https://www.scmp.com/rss/506065/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Global food and crude oil prices are surging, and look set to stay high for some time yet, as the world’s wheat and energy supplies are put under immense strain by the combined effects of the Ukraine war and retaliatory sanctions on Russia. In May alone, world food prices were up 22.8 per cent, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Price Index – driven by an increase in cereal and meat prices. The World Bank expects food prices to rise by about 20 per cent this year... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3184639/inflation-jihad-cash-handouts-can-singapore-malaysia-and-other?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3184639/inflation-jihad-cash-handouts-can-singapore-malaysia-and-other?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Jul 2022 00:30:23 +0000 The sigh of relief was palpable across Asia as countries began lifting strict Covid-19 movement restrictions to allow in foreign travellers after two years of living in the shadow of the coronavirus. From Singapore to Japan, and most everywhere in between, inbound travel protocols are being relaxed as governments and the public adapt to the shift towards treating Covid-19 as endemic, buoyed by the protection against severe infections afforded by high rate of vaccinations. Travel surged as people... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3179483/tourism-asia-bouncing-back-can-rebound-survive-global-recession?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3179483/tourism-asia-bouncing-back-can-rebound-survive-global-recession?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 May 2022 00:30:26 +0000 Allegations of rape and sexual assault against a deputy leader of Thailand’s oldest political party have stirred hopes for a belated #MeToo movement in the country, as the revelations also raise questions about the impunity and power enjoyed by Thai men. Prinn Panitchpakdi, 44, resigned as a deputy leader of the Democrat Party in the wake of the allegations, with at least 15 other women thought to be preparing legal action against him. The British-educated ex-banker and son of a former secretary... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3174929/thailands-metoo-moment-political-sex-assault-scandal-sparks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3174929/thailands-metoo-moment-political-sex-assault-scandal-sparks?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Apr 2022 11:59:31 +0000 Singapore is often seen as a bellwether of policy direction in Asia, offering clues on the best practices for regulating everything from cryptocurrency and healthcare to public transport. But until recently, it was lagging behind its neighbours in one glaring aspect: allowing healthy, single women to freeze their eggs. The island nation has for years sought to boost its dismal birth rate, which at 1.12 babies per woman last year ranked among the lowest in the world. The global average is 2.3.... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3174379/social-egg-freezing-singapore-follows-south-korea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3174379/social-egg-freezing-singapore-follows-south-korea?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Apr 2022 01:00:14 +0000 Two fatal crashes involving Thai policemen and their family members driving high speed in luxury vehicles in Bangkok have enraged the Thai public and fired up debate on the nature of accountability and power in the kingdom. On March 12, a 40-year-old Pakistani national died on a bridge after his motorbike was hit by a Porsche which suddenly changed lanes. The car was driven by Pornmet Songmetta, the son of former Deputy National Police Chief Wirachai Songmetta, who is one of the kingdom’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3172886/bangkok-porsche-motorbike-crashes-killed-two-renew-calls-thai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3172886/bangkok-porsche-motorbike-crashes-killed-two-renew-calls-thai?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Apr 2022 00:30:08 +0000 In the first six weeks of 2022, more than 40,000 Russians poured into Thailand – tourists craving a sun-kissed shore far away from the harsh winter of home. They were beckoned back to the beaches of Phuket, Koh Samui and Pattaya by a welcoming nation whose deflated economy was desperate for an economic lift, having felt the sting of billions of lost tourist dollars amid the pandemic. But then Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, and hopes of a quick tourist recovery for Thailand... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3170128/russian-exodus-puts-thailands-tourism-rebirth-risk-asia-longs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3170128/russian-exodus-puts-thailands-tourism-rebirth-risk-asia-longs?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Mar 2022 00:00:28 +0000 The killing of an Indian gangster on Phuket island has highlighted Thailand’s reputation as a hideout for foreign criminals, even amid a pandemic that has restricted global travel and heightened scrutiny of people’s movements. Jimi “Slice” Sandhu, 32, was gunned down as he left his car on the night of February 4 by two hooded suspects lying in wait outside his rented villa. Sandhu was widely believed to have links to the criminal underworld of Vancouver, having been deported from Canada several... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3168888/gangsters-paradise-killing-spotlights-thailands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3168888/gangsters-paradise-killing-spotlights-thailands?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Mar 2022 03:30:25 +0000 As a child, Nutcharut ‘Mink’ Wongharuthai reluctantly hung around after school waiting for her mum to finish working at a Thai snooker hall. But fast forward a dozen years and the 22-year-old is now the world women’s snooker champion – an unlikely sporting ascent which has put her firmly in the frame as a new rival to the men. Mink became the first Thai to claim the championship when she beat Belgian veteran Wendy Jans 6-5 on February 15, holding her nerve to take the last frame on the final... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3168773/rise-and-rise-thailands-nutcharut-mink-wongharuthai-womens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3168773/rise-and-rise-thailands-nutcharut-mink-wongharuthai-womens?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Mar 2022 00:15:12 +0000 At a cliffside restaurant on Thailand’s Koh Larn, where squat teak dining tables overlook an empty white-sand bay, manager Sutthiea Saengsaswi says the last time Chinese tourists were around for the Lunar New Year celebrations her takings went up to around US$6,000 a day. Now they are just US$300 a day. But this year, for the second year running, there are no Chinese to be seen. Strict quarantine measures Beijing has implemented ahead of the Winter Olympics as part of its zero-tolerance approach... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3165497/lunar-new-year-thailand-pines-its-missing-chinese-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3165497/lunar-new-year-thailand-pines-its-missing-chinese-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Feb 2022 00:30:23 +0000 Since the price of pork surged to a record 200 baht (US$6) a kilo, Wichai Rungtaweechai’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing with orders for his speciality – crocodile meat – as Thais seek out cheaper sources of protein. A kilogram of crocodile meat by comparison costs around US$2, welcome relief for consumers who have been feeling the surge in swine prices since the start of the year, but bad news for the 10,000 reptiles at Wichai’s breeding farm in Nakhon Pathom, an hour by car from... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3163944/thais-snap-crocodile-meat-pork-prices-surge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3163944/thais-snap-crocodile-meat-pork-prices-surge?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jan 2022 00:30:18 +0000 With each new coronavirus wave, Naowarat Khakay has been forced to let go more workers from her restaurant, hotel and apartment businesses across the Thai resort island of Pattaya. “I’ve lost over 100 employees now,” said the 65-year-old businesswoman, taking a moment to hold back tears. A short walk down to the beach, Yuttana Leebamrung, 30, looks on at the smattering of Russian tourists taking in the sun on a virtually empty expanse of sand but ignoring the chance to rent his two jet skis. “I... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3162649/coronavirus-new-year-old-problem-thai-tourism-omicron-punctures?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3162649/coronavirus-new-year-old-problem-thai-tourism-omicron-punctures?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Jan 2022 09:00:21 +0000 Home to temple ruins recognised by Unesco, adored by Instagramers and revered by Thais as the ancient seat of kings, the city of Ayutthaya now has another claim to fame: its culinary culture has been put on the global foodie map by the prestigious Michelin Guide. For both Ayutthaya and the rest of the country it is a major boost after two years of tourism lost to the pandemic. Covid-19 has cut deeply into this city, once renowned as an easy getaway for the international visitors who flocked to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3162093/thailand-hopes-post-covid-tourism-boost-michelin-guide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3162093/thailand-hopes-post-covid-tourism-boost-michelin-guide?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jan 2022 01:00:28 +0000 With the Omicron variant of Covid-19 forcing Thailand to once again tighten entry rules for foreign visitors, real estate firms in the kingdom are relying on remote purchases by Chinese buyers to prop up the pandemic-battered market. Before the virus emerged, Thailand was the largest destination for the Chinese people looking for overseas property as an investment or a sun-kissed second home. In 2019, 13,232 condominiums were sold to foreign buyers, of which 55 per cent were Chinese, according... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3161105/coronavirus-omicron-rages-chinese-buyers-offer-hope-thailands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3161105/coronavirus-omicron-rages-chinese-buyers-offer-hope-thailands?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Dec 2021 02:30:12 +0000 The story of how Thailand’s largest Catholic community came to be in one of the country’s poorest provinces is an unlikely one. Tha Rae village in the rice-growing province of Sakon Nakhon, not far from the Laos border in northeastern Thailand, is home to around 15,000 Roman Catholics – the estimated 380,000-strong religious group’s largest settlement in the country. Locals call the area the ‘Land of Stars’ for the Christmas celebrations that are held there, which see houses compete to display... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3160967/christmas-thailands-unlikely-catholic-enclave-tha-rae?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3160967/christmas-thailands-unlikely-catholic-enclave-tha-rae?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Dec 2021 08:00:16 +0000 For decades, Bangkok’s stately Hua Lumphong terminus has welcomed workers into Thailand’s capital – and served as a jumping-off point for many a backpacker’s Thai adventure. But the 105-year-old transit hub’s links with much of the rest of the country will soon be severed, as services shift to a gleaming new US$4.8 billion railway station across town. Bang Sue Grand Station, with 26 platforms and more than 270,000 square metres (2.95 million sq ft) of usable floor space, has been touted as... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3160510/thailand-eyes-china-linked-high-speed-future-bangkoks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3160510/thailand-eyes-china-linked-high-speed-future-bangkoks?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Dec 2021 01:00:19 +0000 A high-speed railway linking China to Laos is set to officially open on Friday, swinging open the doors to a landlocked country desperate to haul itself out of poverty and slotting into place a pivotal piece of Beijing’s belt and road plans for Southeast Asia. Constructed in five years using Chinese engineering and manpower for a total cost of some US$9 billion, the 1,000km-long railway from Kunming in China’s Yunnan province to the Laotian capital of Vientiane cuts through mountains and ravines... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3158015/china-backed-belt-and-road-railway-opens-high-speed-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3158015/china-backed-belt-and-road-railway-opens-high-speed-change?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Dec 2021 03:00:28 +0000 When a schoolgirl in Singapore climbed onto rail tracks in August, tragedy was only avoided after trains were halted and the police called in to escort her away. Another teen in Tokyo was not so fortunate, when in May she stepped in front of a JR Yokohama Line train. The driver saw her and hit the brakes, but it was too late. She was 16. Police said the 16-year-old had a suicide note in her bag. Her death is now recorded among the hundreds of child suicides to have happened in Japan since the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3157511/how-pandemic-brought-asian-children-breaking-point?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3157511/how-pandemic-brought-asian-children-breaking-point?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Nov 2021 00:30:20 +0000 November 11 has increasingly been a big day in Asia. Consumers, hit by a marketing blitz weeks before Singles’ Day, plan their purchases and put items into virtual shopping carts early so they can pay for them the instant the clock strikes midnight. In Thailand this year, a record US$30.5 million was spent in the first two days on e-commerce site Lazada, with most shoppers buying fast fashion from China, while the same site raked in sales of S$11 million (US$8.1 million) in just nine minutes in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3156692/asian-shoppers-unwrap-singles-day-spoils-leaving-us-consumers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3156692/asian-shoppers-unwrap-singles-day-spoils-leaving-us-consumers?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Nov 2021 04:30:16 +0000 Online abuse aimed at Thailand’s northeastern Isaan region on popular audio chat app Clubhouse has provoked a backlash among its people, who make up roughly one-third of the population and have helped swing past elections yet have long been looked down upon by the country’s Bangkok-focused elite. Despite being the birthplace of many top sports stars, actors, rappers and other Thai celebrities, the historically underdeveloped rice-producing region of 20 provinces has for decades been derided as... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3155740/thailands-isaan-region-hits-back-toxic-stereotypes-after-uproar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3155740/thailands-isaan-region-hits-back-toxic-stereotypes-after-uproar?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Nov 2021 01:30:08 +0000 When DJ and producer Marmosets released his pounding techno track Krungthep Ratree (Bangkok nightlife) in June 2020, he had no idea how relevant his lament to the fading glory of Asia’s party city would be, and of the decimation ahead for bars and clubs as the coronavirus pandemic cut through Thailand. Nightlife has only been allowed to operate legally for a few weeks since then, as authorities tried to beat back a months-long Covid-19 outbreak by banning alcohol sales inside licensed premises,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3153918/once-asias-party-capital-will-bangkoks-nightlife-scene-recover?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3153918/once-asias-party-capital-will-bangkoks-nightlife-scene-recover?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Oct 2021 00:00:29 +0000 Music thumps, break dancers flip across the street and flower sellers weave between tipsy tourists. Phuket’s party strip – Bangla Road – is in soft launch mode ahead of a tourism season the Thai government has bet the house on as it tries to nurse its economy back to health after the ravages of the coronavirus. Thailand is among the growing number of Asian economies to have turned their back on efforts to eliminate the virus in favour of learning to live with it, and it is leading by... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3152492/phukets-sandbox-singapores-travel-corridors-asia-wakes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3152492/phukets-sandbox-singapores-travel-corridors-asia-wakes?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Oct 2021 00:00:21 +0000 Worn out by coronavirus restrictions, pollution and traffic gridlock, wealthy Bangkok residents are buying up bolt-holes in the southern beach retreat of Hua Hin as the pandemic sparks a lifestyle pivot away from the big city.  Famed for its long white sandy beach and rolling green hills, and without the sleazy reputation of the eastern resort of Pattaya, Hua Hin has been a cool-air retreat for Thailand’s royals since the early 20th century. About three hours’ drive from Bangkok, it has become... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3152316/bangkoks-hamptons-why-thailands-elite-are-buying-beach?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3152316/bangkoks-hamptons-why-thailands-elite-are-buying-beach?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Oct 2021 00:00:30 +0000 First the beer and coconut shop closed, then the traditional medicine store next door. With Chinese tourists staying away from Thailand during the golden week holiday due to pandemic curbs, businesses that rely heavily on mainland customers have abandoned the neat, new shophouses of Pattaya’s Sohotown development. The lack of visitors from China has also upended the dream of creating a modern, buzzing Chinatown community of shops, restaurants and spas around a temple and flea market on a busy... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3150799/thailand-feels-pinch-golden-week-no-gold-chinese-stay-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3150799/thailand-feels-pinch-golden-week-no-gold-chinese-stay-home?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Oct 2021 01:15:11 +0000 From his dusty Bangkok pawnshop, where gold deposits are still recorded in heavy wooden ledgers, Danai Tangvatanangkoon has had a ringside seat to decades of Thai economic crises. But since opening his business in 1989, nothing compares to the current crunch, he said, with forfeited power tools and watches stacking up as the economy crumbles under a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the deadliest yet to hit Thailand. “People don’t have anything left to pawn. Our sales are even worse than the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3141870/coronavirus-batters-thailands-economy-even-bangkok-pawnshops?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3141870/coronavirus-batters-thailands-economy-even-bangkok-pawnshops?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jul 2021 04:00:10 +0000 Thailand on Monday placed 10 million people in the capital under fresh coronavirus restrictions and a curfew, as its deadliest wave of infections threatens to erode plans to bring vaccinated visitors back to its islands. The kingdom has recorded a total of some 345,000 cases and 2,791 deaths – with the bulk of them coming in the latest wave that began in April. The surge in cases of Alpha and Delta variants in the Bangkok region and Deep South border near Malaysia has raised fears among tourist... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3140833/coronavirus-thailands-alpha-and-delta-surges-cloud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3140833/coronavirus-thailands-alpha-and-delta-surges-cloud?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jul 2021 01:00:17 +0000 Fear, misinformation and chronic mistrust of the state in a conflict zone is undercutting vaccination efforts in Thailand’s insurgency-hit “Deep South”, activists say, as coronavirus cases spike in a region previously spared the worst of the pandemic. The southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat have recorded scores of new infections each day after the virus seeped over the border from neighbouring Malaysia, which remains under a state of emergency to control the spread of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3139074/thailands-conflict-hit-deep-south-mistrust-fuels-covid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3139074/thailands-conflict-hit-deep-south-mistrust-fuels-covid?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Jun 2021 02:00:26 +0000 Samorn Anantakul, 75, lives in a sparse room in eastern Thailand, with just a handful of belongings, including a television set, an old clock, and a plastic shelf of ointments and medicines, to keep her company every day. Until last year, it was a home she shared with her husband of 46 years, who died at age 91. Now, his made-up bed lies empty. Samorn keeps a photo of him in his younger days, dressed in a crisp naval uniform, in a handbag that hangs near her pillow. “I miss him. It gets lonely,”... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3138571/developing-asean-getting-old-getting-rich-and-pensions-arent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3138571/developing-asean-getting-old-getting-rich-and-pensions-arent?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jun 2021 05:30:08 +0000 The Phuket “sandbox”, Thailand’s bold attempt to reset its tourism industry by opening the island to vaccinated foreign visitors without quarantine, was approved on Tuesday, offering hope to battered businesses and a potential shot in the arm to the travel bubble concept across Asia. Government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri confirmed the cabinet had officially given the scheme its blessing. But Chinese tourists – who made up over a quarter of Thailand’s 40 million visitors in 2019 – are not... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3138344/thailand-approves-phuket-sandbox-plan-allow-vaccinated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3138344/thailand-approves-phuket-sandbox-plan-allow-vaccinated?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Jun 2021 11:21:02 +0000 Bangkok’s celebrated food scene is in turmoil as the kingdom struggles to control the coronavirus pandemic, leaving restaurateurs wheezing under the weight of overheads without customers and raging at a government that has imposed an alcohol ban but failed to support staff wages.  In a city where a tangy, spicy bite is never more than a few metres away - from some of the world’s best street food to Michelin-starred restaurants - eateries have been forced to close, suspend or limit operations... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3137913/coronavirus-leaves-bangkoks-restaurants-need-stiff?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3137913/coronavirus-leaves-bangkoks-restaurants-need-stiff?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Jun 2021 05:00:00 +0000 The city of Pattaya has for decades been one of Thailand’s top tourist draws, but the Covid-19 pandemic has proved catastrophic to local businesses. Wellness entrepreneur Chairat Rattanopas puts it best: “We’ve hit rock bottom.” Mass vaccinations appear to be the only way forward for Thailand’s battered tourist industry, which before the pandemic accounted for a fifth of Southeast Asia’s second largest economy – likely more, if businesses in the informal sector such as tuk-tuks and food stalls... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3136134/no-nightlife-yes-vaccinations-can-thailands-pattaya-rebrand-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3136134/no-nightlife-yes-vaccinations-can-thailands-pattaya-rebrand-and?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Jun 2021 01:00:18 +0000 Under a peeling sun, two Thai grandmothers pan for gold along the Mekong River, sifting both through its muddy shale banks and their own memories of happier times for a waterway which has been changed forever by upstream hydropower dams. By the time the Mekong reaches them in Loei, on the Thai-Laos border, the water has already been strained through a dozen dams – 11 of them in China and one in Laos. The dams, say locals and experts, have decimated fish habitats and changed the natural seasonal... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3134668/thailands-gold-panners-blame-mekong-dams-china-laos-fortune?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3134668/thailands-gold-panners-blame-mekong-dams-china-laos-fortune?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 May 2021 02:00:20 +0000 Thailand is contending with a third wave of Covid-19 driven by a fast-spreading variant first identified in Britain after clusters were found across Bangkok’s wealthy party scene including at a VIP club allegedly popular with government officials. Thailand recorded 559 new coronavirus infections on Friday and one more death, after several days of a climbing caseload initially linked to bars and clubs in the capital’s upmarket Thong Lor district was hastened by the travel movements of Bangkok’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3128884/thailands-hi-so-elite-blamed-new-covid-19-cases?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3128884/thailands-hi-so-elite-blamed-new-covid-19-cases?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Apr 2021 05:28:10 +0000 The buzz over Thailand’s cannabis industry is getting feverous, with its most excited backers suggesting the production and sale of hemp-based goods from chocolate drops to cookies and CBD medicinal oils could be the perfect antidote for a Southeast Asian economy laid low by coronavirus. But buzzkill critics warn it is investors and tycoons that stand to benefit from Thailand’s “green rush”, rather than ordinary workers and farmers who have seen their incomes shredded by Covid-19. While Thais... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3126041/thailand-has-high-hopes-cannabis-can-cure-coronavirus-blues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3126041/thailand-has-high-hopes-cannabis-can-cure-coronavirus-blues?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Mar 2021 01:00:20 +0000 Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators marched on the army barracks home of Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Sunday in a procession filled with the flags and signs of the #MilkTeaAlliance, the trans-Asia movement of youthful protesters fighting back against authoritarian leaders. The protesters – mostly Thais, with some from Myanmar – gathered at Victory Monument in Bangkok for the noisy rally, the first organised for months by the Thai protest group Free Youth, which has rebranded... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3123498/milkteaalliance-springs-life-thailand-pro-democracy-protesters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3123498/milkteaalliance-springs-life-thailand-pro-democracy-protesters?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Feb 2021 12:18:27 +0000 At Phuket’s Chalong pier, boat driver Mang is in rare, high spirits: he has just had his first paying guests in two months. But for other tour boat operators in the area, surviving until the Thai borders fully reopen to tourists is another question. “Some owners without savings have sold the boats, some have laid off workers,” Mang says as he surveys the lines of idling tour boats around the pier, where in pre-pandemic times they would quickly whisk off the waiting tourists to sea, zipping them... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3123317/thailands-phuket-aims-become-immunity-island-tourists-it-seeks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3123317/thailands-phuket-aims-become-immunity-island-tourists-it-seeks?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Feb 2021 07:30:06 +0000 The death of a woman from a suspected drug overdose after a Bangkok party has underscored the risks faced by Thailand’s “pretties” – models-for-hire who offer services ranging from making appearances at sales promotion gigs, modelling at motorshows and hosting “VIP” parties, and who at each turn usually entertain male clientele in some form. The woman, Whitchayaporn Visessombut, known as Wa-Wa, was booked out to a VIP party in a Bangkok suburb late on Monday night and died at a local hospital... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3123391/thailand-death-pretty-underscores-dangers-life?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3123391/thailand-death-pretty-underscores-dangers-life?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Feb 2021 03:00:13 +0000 A Thai soap opera is facing an unprecedented online backlash over a scene portraying sexual assault, in an outcry activists hope may spur change in a country which has largely avoided the glare of the #MeToo movement. Each night, millions across Thailand tune in to watch prime time soaps – known as lakorn – for their storylines of salacious romance, bitter domestic power struggles and violent revenge. Despite years of complaints, the shows have proved resistant to criticism, and still commonly... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3121603/violent-sex-thai-tv-finally-not-acceptable-after-wife?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3121603/violent-sex-thai-tv-finally-not-acceptable-after-wife?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Feb 2021 02:30:15 +0000 Asia’s meme-laden pro-democracy movement, the #MilkTeaAlliance, has welcomed a new member in Myanmar after the country’s military removed the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup. The anti-authoritarian hashtag began as a form of solidarity for activists during the 2019 protests in Hong Kong. It quickly found sympathisers in Taiwan, then blossomed in military-dominated Thailand as young demonstrators flooded the streets last year. India has also been occasionally included in the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3120526/asias-milkteaalliance-has-new-target-brewing-generals-behind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3120526/asias-milkteaalliance-has-new-target-brewing-generals-behind?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Feb 2021 08:59:27 +0000 A tech hub braided with airports, ports and high-speed rail lines to lure the brains and billions of Asia to Thailand – or a cripplingly expensive white elephant from a government struggling to reset Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy? Nearly four years after its inception, opinion is divided on the country’s US$43 billion Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). The project, which promises an investor’s paradise of green smart cities and tax-free industrial zones powered by 5G technology, is... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3119847/coronavirus-pandemic-bites-thailand-desperate-its-us43-billion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3119847/coronavirus-pandemic-bites-thailand-desperate-its-us43-billion?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Feb 2021 01:00:13 +0000 Helping to push a stone slab with a carving of a Hindu deity into the earth, Kampon Tansacha said he faced a stark choice in deciding what to do with the army of staff that looked after his botanical garden outside the Thai resort city of Pattaya: close the garden and let them go unpaid, or keep it open and soak up the losses with no visitors. Before the coronavirus pandemic took hold, Noongnooch Tropical Garden used to welcome up to 9,000 visitors a day – mostly Chinese tour groups – to drift... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3116831/coronavirus-resurges-thailand-tourism-businesses-go?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3116831/coronavirus-resurges-thailand-tourism-businesses-go?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Jan 2021 00:15:08 +0000 INDIA Indian authorities have ordered at least 1.6 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines, the most of any country, according to the Launch and Scale Speedometer managed by Duke University’s Global Health Innovation Centre. The order includes a billion doses from Maryland-headquartered Novavax, 500 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and 100 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik-V. The Indian government has yet to set out a timeline for immunisations, although the health minister said... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3115579/coronavirus-vaccine-race-how-many-doses-has-each-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3115579/coronavirus-vaccine-race-how-many-doses-has-each-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Dec 2020 04:00:16 +0000 This is the ninth story in a series on the Covid-19 disease, one year after it first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Here, we look at the challenges facing countries as they attempt not only to procure trusted vaccines for desperate populations, but also to implement efficient immunisation programmes. Please support us on our mission to bring you quality journalism. From Manila to New Delhi and Tokyo, authorities in the Asia-Pacific are making cautious preparations for a historic roll-out... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3115577/coronavirus-vaccine-asia-pacific-countries-tread?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3115577/coronavirus-vaccine-asia-pacific-countries-tread?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000 Migrant rights groups have urged Thais to empathise with foreign workers who staff the multibillion-dollar fishing industry, as illegal entrants from Myanmar have been blamed for a record surge in Covid-19 cases that threatens to undo months of successful efforts to contain the pandemic. Thailand has reported more than 1,300 new coronavirus cases since Sunday, with some 80 per cent of them being migrant workers at shrimp farms in Samut Sakhon, just outside the capital. Linked cases have also... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3115130/thailand-mulls-lockdown-coronavirus-surge-blamed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3115130/thailand-mulls-lockdown-coronavirus-surge-blamed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:10:30 +0000 Gasping for tourists in the middle of a peak season devoured by the coronavirus pandemic, the bar, hotel and tour operators scraping by in Phuket, Thailand, are praying vaccines will open global borders before they are forced to close their businesses. But amid the wreckage of stricken souvenir shops, ‘For Sale’ signs on half-complete beachside properties and abandoned clifftop guest houses, there are flickers of hope – as some island businesses take the cue offered by the virus to look to a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3114075/chinese-spenders-offer-phuket-hope-amid-wreckage-thailands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3114075/chinese-spenders-offer-phuket-hope-amid-wreckage-thailands?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Dec 2020 01:00:24 +0000 The bell at Siam Inter Auto (SIA) rings frantically, marking more than US$1 million in sales of second-hand cars – most sent to auction by banks clawing back what they can from Thais unable to make their repayments in an economy floored by Covid-19. From condominiums and cars, credit cards to mobile phones, bad debt is rushing through Thailand, and experts fear worse is to come for Southeast Asia’s second largest economy after the government ended a repayment holiday for struggling individuals... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3110051/has-hope-thailands-economy-come-too-late-kingdoms-crippling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3110051/has-hope-thailands-economy-come-too-late-kingdoms-crippling?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Nov 2020 09:04:27 +0000 The Covid‑19 pandemic is upending the economic futures of young people across the Asia-Pacific. As economies across the region plunge into their worst recessions in generations, workers in their 20s and 30s are facing the brunt of lay-offs as workplaces shed employees on a last-in, first-out basis. The Asian Development Bank and the International Labour Organisation have predicted that up to 15 million youth jobs in the region’s 13 countries will disappear in 2020. Those who can find work face... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3109535/generation-c-young-asians-coronavirus-defines-bleak-new-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3109535/generation-c-young-asians-coronavirus-defines-bleak-new-era?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Nov 2020 00:00:14 +0000 China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi was due to arrive on Wednesday night in Thailand, a country central to Beijing’s strategy for Asia at a time the kingdom is facing a double hit from a pandemic-flattened economy and political turmoil. In the big superpower square-off between the US and China, Thailand plays an oversized role. Bordering Laos, the kingdom is China’s gateway to the Mekong region, while its endless coastline offers the promise of trade, ports, economic zones and mass... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3105547/bangkok-visit-chinas-wang-yi-seeks-cast-beijing-thailands-big?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3105547/bangkok-visit-chinas-wang-yi-seeks-cast-beijing-thailands-big?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Oct 2020 12:56:33 +0000 During “golden week” last year, the cash flowed at Nam Sing Bird’s Nest Restaurant in Pattaya as flush Chinese tourists packed into the Thai party town for the big spending holiday period.  But this year the restaurant – which sells bird’s nest and shark fin soups for up to US$60 a bowl – has not yet had a single customer, as the racy resort city faces its toughest times in memory with mainland Chinese visitors staying at home due to travel restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus. “We... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3104289/golden-week-ghost-town-thailands-pattaya-party-zone-struggles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3104289/golden-week-ghost-town-thailands-pattaya-party-zone-struggles?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Oct 2020 01:00:17 +0000 United in their derision of a government they say is failing Thailand and inspired by the tactics, garb and wit of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, thousands of young Thais took to the streets of Bangkok on Saturday to demand change. But in a country with a grim record of crushing student movements, such a political awakening could prove dangerous for those who followed calls over social media to descend on the capital’s Democracy Monument – a symbolic spot which commemorates the end of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3093811/inspired-hong-kong-thailands-pro-democracy-youth-takes-streets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3093811/inspired-hong-kong-thailands-pro-democracy-youth-takes-streets?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jul 2020 09:45:25 +0000 With 4 million Facebook followers and a glowing reputation as a life coach belying his 29 years, social media influencer Sean Buranahiran was a golden boy of the Thai internet. That was until he made a few throwaway comments flattering a former general who still plays a key role in the kingdom’s polarised politics. Thailand’s booming social media industry, where stars can make millions in months Not only did it turn fans against him in their droves – he lost about 70,000 subscribers from his... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3093063/thailand-influencer-sean-buranahirans-fall-grace-shows-dangers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3093063/thailand-influencer-sean-buranahirans-fall-grace-shows-dangers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jul 2020 04:30:13 +0000