Longer-form commentary and opinion pieces across all geographic sections
Thailand’s prolonged political crisis and poor management of the economy over the past few decades have taken a huge toll on the country’s growth. The Thai economy grew just 1.5 per cent in the first quarter of this year after having expanded 1.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year and 1.9 per
The sharp depreciation of the baht in recent weeks has revived the debate on the short-term prospects for the Thai currency. The baht fell below the threshold of 37 to the dollar, hitting a six-month low. Among underperforming Asian currencies, the Japanese yen saw the sharpest fall of 155 to the dollar, a 10.5 per
For the past six months, the Foreign Ministry under Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahindra-Nukara has been working day and night to raise the regional and international profile of Thailand in all dimensions and in four corners of the world. The verdict is clear: given the limited time, he has done his job
While it has been widely known for a long time that the Thai military is heavily involved in business and commercial interests, the anatomy of businesses under the control of the armed forces is hardly known, as most of them have been concealed. The House of Representatives set up an ad hoc committee in late
The world bullion market is on its toes, so to speak. When Israel launched strikes on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, the capital of Syria, on April 1, the price of gold shot up to $2,300 per ounce. And now with Iran retaliating on Saturday night, firing over 200 drones and missiles, the oil and gold
After several months of vacancy, former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop has been appointed by the UN Secretary General as the UN special envoy on Myanmar. She will be the third woman to serve in this position, following in the footsteps of Christine Schraner Burgener of Switzerland who served from April 2018 to October 2021
The millions of Thais heading back to their home provinces to visit elderly parents over Songkran underlines the harsh reality that many of these seniors spend most of the year all alone. Research by Mahidol University’s Institute for Population and Social Research shows the percentage of elderly couples living alone rose from 16.9% in 2011
The Thai government may find itself bearing a higher cost of borrowing due to unfavorable conditions in the local debt market. More 34.3 billion baht of capital has flown out of the Thai bond market in the first quarter this year as foreign investors sold government bonds. Outstanding government bonds held by foreign investors dropped
The recent football match between Chulalongkorn and Thammasat universities may have looked like an edition of the traditional sporting event held almost every year since 1934. But in reality, it was no such thing. “No, the recent event was not the Chula–Thammasat Traditional Football Match,” Assoc Prof Dr Jessada Denduangboripant, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University’s
It should be a time of celebration for the world’s most powerful military alliance as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization marks its 75th anniversary this week. But this is not to be because of the myriad of uncertainties looming large in the coming months. Issues at stake are the future of NATO and its perceived
What difference can virtual banks make in a financial market where depositors are not happy with the low interest rates offered by commercial banks while borrowers are fretting about higher lending rates? The net interest rate spread in Thailand is much higher compared to banks in Malaysia and Singapore. The idea of a virtual bank
The world we live in today is facing ominous man-made danger. Whoever is elected the new president of the US in November will face the same old rival, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Given the realities of the prevailing geopolitical landscape, it is not impossible that the two powers with the most nuclear weapons could aim
