percent and Praram 9 Hospital Pcl lost 2.7 percent.
Thaksin’s daughters hold a majority stake in SC Asset, while his ex-wife, Potjaman Damapong, holds 37 percent of Praram 9 Hospital.
However, analysts said that the luxury condo and hospital sectors are not likely to be affected by the political changes ahead.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US