World

Krungsri accelerating investment in ASEAN with enhanced network coverage through MUFG collaboration Thailand’s road to recovery is not strewn with rose petals. But the laying down of 4,150 km of motorways across the country, connecting east-west and north-south economic corridors, along with other transportation infrastructure, indicate that it is heading in the right direction to fulfil its pivotal role in the future of ASEAN. “ASEAN has the second-highest rate of investment by Japanese businesses and over the past several years Thailand has attracted more of it than any other country in Asean,” affirms Mr. Yoshiyuki Horio, Head of Japanese Corporate and Multinational Banking (JPC/MNC Banking) at Krungsri, a partner of MUFG Bank. While the global economic picture has been sullied by Co

Myanmar's junta is running out of time to make progress on Asean peace plan The seat for Myanmar's Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin is seen empty during the Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Aug 4, 2022. (Photo: Reuters) Ahead of the 55th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers' meeting in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen mulled over a "new approach" to the Myanmar crisis. The country's junta government had just executed four political prisoners. Since taking power in 2021, it has shown no willingness to implement the Asean "five-point consensus", which calls for an immediate cessation of violence. Popular protests against the junta have not led to any change in governance, and clashes between government forces and ethnic armed...

Eyeing Asia pivot, Putin says 'impossible' to isolate Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was 'impossible' to isolate Russia. MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday it was "impossible" to isolate Russia and hailed Asia's growing global influence, as Moscow looks east in the face of unprecedented Western sanctions over Ukraine. Washington and Brussels have pummelled Moscow with a barrage of economic and personal sanctions after Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24. Facing deteriorating ties with Western capitals, Moscow is seeking to pivot the country towards the Middle East, Asia and Africa. "No matter how much someone would like to isolate Russia, it is impossible to do this," Putin told the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia's Pacific port city of Vladivo...

As U.S. President Joe Biden denounced Russian aggression, as Russian President Vladimir Putin decried western aggression, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to the UN General Assembly with a five-point formula for peace — and a sly literary dig at the Russians. To be fair, he also denounced Russian aggression. All three leaders had their moment in the spotlight Wednesday, amid the latest escalation by Russia in its now nearly seven-month war against Ukraine. In the morning, Putin announced, by way of pre-recorded video, the immediate call-up of as many as 300,000 reservists to bolster the flagging Russian army’s efforts. He framed the call-up of reservists — expected to be deeply unpopular domestically — as a response to the West’s continued backing of Ukraine, and attempts, h

Cambodian psychiatrist helping genocide survivors wins Magsaysay This undated handout photo from the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation shows a portrait of Cambodian psychiatrist Sotheara Chhim, who on Friday was named a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award. A Cambodian psychiatrist treating victims of the Khmer Rouge and a French environmentalist cleaning up Indonesian rivers were among the winners Wednesday of the 2022 Ramon Magsaysay Award -- considered Asia's Nobel Prize. The annual award, established in 1957 and named after a Philippines president who died in a plane crash, honours those who have performed "selfless service to the peoples of Asia". The foundation that runs the award announced four winners in an online announcement. Among them was Sotheara Chhim, 54, a psychiatris...

Cabinet approves B2.92bn EV subsidy package The cabinet on Tuesday approved spending worth 2.92 billion baht to subsidise electric vehicle (EV) purchases, aiming to drive Thailand to become the region's EV production base and increase the competitiveness of its EV manufacturing industry. According to government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri, the subsidies offered for the purchase of passenger cars, pickup trucks and motorcycles range from 18,000 to 150,000 baht per unit. Under the scheme, a subsidy of 70,000 per unit of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) will be offered for passenger cars priced less than 2 million baht with a battery of 10-30 kilowatt-hours (kWh), and 150,000 baht per car for a battery of more than 30 kWh for completely knocked down (CKD) and completely built-up (CBU) u...

Workpoint forms partnership with Sappe From left are Mr Dhanasak, Ms Piyajit and Mr Adisak. SET-listed Workpoint Entertainment Plc, operator of Workpoint TV, has diversified into the consumer goods sector to reduce the risk of relying too heavily on its core television business. According to Dhanasak Hoonarak, the company's chief business development officer, Workpoint recently entered into a cooperation agreement with SET-listed beverage company Sappe Plc, the manufacturer of drinks under the Sappe brand, to set up Wope, a new joint venture company aimed at leveraging the potential of both firms. Workpoint's media programming and communication channels cover all platforms, both offline and online, that can access people of all genders and ages nationwide. Established on Aug 10, 2022,...

The video pans shakily across what looks like a lobby in any mid-sized administrative building in the country, before zeroing in on its target — a woman in a black dress who wheels around when her name is called. But the tone changes abruptly when the tall, bearded man calls out to Chrystia Freeland again: “What the f--- are you doing in Alberta? You f---ing traitor,” he calls, as he and another woman follow Freeland and her staff into a waiting elevator. That scene Friday — as Deputy Prime Minister Freeland, herself the daughter of a northern Alberta farmer, made a stop in the province — has drawn near-universal condemnation. But it’s also tapped a vein of political rage in this country that experts say had been festering quietly for years before being exacerbated by a global pandemic

BANGKOK (AP) — A former British ambassador to Myanmar who now heads a business ethics advisory group in the Southeast Asian country has been arrested on charges of violating immigration laws by failing to register her change of address, the military government said Thursday. Its “Tatmadaw True News Information Team” confirmed in a text message that Vicky Bowman, who served as the British envoy in 2002-2006, was detained for failing to inform the authorities last year when she and her husband moved from their registered address in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, to Kalaw township in Shan state in east-central Myanmar. It said she was charged under the Immigration Act and the Foreigners Registration Rules. It said Bowman, who has applied for a visa to do business in Myanmar, was charge

Gems and jewellery fair 'to generate B3bn' Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit visits the 67th Bangkok Gems and Jewellery Fair on Friday. The fair will run until Sunday at Challenger Hall 1-3, Impact Muang Thong Thani. The Bangkok Gems and Jewellery Fair, which ends on Sunday, is expected to meet its target of generating 3 billion baht in sales. Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit told the opening ceremony last week that the event has been hosted 67 times in almost four decades, including during the coronavirus pandemic. He said the event was organised virtually and hailed it as the world's first virtual jewellery fair. The event was held online during the last two years, making more than 500 million baht in trades each year, he said. This year's event is organised for five days ...