The nine judges of the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions will begin to unveil their personal judgments on Friday morning. The judges’ individual verdicts will then be presented as the court’s verdict later on this afternoon. The court will commence with the ruling process at 1:30 pm today.

The Excise Department will aim to balance public health policies and the need to protect domestic alcoholic beverage producers in its ongoing tax review, says Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij. The Finance Ministry wants to revise excise taxes under the principle that spirits with higher alcoholic content pay higher tax rates. At the same time, it also is aware of the need to protect domestic producers from overseas competitors. The Excise Department has a collection target of Bt360b for fiscal 2010 ending in September, an increase of 2% from last year.

Consumer confidence in the final quarter of last year reached its highest level since mid2008, driven by improved job prospects and better personal finances, according to the Global Consumer Confidence Survey released yesterday by The Nielsen Company.

Thailand investor confidence soars to a record high in the fourth quarter of 2009 with the biggest quarter-on-quarter increase among Pan-Asian Countries, according to the ING Investor Dashboard Survey. The Sentiment Index for Thailand moves from “neutral” to “optimistic” as investors reveal greater diversification and appetite for risk. Thailand index jumps 154% to 150 for the fourth quarter from 59 in the same period a year earlier, and 33% up from the third quarter of 2009.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban on Wednesday said he would not allow the Red Shirt protesters to close Suvarnabhumi Airport, while ruling out enforcement of the Internal Security Act (ISA).

Internal strife at the State Railway of Thailand could undermine plans to upgrade the country’s rail network, warns Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij. “Upgrading the rail network is an important element of the Thai Kem Kaeng programme,” he said yesterday.”It will be difficult to develop the system [if the problems continue], which will ultimately affect the country’s competitiveness.” Korn: SRT strikes could harm the economy. (Bangkok Post)

Buyers and users of pirated products will be fined Bt1,000 per case, while commercial building owners and landlords, as well as website owners,who turn a blind eye to sales of pirated goods will face a fine of as much as Bt300,000 under a new draft law aimed at clamping down on intellectualproperty violations. (Bangkok Post)