Asia Times
Thailand says it’s not ‘fast spinning out of Covid-19 control’
With reference to your article Thailand fast spinning out of Covid-19 control published on May 13, 2021, I feel compelled to set the record straight as follows. The article’s claim that AstraZeneca has chosen Siam Bioscience to produce its vaccine was based on “unknown reasons” is ...
Third Covid wave rocks Thai economy
Thailand and many of its neighbours are struggling with the spread of Covid-19 cases while they await the beginning of mass vaccination programmes to counter the pandemic.Thailand’s financial system has been hit hard by the latest coronavirus outbreak and the central bank says its economy ...
Thai economy may lose $3 billion a month after new virus outbreak
Thailand’s economy could lose 100 billion baht ($3.2 billion) a month, a university warned on Thursday, as the country struggles with a third wave of the coronavirus. The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said the latest wave could reduce the number of workers by ...
Covid-19 drives Thailand deeper into poverty
The World Bank forecasts it will take Thailand at least two years to resume its pre-Covid real growth level – already one of the lowest in the region at 2.8% in 2019 – while the pandemic promises to swell the growing ranks of the country’s ...
Food deliveries add to Thai plastic headache
Single-use plastic waste in Thailand ballooned during the coronavirus lockdown as demand for home food deliveries soared, activists say, setting back efforts to reduce the country’s dependency on the environmental scourge. The contagion has had mixed outcomes for Thailand’s environment, with dugongs, turtles and otters returning ...
Thailand rolling out its legal weed wares
Still unwilling to allow the public to get zonked or profit from recreational marijuana, Thailand has instead produced its first pharmaceutical THC and CBD oils, tablets, oral sprays, chocolate wafers and traditional potions after recently legalizing medical cannabis.Keep reading ...
Women’s rights and river protection
Usually at this time of year during the dry season in northern Thailand, the Mekong River recedes, and sand and pebble beaches appear. Covering the pebbles, through the clear and shallow water, one can see the pale green kai, a river weed of the Mekong. ...
Prospects for ASEAN leadership on regional development
At the ASEAN Summit in Singapore, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha unveiled sustainable development as the theme for Thailand’s year in the revolving chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. While some say this focus sidesteps major issues facing ASEAN in 2019, we believe ...
New dawn for remote Andaman Sea island tourism
Few have heard of the Mergui Archipelago, and even fewer have managed to visit the 400km string of scattered islands in the Bay of Bengal’s Andaman Sea.Most of the 800 offshore islands are uninhabited, apart from a few seasonal settlements of the seafaring nomadic Moken, ...
Thai connectivity on fast-track under junta
Construction of Bangkok’s Bang Sue Grand Station – a massive railway complex covering 300,000 square meters – is 70% complete, officials claim, with a partial opening scheduled for December 2020. The station promises to be a major step forward for Thailand’s transport connectivity.Keep reading ...