Natthaporn Onkaew, 26, was embraced by his father, Thawatchai, 47, when he arrived back home on Dec. 1 after being held hostage in Gaza for nearly two months by Hamas. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa
Middle East crisis

Thai workers in Israel return to pre-war level after October exodus

Farmers trapped between conflict abroad and low wages at home

31 May 2024
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (center) with his daughters, Pintongtha Kunakornwong (left) Paetongtarn Shinawatra (center right) and his son Panthongtae Shinawatra (right), at Don Mueang airport in Bangkok in August 2023. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Politics

Thaksin dumps Voice TV in nod to Thailand's new media landscape

Station closure marks shift from traditional outlets as social media platforms dominate

30 May 2024
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during an interview in Tokyo in 2023. He has now been accused of violating Thailand's strict lese-majeste laws.  (Photo by Yuki Kohara)
Politics

Thaksin Shinawatra, former Thai PM, charged with lese-majeste

Legal challenges haunt both Pheu Thai founder and PM Srettha

29 May 2024
Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, second from left, attend the China-Africa Leaders' Roundtable Dialogue during the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in August 2023.
International relations

Thailand aims to become first Southeast Asian BRICS member

Bangkok eyes bigger role among emerging nations in bloc led by China, India, Russia

29 May 2024
Chaithawat Tulathon, center left, current leader of the Move Forward Party, with supporters at a Labor Day march in Bangkok on May 1. (Sipa via AP Images)
Opinion

Move Forward ban would shatter Thailand's last democratic veneer

Powerful bodies keep removing public's favored representatives

28 May 2024
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, center, leaves a conference room at the Future of Asia forum in Tokyo on May 24. (Photo by Mizuho Miyazaki)
The Future of Asia 2024

Thai PM Srettha says court decision will not affect his work

Pledges 'respect' for Constitutional Court's decision, will let process play out

24 May 2024
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin appears for a cabinet meeting at Government House in Bangkok. Thailand's Constitutional Court has accepted an ethics case against Srettha but will allow him to remain as prime minister while it decides on the matter. (Sipa via AP Images)
Politics

Thai PM Srettha avoids suspension as court takes up ethics case

Prime minister and his Pheu Thai party remain in jeopardy, analysts say

23 May 2024
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, right, welcomes Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin at Palazzo Chigi in Rome on May 21. There are rumblings that a move to oust Srettha might have been timed to coincide with his absence from Thailand. (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP)
Politics

Thai PM Srettha at risk of suspension as court meets

Constitutional Court weighs accepting ethics petition from senators

22 May 2024
A Toyota dealership in Bangkok. Japanese automakers assemble more than 3 million vehicles annually in ASEAN. (Photo by Kenya Akama)
Automobiles

Japan and ASEAN to craft auto strategy to counter China's EVs

First-of-its-kind undertaking to cover production and sales in Southeast Asia

20 May 2024
Thai Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha led a 2014 coup, later becoming prime minister under the military junta.
Thai election

Thailand heads for 1st Senate election since coup as economy slows

Return to democracy still work in progress after civilian rule was toppled a decade ago

17 May 2024
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's ruling Pheu Thai Party faces challenging economic conditions. (NIkkei montage/Source photos by Ken Kobayashi and Hiroki Endo)
Politics

Thai ruling party grapples with slow economy 1 year after election

Political pledges languish as weak global demand weighs on manufacturing

14 May 2024
Two Thai telecom towers face west across the Moei River near Myawaddy toward one of some 16 Chinese-funded scam centers that have sprung up just inside Myanmar in recent years.
Myanmar Crisis

Thailand, Japan signal policy shifts on engaging Myanmar's resistance

Bangkok orders telcos to cut internet to casino scam centers along border

13 May 2024
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin speaks to reporters about Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara's resignation at the Government House in Bangkok on April 29.
Politics

Thai cabinet reshuffle puts ruling party 'at risk,' experts say

Replacements of key ministers cause rift within Pheu Thai amid waning popularity

8 May 2024
A Thai air force F-16 performs during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, northeast of Bangkok, in 2015.
Defense

Thai air force to replace 12 fighter jets with new planes

Kingdom eyes technology transfer in deals with Sweden, U.S.

7 May 2024
Thaksin Shinawatra's arrival in Bangkok in August 2023: It is hard to ignore speculation that the former prime minister struck a deal to return from exile. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Opinion

Thaksin in no position to reclaim reform banner from Move Forward

Pheu Thai's alignment with conservatives has shattered pretense of progressivism

1 May 2024
Former foreign minister Parnpree Bahiddha-nukara, left, walks along Friendship Bridge No. 1, linking Myawaddy, Myanmar, with the Thai border town of Mae Sot on April 12. (Photo by Gwen Robinson)
Politics

Thailand taps former diplomat as foreign minister after Parnpree quits

Myanmar task force loses chair as Pheu Thai factions reshuffle cabinet

29 April 2024
A sickly woman rides in an aid truck to return to Myanmar after refugees were told by Thai soldiers to return home on April 24. (Photo by Mauk Kham Wah)
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar refugees sent back from Thailand as military, rebels regroup

Thousands take shelter at border as rebels hold off military convoy

25 April 2024
People fleeing violence in Myawaddy, Myanmar, arrive in Mae Sot on Thailand's side of the border on April 20.
Myanmar Crisis

Thailand downplays risk as Myanmar sends troops to key border town

Number of refugees in Thai temporary shelters falls to 600, foreign minister says

24 April 2024
A soldier from the Karen National Liberation Army, a prominent resistance group in Myanmar, patrols on April 15 in Myawaddy, in an area hit by an airstrike by Myanmar's military regime.
Myanmar Crisis

ASEAN calls for halt to violence on Thai-Myanmar border

Malaysian, Thai lawmakers seek inclusive talks, preparations for refugees

19 April 2024
Former Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, left, and current leader Chaithawat Tulathon react during a press conference in Bangkok on Jan. 31.
Politics

Will Move Forward join Thailand's graveyard of political parties?

Reform-minded opposition group awaits court verdict a year after election win

17 April 2024
A Thai soldier looks on as people line up at a border crossing to flee Myanmar early on April 12, in Mae Sot, Thailand.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar resistance seizes border town; Thailand braces for refugees

KNU to take on administration of trading hub as Thai foreign minister visits

13 April 2024
Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, seen at a ceremony in Bangkok in January, says Thailand can take in another 100,000 Myanmar refugees. (Photo by Hiroki Endo)
Myanmar Crisis

Thailand denies Myanmar officials took Myawaddy evacuation flight

Minister says plane carried documents, country can take 100,000 more refugees

9 April 2024
Muay Thai was adopted as a basic training program in Cobra Gold, one of the biggest multilateral military exercises in Southeast Asia, held in Thailand from late February. (Royal Thai Armed Forces)
International relations

Thailand taking the offensive over the origin of Muay Thai

Cambodia claims itself as the birthplace of the martial art

7 April 2024
A checkpoint attacked by insurgents in Pattani province in 2019: The cycle of violence enmeshing the military and insurgents in southern Thailand has claimed more than 7,300 lives.
Opinion

Talks alone will not bring lasting peace to Thailand's deep south

To prove his intentions, Srettha must rein in legal cases against peaceful activists

3 April 2024
Pita Limjaroenrat led the Move Forward Party to win the most seats in Thailand's general election in May 2023, but failed to secure the premiership. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Politics

Thai court accepts petition to disband Move Forward Party

Possible party dissolution looms and key members face banishment

3 April 2024