News
Thailand’s ASEAN Chair Challenge in 2019
On November 15 at the recent ASEAN Summit in Singapore, the symbolic gavel of the rotating ASEAN chairmanship was handed from Singapore to Thailand ahead of the official start as ASEAN chair in 2019. While Bangkok is no stranger to chairing ASEAN as one of ...
Trade Department pushes 12 priorities for Asean chair
Twelve economic issues, including the conclusion of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, have been proposed for consideration as Thailand readies itself to assume Asean’s chairmanship. Keep reading ...
Burmese Migrant Women at Risk in Thailand
Discriminatory practices are holding Burmese migrant women back. “The Burma government doesn’t care that people come to Thailand for work. Sometimes I feel like I want to go home but it’s not any better in Burma. It’s difficult in Thailand, but in Burma there is ...
Thailand wants to be the first Asian nation to legalize medical marijuana
“Thailand has the best marijuana in the world.” So claims Jet Sirathraanon, chairman of the country’s National Legislative Assembly’s standing committee of public health, who is pushing to legalize cannabis for medical use. A draft bill to permit medical marijuana had been sent to the ...
Extortion and abuse: Myanmar workers arrive debt-laden in Thailand
A “mafia” of recruitment agents is trapping Myanmar migrants to Thailand in debt bondage despite a 2017 law meant to fight exploitation in the kingdom’s notoriously shadowy job market, activists and workers say. Keep reading ...
Thailand bets on neighbors' rising incomes to lift exports
Thailand is working to increase trade with its neighbors, betting that their rising purchasing power will cushion the blow from exports lost to the U.S.-China trade war. Keep reading ...
Mekong Tourism partners with Tourism Authority of Thailand
Together with TAT, Mekong Tourism has launched a new promotional campaign on Mekong Moments to shine light on regional tourism and thematic attractions in Thailand and the region to inspire tourism in the GMS. Keep reading ...
Thailand to ban foreign plastic waste from 2021
Thailand plans to stop all imports of foreign plastic scrap by 2021 as it joins other south-east Asian countries looking to stem an influx of waste products that used to be recycled in China. Fleshing out details of the ban, which was initially announced in ...
China's Belt & Road impact on Thailand
As China’s ambitious Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and Maritime Silk Road (MSR) — popularly known as the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI — continues to make ripples and waves in international affairs, its likely impact on mainland Southeast Asia warrants attention. Unlike many ...
Thailand: Govt mulls plan for 1 visa, 5 cities
The plan for a single visa for “Five Chiang Cities” will be proposed to spur tourism among four countries in the Mekong Region and add quality tourists to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces of Thailand. The five Chiang cities in the scheme comprise Thailand’s Chiang ...
