https://www.scmp.com/rss/330203/feed Jitsiree Thongnoi started writing for the South China Morning Post in 2019. She previously worked at the Straits Times and the Bangkok Post. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Despite a lifetime of expertise – and fluency in English and Mandarin – Thai tour guide Saichon Chounchou says he is being pushed down the pecking order as Chinese tourists return to Thailand only to be shepherded around by their own nationals who are prohibited to work in the profession. “You can find them at every tourist destination: Phuket, Samui, Chiang Mai, Bangkok. Everywhere the authorities turn a blind eye,” the frustrated 48-year-old told This Week in Asia. As tourists from China,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3213953/thai-tour-guides-fret-over-return-chinese-interlopers-asking-who-gains-mass-tourism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3213953/thai-tour-guides-fret-over-return-chinese-interlopers-asking-who-gains-mass-tourism?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Mar 2023 00:30:10 +0000 Bangkok’s Chinatown has become the latest arena for an ongoing tussle over the influence of Chinese citizens in Thailand, after a hotpot restaurant used social media to rail at foreign visitors running businesses illegally and elbowing out local residents. Recent headlines about illegal, lucrative enterprises run by Chinese nationals in Thailand have thrown a spotlight on the vast finances and connections with people in power that outsiders are able to make. A case in point was the arrest of an... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3208999/are-thailands-weak-laws-turning-bangkok-heritage-area-china-town?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3208999/are-thailands-weak-laws-turning-bangkok-heritage-area-china-town?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Feb 2023 03:00:14 +0000 Palawat (not his real name) has owned a hotel on Phuket’s Patong beach for the past 20 years. It was closed down during the pandemic, but the place got back on its feet again months ago thanks to Russians arriving on the Thai resort island. “I have no funds to renovate my hotel, so I turned it into an apartment building instead,” he said of his 20-room establishment. “Now 90 per cent of the customers are young Russians.” Palawat thinks Phuket will see a bigger influx of Russians in the months... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3203078/russians-fleeing-ukraine-war-seek-refuge-thailand-boost-tourism-property-investments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3203078/russians-fleeing-ukraine-war-seek-refuge-thailand-boost-tourism-property-investments?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Dec 2022 03:00:39 +0000 Thai real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin has often made headlines for his business deals and forthright remarks on issues from climate change to geopolitics and LGBTQ issues. When not selling luxury houses or condominium units for property developer Sansiri which he runs, he shares his views on Twitter, garnering an audience among the young and urban middle class. But it is Srettha’s criticism of the Prayuth Chan-ocha administration that has made the suave 59-year-old billionaire a household... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3200967/srettha-thavisin-pm-why-business-mogul-could-be-trump-card-thailands-pheu-thai-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3200967/srettha-thavisin-pm-why-business-mogul-could-be-trump-card-thailands-pheu-thai-party?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Nov 2022 06:00:15 +0000 Thai durian farmer Busaba Nakpipat remembers the day she became increasingly concerned about the spectre of a growing rivalry between Thailand and Vietnam. It was Saturday, September 19, when Vietnam’s first shipment of fresh durians was exported to China. “Thailand used to be the only country allowed to export fresh durians to China, while Vietnam used to export processed durian,” she said. “But now Vietnam is our competitor and it worries me.” Busaba has grown durians for more than 30 years,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3200096/vietnamese-durian-growers-causing-stink-thai-farmers-exporting-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3200096/vietnamese-durian-growers-causing-stink-thai-farmers-exporting-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Nov 2022 03:00:17 +0000 It has been almost 10 years, but Praisanti Jumangwa, 53, still recalls the events in 2013 when he worked as a berry picker in Finland. “A recruiter came into the village and said everyone would be paid between 100,000 and 200,000 baht (US$2,660-US$5,320) in exchange for two months of picking wild berries there,” said the Thai cassava farmer, who worked in the Nordic country between July and October that year. He had a feeling it was too good to be true, but the salary was irresistible. The... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3198442/thai-migrant-workers-demand-action-berry-picking-hardships-finland-go-unheard?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3198442/thai-migrant-workers-demand-action-berry-picking-hardships-finland-go-unheard?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Nov 2022 06:00:17 +0000 When tour operator Bashed Wangsoh, 67, agreed to serve as a facilitator and translator for a Thai-Saudi business matching event in Bangkok, he did not expect to leave with a multi-million baht deal to open a Thai buffet restaurant in Mecca. “I have been wanting to serve food for Asian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia for a long time but never had the chance. I saw that many of them were looking to have Thai food while there,” said Bashed. “A man from Riyadh introduced me to the opportunity. He was... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3195734/so-much-opportunity-businesses-cheer-thai-saudi-ties-move-past?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3195734/so-much-opportunity-businesses-cheer-thai-saudi-ties-move-past?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Oct 2022 02:45:07 +0000 Thailand could be the new battleground for Chinese EVs as mainland firm BYD becomes the latest brand to launch in the Southeast Asian country, but inflation could hamper consumers’ spending on new vehicles, analysts warned. Next month the Chinese EV manufacturing giant will launch the SUV model, the Atto 3, and Thai automotive journalist Nithi Thuamprathom thinks the image of car brands from China will be transformed in the country. “BYD has appointed a local sales representative and is trying... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3193163/chinas-byd-launch-new-suv-thailand-effort-spark-countrys?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3193163/chinas-byd-launch-new-suv-thailand-effort-spark-countrys?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Sep 2022 00:30:11 +0000 Thailand this month has begun accepting applications for a visa scheme targeted at courting wealthy foreigners, but analysts are mixed on whether it could prove to be a “big win” in the country’s efforts to stimulate the economy. The Long-term Resident (LTR) visa scheme aims to attract 1 million wealthy or talented foreign nationals to Thailand over the next five years to contribute 1 trillion baht (US$27 billion) to the economy. “This visa will be a big win for Thailand,” said Kashif Ansari,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3191666/will-thailands-new-10-year-visa-scheme-wealthy-foreigners-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3191666/will-thailands-new-10-year-visa-scheme-wealthy-foreigners-be?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Sep 2022 00:30:10 +0000 Every week, Bangkok bus inspector Chayaklit Kitinarong buys several packs of instant noodles, a ubiquitous staple which powers millions of Thais through the day. But the 46-year-old says he is likely to cut down on his intake after the six baht (16 US cents) pack nudged up to seven baht, as across-the-board inflation hits Thais in their pockets. Chayaklit, who supplements his income by driving motorcycle taxis, said the one baht increase was marginal, but taken together with a major hike in fuel... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3190836/thai-instant-noodles-rise-16-us-cents-pack-amid-cost-living?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3190836/thai-instant-noodles-rise-16-us-cents-pack-amid-cost-living?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Aug 2022 10:30:27 +0000 Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was suspended from office by a key court on Wednesday while it considers whether he has breached an eight-year term limit written into the constitution after a 2014 coup he orchestrated as army chief. While the suspension of the powerful leader was unexpected, experts cautioned it did not automatically herald a new democratic dawn. Prayuth, a general loathed by pro-democracy critics for seizing power from the kingdom’s last elected government eight... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3190041/thai-court-suspends-prayuth-ex-army-ally-takes-over-acting-pm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3190041/thai-court-suspends-prayuth-ex-army-ally-takes-over-acting-pm?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Aug 2022 10:21:19 +0000 A strengthening of ties between Thailand and its largest trading partner China could be a “fait accompli” if it opted to use Chinese-made diesel engines for the S26T Yuan-class submarine it is buying as part of a 2017 deal, analysts said. Thailand is currently running tests on the mainland-made CHD620 engines as a replacement for Germany’s MTU396 model, and expects to complete this evaluation by September 15. Analysts expect Thailand to proceed with the Chinese engine if it matches the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/article/3189072/thailand-likely-deploy-chinese-submarine-engines-avoid-showing-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/article/3189072/thailand-likely-deploy-chinese-submarine-engines-avoid-showing-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Aug 2022 09:00:14 +0000 Rattawee Puiprom has been let down by repeated military coups in Thailand. Numerous times throughout the years she has seen political parties she supported, ones backed by former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, pushed out of power and its members tried in court. Yet when Thailand holds its next general election in 2023, she will still vote for the Thaksin-backed Pheu Thai opposition – rivals to the government led by Prayuth Chan-ocha who staged a coup in 2014 overthrowing Yingluck... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3188011/even-exile-thailands-former-leader-thaksin-shinawatra-tries-sway?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3188011/even-exile-thailands-former-leader-thaksin-shinawatra-tries-sway?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Aug 2022 00:30:15 +0000 Jiraporn Maysoongnoen, 58, cannot recall when she was ever debt-free. When she began her teaching career at 18, with a monthly salary starting at 2,200 baht (US$60), she took out a loan for a motorcycle so she could ride to work in eastern Thailand. To supplement her income, Jiraporn opened a tour business some 20 years ago, borrowing again to buy tour buses. Her debt grew after she bought a new family house, while supporting her family and paying off credit card loans. Even though she now earns... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3186960/thailand-having-regular-job-could-still-leave-you-us218000-debt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3186960/thailand-having-regular-job-could-still-leave-you-us218000-debt?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Jul 2022 03:00:27 +0000 A month after Thailand legalised cannabis, recreational use as well as public access to marijuana are still grey areas due to a lack of proper regulations. During the last week of June, MPs, district officials, police and press flocked to Bangkok’s Khaosan Road, home to dozens of bars, restaurants and guest houses to inspect cannabis joint stalls reportedly on the rise there. The city’s renowned backpackers’ area only recently started to come alive following the pandemic. Since the legalisation,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3184569/thailand-has-legalised-cannabis-now-it-needs-weed-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3184569/thailand-has-legalised-cannabis-now-it-needs-weed-out?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Jul 2022 00:30:09 +0000 On a visit to the Thai capital’s biggest slum last weekend, Bangkok’s leading governor candidate Chadchart Sittipunt assured residents in the Khlong Toei district it would not be the last time they could meet him, after some people said governors rarely visited the area in the past. The independent contender has been known as a down-to-earth, accessible politician since he served as Thailand’s transport minister in the Yingluck Shinawatra cabinet from 2012 to 2014, overseeing the high-speed rail... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3177053/thai-pm-prayuth-faces-test-fed-bangkok-residents-set-elect?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3177053/thai-pm-prayuth-faces-test-fed-bangkok-residents-set-elect?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 May 2022 23:30:18 +0000 After years of defending Thailand’s monarchy from a pro-democracy movement, the Southeast Asian country’s royalist groups have turned their focus to Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin as he continues to wage war against Ukraine. In recent weeks, the Facebook page of royalist group Thai Move Institute has been flooded with posts about the downside of sanctions imposed on Russia, and reports of questionable veracity – many from a website styling itself as “The Truth” – saying that Ukraine used... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3173845/ukraine-war-thai-royalists-turn-king-maha-vajiralongkorn?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3173845/ukraine-war-thai-royalists-turn-king-maha-vajiralongkorn?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Apr 2022 01:00:18 +0000 So many tourists used to visit Chaweng beach on the Thai island of Samui before the pandemic that “you could not find the seats or the sand”, according to hotelier Patrick Moukarzel. For now there’s plenty of space, but the island’s tourism industry is not banking on that lasting much longer after Thailand further relaxed entry rules for vaccinated foreigners this month. Hotels like the Centara Reserve Samui, where Moukarzel is general manager, are gearing up to take advantage of the pent-up... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3173245/thailands-koh-samui-chain-hotels-look-beyond-chinese-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3173245/thailands-koh-samui-chain-hotels-look-beyond-chinese-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Apr 2022 00:30:13 +0000 Last month, images of Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha dining with members of his coalition took the public by surprise. The junta general’s aloofness and temper has been well-reported, as well as his tendency to keep subordinates on a tight leash – cabinet members are often seen looking subdued in meetings or at press conferences, where reporters have also been on the receiving end of Prayuth’s wrath. But amid a pandemic-induced economic crisis that has sent household debts and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3173144/embattled-thai-pm-prayuth-courts-generals-favour-another?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3173144/embattled-thai-pm-prayuth-courts-generals-favour-another?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Apr 2022 02:00:19 +0000 Thai actress Patcharasri Benjamas was experiencing seller’s remorse after unloading her gold bars three weeks ago. If she waited a little longer, she could have pocketed more money from soaring gold prices amid an investor rush to hoard the precious metal. Benjamas initially posted her triumph online thinking she hit the jackpot at 30,000 baht (US$895) per one baht weight (15 grams) only to return to social media telling fans “you are welcome to insult me!” after prices continued to rise to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3171540/gold-prices-send-thai-indian-buyers-frenzy-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3171540/gold-prices-send-thai-indian-buyers-frenzy-after?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Mar 2022 01:30:27 +0000 When Iliana Martseniak’s family in Kharkiv first messaged her a month ago to tell her about Russia’s invasion of their homeland, she said she was “incredibly scared and completely devastated”. The 37-year-old has been in Bangkok for the past four years and is part of a small community of Ukrainians living thousands of miles away in Thailand whose lives have nevertheless been upended by the war back home. “I was not able to believe that this had become a reality. I thought it was some... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3171374/ukrainians-trapped-thailand-fight-despair-protests-fundraising-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3171374/ukrainians-trapped-thailand-fight-despair-protests-fundraising-war?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Mar 2022 06:43:44 +0000 Thailand’s purchase of a Chinese-made Yuan Class S26T submarine worth 13.5 billion baht (US$408 million) has stalled over the manufacturer’s failure to obtain German-made diesel engines as stipulated in the contract. State-owned conglomerate China Shipbuilding & Offshore International signed an agreement with Thailand’s Navy in 2017 for the submarine. The Thai navy said the deal was a government-to-government type, however, it bypassed any approval from the military-backed appointed parliament... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3169959/thailands-chinese-submarine-order-hits-snag-after-germanys?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3169959/thailands-chinese-submarine-order-hits-snag-after-germanys?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Mar 2022 08:59:37 +0000 One of the Asia-Pacific’s longest-running military drills co-hosted by Thailand and the United States will take place from Sunday to March 5, but in scaled-down fashion given the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant. Some 3,460 personnel, about a third of the pre-pandemic figures, will take part in this year’s Cobra Gold, including 1,953 Thai troops and 1,296 Americans, it was announced at a Thai military press conference earlier this month joined by the US Chargé d’Affaires Michael Heath. Of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3167485/bangkoks-china-ties-focus-us-thailand-cobra-gold-military-drills?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3167485/bangkoks-china-ties-focus-us-thailand-cobra-gold-military-drills?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Feb 2022 01:00:20 +0000 Every day, Laos’ first high speed train linking its capital Vientiane to Boten, a city on the Chinese border, leaves the station and brings goods and people up and down along its 414km route. The daily routine started in December following the completion of the rail link that took five years to build. In the northeast of Thailand, a planned rail line is being constructed to connect with the Laos section. The route, part of Beijing’s global trade strategy known as the Belt and Road Initiative,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3166748/delays-hit-china-thailand-high-speed-railway-bangkok-counts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3166748/delays-hit-china-thailand-high-speed-railway-bangkok-counts?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Feb 2022 01:30:24 +0000 The Lunar New Year is typically a festival of abundance and excess. But three years into the pandemic, food prices have risen across the globe thanks to a confluence of pandemic-induced supply chain constraints, bad weather that decimated crops and surging energy prices have also affected the cost of fertilisers. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index reached a 10-year high last year and the World Food Programme estimates that 272 million people worldwide are at risk of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3165001/singapore-thailand-higher-food-costs-hit-lunar-new-year-reunion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3165001/singapore-thailand-higher-food-costs-hit-lunar-new-year-reunion?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Jan 2022 05:00:27 +0000 Thailand and Saudi Arabia will hold their first high-level talks in decades on Tuesday when Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha travels to Riyadh, more than 30 years after a diplomatic row over a US$20 million jewel theft soured relations. The “Blue Diamond Affair”, as it became known, began with Thai cleaner Kriangkrai Techamong, who in 1989 stole a hoard of precious gems from the palace of his employer, Prince Faisal bin Fahd: the eldest son of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. Thai police later... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3164502/thailands-blue-diamond-affair-jinxed-its-saudi-arabia-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3164502/thailands-blue-diamond-affair-jinxed-its-saudi-arabia-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Jan 2022 08:30:15 +0000 A month after the opening of the Boten-Vientiane high-speed railway in Laos, businesses in Thailand are growing anxious over an influx of Chinese goods and agricultural produce. At Thailand’s largest fresh market Talaad Thai in a Bangkok suburb, seller Prayat Charoen has noticed an unusual abundance of Chinese vegetables ever since the opening of the railway, which runs from Laos’ border with China nearly all the way to its frontier with Thailand. While broccoli, cabbages and other winter... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3163836/thai-traders-anxious-over-influx-chinese-produce-progress?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3163836/thai-traders-anxious-over-influx-chinese-produce-progress?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Jan 2022 00:15:19 +0000 When Thailand first announced its quarantine-free programme – the “Phuket Sandbox” – for foreign tourists in July, Pattaya-based travel operator Bee (not her real name) felt relieved that her business was slowly being brought to life. She soon started getting hotel bookings from Russian and Central Asian travellers who were interested in the “sandbox” initiative, which is open to all jabbed guests who must remain in a specific city or province for seven days before travelling to elsewhere and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3160719/coronavirus-thailand-and-singapore-omicron-hits-asias?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3160719/coronavirus-thailand-and-singapore-omicron-hits-asias?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Dec 2021 11:33:26 +0000 The cancellation of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Thailand on Thursday was a “missed opportunity” for the security allies to review areas of cooperation, analysts said. But Bangkok and Washington should now work more closely on the Myanmar crisis to strengthen bilateral relations that had become rocky after the 2014 coup that first brought Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to power. Jason Tower, country director for the Burma programme at the United States Institute of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3159930/covid-19-case-hits-blinken-trip-myanmar-may-offer-path-closer-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3159930/covid-19-case-hits-blinken-trip-myanmar-may-offer-path-closer-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Dec 2021 07:41:52 +0000 Travellers have been left scrambling to salvage their Christmas holidays as governments across Asia tighten their entry and quarantine rules following the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant. Hong Kong has been among the first to act. Since Monday it has added at least 16 countries – including Japan, Canada and Australia – to its high-risk Group A tier, meaning a 21-day quarantine period for returning residents and a complete block on non-residents. However, it is far from alone in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/explained/article/3158010/omicron-travel-restrictions-singapore-japan-australia-india?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/explained/article/3158010/omicron-travel-restrictions-singapore-japan-australia-india?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Dec 2021 07:23:41 +0000 Veteran Thai journalist Nithi Thuamprathom has covered the automotive industry for two decades but it was only recently, at an exhibition in Shanghai a few years ago, that Chinese electric cars first caught his attention. “The show opened my eyes to how much China has progressed in developing its electric cars,” he said. “I had visited car shows in Europe for 10 years, but it was in China that I was very impressed with the car products on display.” When Great Wall Motor – a Chinese carmaker... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3157507/why-chinese-electric-cars-are-causing-buzz-thailand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3157507/why-chinese-electric-cars-are-causing-buzz-thailand?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Nov 2021 04:00:22 +0000 A Thai-Australian model who wowed her way to this year’s Miss Universe Thailand title with an empowering message of “#realsizebeauty” has cast a spotlight on changing standards in a country where a smaller frame has long been seen as the ideal for women. Anchilee Scott-Kemmis impressed the beauty pageant judges early on with her video presentation for the selection round, which saw the 22-year-old open up about past rejections she had experienced as a model in Thailand because of her size. “I... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3157036/miss-universe-thailands-realsizebeauty-message-resonates-standards?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3157036/miss-universe-thailands-realsizebeauty-message-resonates-standards?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Nov 2021 00:00:20 +0000 With up to 2,700 hours of sunshine a year, the “land of smiles” Thailand has much to be happy about. Not only is its year-round tropical climate a magnet for tourists, its ever reliable rays have the potential to provide a near-inexhaustible source of energy. Bright though the future of solar power appears to be in the country, the sector is showing signs of stalling and Thailand has fallen behind its neighbour Vietnam, which is now the biggest solar energy producer in Southeast Asia. While... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3153777/thai-military-feels-heat-over-plan-solar-farm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3153777/thai-military-feels-heat-over-plan-solar-farm?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Oct 2021 02:00:23 +0000 Even as Thailand struggles to revive its decimated tourism-dependent economy, Gladiator actor Russell Crowe’s social media posts have revealed a silver lining to the pandemic. While tourists have been giving Thailand a wide berth – resulting in its economy shrinking by over 6 per cent in 2020 – revenue from filmmaking shot up to 3.4 billion baht (US$101 million) between January and October this year, compared to 929 million baht (US$27 million) between January and September 2020. This past week,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3153214/gladiator-star-russell-crowes-thailand-tour-tweets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3153214/gladiator-star-russell-crowes-thailand-tour-tweets?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Oct 2021 00:00:22 +0000 Thailand wants wealthy foreigners to settle down in the Southeast Asian nation after the pandemic, and is looking to lure them with possible perks including longer-term leases and tax remittances – but analysts are unsure whether the scheme can rival similar packages from the likes of Malaysia and Singapore. The latest scheme, approved by the cabinet in September, is aimed at attracting 1 million “wealthy global citizens” within five years by issuing them special long-term resident visas,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3152019/can-thailand-beat-malaysia-and-singapore-race-lure-wealthy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3152019/can-thailand-beat-malaysia-and-singapore-race-lure-wealthy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Oct 2021 00:00:25 +0000 From meatball vendors to clothes stores, small business owners in Thailand have reported a rise in sales on the back of the success of Thai-born Blackpink member Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban’s first solo single. The K-pop star last Friday released the music video for LALISA, a hip-hop track featuring scenes from her culture and hometown, to the delight of fans in Thailand and elsewhere. Dressed in a shimmery Thai silk dress while donning a traditional golden headgear, known as a chada, Manoban performs... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3149161/thais-cant-get-enough-blackpink-lisas-favourite-meatballs-buriram?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3149161/thais-cant-get-enough-blackpink-lisas-favourite-meatballs-buriram?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Sep 2021 10:00:26 +0000 As a diplomat whose career spanned decades, retired Thai ambassador Russ Jalichandra knows all about the need for subtlety and nuance when it comes to making statements about other nations’ affairs. And during that long career he can recall no other statement from China quite as forthright or confrontational towards the Thai people as the one its embassy issued on September 3. The statement said people and organisations in Thailand had “devalued and smeared the Chinese [coronavirus] vaccine for... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3148080/how-chinas-sinovac-vaccine-got-caught-crossfire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3148080/how-chinas-sinovac-vaccine-got-caught-crossfire?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Sep 2021 04:00:19 +0000 As Laos prepares to launch its section of a pan-Asia rail route that will eventually connect China to Singapore, the project has been regarded as cause for celebration for some but concern for others. The Laos section of the route – a 414km, US$5.9 billion high-speed line financed by China – is expected to open this December and will run half the length of the country, from Boten, on Laos’ northern border with China, south to Vientiane, on its border with Thailand. The project is on track to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3144423/laos-china-funded-belt-and-road-railway-thailand-licks-its-lips?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3144423/laos-china-funded-belt-and-road-railway-thailand-licks-its-lips?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Aug 2021 01:30:14 +0000 A year after youth-led pro-democracy protests first swept the country demanding Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s resignation and a new constitution, street politics has returned to Thailand. This even though Covid-19 cases are surging with Bangkok under a lockdown. The capital’s medical system has been overwhelmed with new infections and on Tuesday authorities began transporting some patients back to their hometowns by train. On July 18, thousands gathered near Government House in Bangkok,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3142864/thailands-street-protests-return-taking-aim-prayuths?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3142864/thailands-street-protests-return-taking-aim-prayuths?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jul 2021 01:00:19 +0000 Thanapon Songput, a worker at the non-profit Mirror Foundation, has been arranging to provide oxygen tanks for Covid-19 patients around Thailand’s capital in the past month. The group allocates up to 90 tanks for about 15 patients a day, but the overwhelming demand has rendered its efforts almost futile. Thanapon said one patient died as she called to plead for help from the foundation. “We could never work fast enough. We asked her to wait, but it was too late,” he said. As Bangkok reels from... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3142317/coronavirus-thai-volunteers-step-delta-cases-send?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3142317/coronavirus-thai-volunteers-step-delta-cases-send?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jul 2021 02:15:16 +0000 For the past five years, Wipa, a doctor in her 20s, has had to adjust to a gruelling shift pattern of 36 hours on, eight hours off, for three to five days a week. The long hours are necessary as she oversees the inpatient wards, outpatient services and emergency room operations of a busy public hospital in Pathum Thani province, on the edge of Bangkok, Thailand. But in recent weeks, the shifts have felt even longer and heavier than usual. The hospital has only 20 doctors, who between them treat... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3140979/coronavirus-thai-doctors-want-pfizer-vaccines-amid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3140979/coronavirus-thai-doctors-want-pfizer-vaccines-amid?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jul 2021 02:00:09 +0000 Thailand’s most-popular resort island of Phuket is set to reopen on Thursday to vaccinated foreign tourists with no quarantine requirements. But with a surge in Covid-19 cases in the capital Bangkok, concerns are brewing that the entry of foreigners could cause an outbreak. Yet Minister of Tourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, in an interview with Bloomberg, has ruled out closing the country’s borders to combat any new virus clusters. “We don’t want to close our borders again because it... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3139220/phuket-takes-baby-steps-out-covid-19-pandemic-sandbox?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3139220/phuket-takes-baby-steps-out-covid-19-pandemic-sandbox?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Jun 2021 04:00:21 +0000 Last week Thaisho, a small bar in Bangkok, got rid of its tables, chairs, glasses and cutlery, and closed its doors for good. Thailand’s third wave of Covid-19 has dragged into a third month, with no signs of slowing down, and the bar and restaurant sector has taken yet another hit because of social distancing measures. Thaisho, which has been operating for three years, was able to cope with last year’s lockdown in the capital, but the prospects are too bleak this time around. “There is no way... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3137020/will-tourism-reopenings-and-more-stimulus-be-enough-kick-start?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3137020/will-tourism-reopenings-and-more-stimulus-be-enough-kick-start?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000 A new United Nations report has outlined how drug-related crime organisations in Southeast Asia have expanded beyond the Golden Triangle, with traffickers increasingly turning to maritime routes amid Covid-19 restrictions on air travel. A record 170 tonnes of methamphetamine were seized in the region last year, up 19 per cent from 2019, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime regional coordinator Inshik Sim said during a Thursday briefing in Bangkok. He added that 71 per cent of the drugs... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3136997/covid-19-grounded-planes-so-drug-traffickers-southeast?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3136997/covid-19-grounded-planes-so-drug-traffickers-southeast?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Jun 2021 10:44:56 +0000 Manus Kongpan, the former Royal Thai Army lieutenant general who was jailed in 2017 for human trafficking and corruption after the discovery of Rohingya refugees in mass graves, has died in prison. At least 30 bodies were found in 2015 at an abandoned human trafficking camp in Thailand’s Songkhla province, near the border with Malaysia. Some were in shallow graves, while others were left to die in the open. Investigations revealed they had died of starvation or disease as traffickers waited for... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3136087/thai-general-manus-kongpan-jailed-trafficking-rohingya-refugees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3136087/thai-general-manus-kongpan-jailed-trafficking-rohingya-refugees?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Jun 2021 10:30:07 +0000 Phuket remains high on the list for property buyers on the lookout for a second home in a post-pandemic world, but local developers say it could take years before the hospitality and property sectors that largely rely on international visitors and buyers recover. Thailand’s most famous island is gearing up to reopen on July 1, with quarantine-free entry for vaccinated travellers. Despite record cases in the kingdom since the start of the third wave of Covid-19 in March – more than 36,000 cases... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3134458/phuket-gears-reopen-bargain-hunters-and-chinese-buyers-eye?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3134458/phuket-gears-reopen-bargain-hunters-and-chinese-buyers-eye?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 May 2021 07:00:23 +0000 Newlywed Nguyen Phuong Anh had been dreaming of starting a family in a virus-free Vietnam until she was jolted back to reality last week. One of her tenants, a medical student living a few floors beneath Anh, was told to isolate after visiting a public cancer hospital where a Covid-19 cluster was discovered. For Anh, a 26-year-old cashier in Hanoi, it was too close for comfort. “My husband and I had not made any contact with her, so we packed our stuff and went to stay at my grandma’s place... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3133254/vaccination-drives-stutter-new-covid-19-waves-hit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3133254/vaccination-drives-stutter-new-covid-19-waves-hit?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 May 2021 23:00:17 +0000 Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is to meet industry and tourism leaders on Wednesday to discuss how the country, in the thick of a coronavirus flare-up and a month-long lockdown of Bangkok, can ramp up its vaccination drive as it seeks to welcome foreign travellers to Phuket by July 1. Vaccinations are key to Thailand’s reopening to boost its decimated tourism sector, which contributed close to 15 per cent of its GDP before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. But a delay in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3131330/covid-19-surges-thailand-prayuth-faces-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3131330/covid-19-surges-thailand-prayuth-faces-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Apr 2021 04:00:18 +0000 In the lobby of Bangkok’s Pullman Grande hotel, medical teams clad in full-body protective gear shuttle back and forth, greeting well-heeled coronavirus patients as they arrive by ambulance for treatment. About 250 rooms in the five-star hotel have been repurposed as a temporary extension of the capital’s Thonburi private hospital amid a rapid surge in new Covid-19 infections – with one-third of Thailand’s more than 45,000 total cases being reported this month alone. In addition to field... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3130281/thailands-rich-covid-19-patients-get-hospitel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3130281/thailands-rich-covid-19-patients-get-hospitel?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Apr 2021 08:06:13 +0000 From the moment she first tasted a Thai durian in 2006, Pan Jiao Ling knew she was on to something special. The Nanning native had come to Thailand as an exchange student, but when she discovered what the locally grown “king of fruits” tasted like, it made her change her future plans. “I was blown away,” said Pan, now 36. “The durian I had in China was nothing compared to what I’d had in Thailand. I knew I had to do something.” So the Chinese national decided to stay, and since 2009 has run her... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3129490/thailands-durian-dealers-fear-china-exports-after-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3129490/thailands-durian-dealers-fear-china-exports-after-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Apr 2021 02:00:19 +0000