Tourists take photos of Wat Arun in Bangkok on Jan. 2: Industry experts are cautiously optimistic about prospects for this year. (Photo by Hiroki Endo)
Travel & Leisure

Thai hotel industry expects correction as 'revenge travel' cools

Tourism business to focus on cost control, reducing reliance on China

17 January 2024
Phuket's famous Patong Beach. Dubbed the Pearl of the Orient, the island is the jewel in Thailand's tourism crown thanks to its numerous beaches and clean air. (Photo by Dominic Faulder)
Business Spotlight

Phuket booms as wealthy Russians seek a new home

Residential sales skyrocket but bring traffic and infrastructure headaches

17 January 2024
Bangkok prohibits the use of cryptocurrency for payments, limiting exchanges to investment purposes.
Cryptocurrencies

Binance launches Thai crypto exchange, wading into crowded market

Competition set to heat up in country where 20% of people own digital currency

17 January 2024
Tourists wait to check in for flights at the Bangkok area's Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Travel & Leisure

Thailand starts checking foreigners' passports on domestic flights

Tighter rules to prevent visa overstays as tourism rebounds

17 January 2024
Italian-Thai Development has outstanding bonds of 14.5 billion baht ($414 million), with a tranche worth 2 billion baht due on Feb. 15.
Markets

Construction giant ITD adds to Thailand's corporate debt woes

Bond market tries to ease contagion concerns, with total $25.4 billion due this year

16 January 2024
The Bank of Thailand raised its benchmark interest rate to a decade-high of 2.5% in September 2023, a move that the government complains is weighing on the economy.
Economy

Thailand's central bank shrugs off political pressure to cut rates

Executive says recent price falls 'not a cause' for monetary easing

16 January 2024
A Tesla Model Y at a December 2022 event in Bangkok. Tesla lags behind BYD in electric-vehicle market share in Thailand.
Automobiles

Tesla EV plans spur 'Musk pilgrimages' from India and Southeast Asia

Geopolitics and growing rivals cause automaker to weigh presence outside China

16 January 2024
BYD's vehicles line up at its manufacturing base in Hefei, in China's Anhui province. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Your Week in Asia

BYD's Indonesia foray, China GDP, JAXA lunar landing

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

14 January 2024
Great Wall has started up a new EV at its vehicle factory in Rayong in eastern Thailand. (Photo by Kenya Akama)
Automobiles

China's Great Wall Motor kicks off EV production in Thailand

BYD and other Chinese automakers set to open plants, eyeing subsidies

13 January 2024
A farmer works in her field in Thailand. Exports of Thai rice recovered in 2023.
Agriculture

Vietnam and Thailand rice exports soar after India ban

Consumers feel the pinch of higher prices as countries scramble to secure supply

12 January 2024
The number of flights in Thailand is expected to increase 20% yearly through 2025. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Transportation

8 new rivals to crowd Thailand's airline industry this year

Upstarts seek to make their mark with customer service and accessible travel

12 January 2024
Bank of Thailand Gov. Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, left, meets with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin in Bangkok on Jan. 10. (Photo courtesy of the Office of the Government House)
Inflation

Thai PM pressures central bank to cut rates to boost economy

Srettha offers to exchange ideas on monetary policy every week

10 January 2024
Foreign tourists at Khaosan street, a famous nightlife zone in Bangkok. (Photo by Hiroki Endo)
Travel & Leisure

Extended nightlife hours revive Thai tourism

New Year's events also spark more tourist spending and boost economy

10 January 2024
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin delivers policy statements to parliament in September after a monthslong delay in the formation of a government.
Economy

Thai lawmakers greenlight delayed $101bn fiscal budget

Srettha government allocates 20% to investment in narrow spending window

5 January 2024
Outside Bangkok's Siam Paragon shopping mall. Consumer prices are edging up, mostly due to weather and the high cost of producing some fresh foods. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Inflation

Thailand bucks peers as consumer prices drop for 3rd month in row

Energy subsidies keep inflation down while core CPI ticks up

5 January 2024
Children play in the courtyard of Ban Rom Sai in the suburbs of Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, after coming back from school on Nov. 13. "Everyone here is like a family member," one employee says. (Photo by Hiroki Endo)
Life

Japanese-run Thai orphanage bets on resort for its survival

Ban Rom Sai beckons tourists with spa and organic vegetables grown by orphans

31 December 2023
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was one of the worst performers among major Asian stock market benchmarks in 2023, owing to China factors. (Photo by Kenji Kawase)  
Markets

China disappointment shapes Asia's worst and best stock markets in 2023

Hong Kong and Thailand sink with the mainland while Japan, Taiwan and India soar

29 December 2023
Since 2013, when Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) acquired over 70% of the Bank of Ayudhya's shares, the driving force of the Japanese megabank's overseas operations has shifted from North America to Asia. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Finance

Bank of Ayudhya's turnaround by MUFG boosts Thailand's EV economy

Thai lender now forms a core part of the Japanese megabank's overseas business

29 December 2023
Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Srettha Thavisin of Pheu Thai greet supporters during an election rally in Bangkok on May 12, 2023. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi).
Most read in 2023

Thai election, Belt and Road -- 12 of our most read stories in 2023

China Evergrande and global EV race drew our readers' attention

28 December 2023
Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in Hong Kong in 2019
Politics

Thai court dismisses criminal case against ex-PM Yingluck

Supreme Court finds no evidence of conspiracy in 2011 personnel change order

26 December 2023
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin poses for a photo before an interview with Nikkei Asia at Government House in Bangkok on Dec. 12. (Photo by Hiroki Endo)
Turbulent Thailand

Thai PM Srettha seeks longevity as political factions bide time

Newcomer's fate seen as resting on party's favor, rollout of digital wallet

24 December 2023
Zaw Min Naing and Zaw Zaw Aung fell a mature teak yielding four logs measuring 60 feet in total, in Gangaw, Myanmar. (Photo by Tim Webster)
Books

Books: How teak became Asia's blessing and curse

Sweeping history explores passions spawned by the tropical hardwood

22 December 2023
The annual LGBTQ Pride parade in Bangkok on June 4. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Gender

Thailand's parliament to discuss bills legalizing same-sex marriage

Kingdom steps closer to becoming first ASEAN country in granting the rights

21 December 2023
Travelers walk through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Dec. 20. As the number of tourists surges across Southeast Asia, so too are COVID cases. (Photo by Norman Goh)
Coronavirus

Malaysia and Singapore put guard up as COVID cases surge

Southeast Asia asks public to mask up and get vaccinated as travel season begins

21 December 2023
Chinese tourists visit Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaew temple in August. People from the country made up the world's biggest outbound travel market before the COVID pandemic, with 155 million trips in 2019. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Travel & Leisure

In charts: How Asia's tourism recovery is held back by stay-home Chinese

World's biggest foreign travel market hurt by weak economy, safety concerns

21 December 2023