Thai banks inefficient, says S&P
Academics have slammed the military’s iron grip on cyberspace following the 2014 coup. Surveillance and crackdown measures are creating a climate of fear and self-censorship, they argued. Since last year’s coup, the army has taken many steps to tackle content deemed sensitive or critical of the ...
Digital hub in private sector call
The Digital Economy and Society minister has called on the private sector to work more closely with the ministry to help Thailand become a digital infrastructure gateway in ASEAN by 2020. The evolution of the country’s digital ecosystem, especially in many crucial development areas, needs ...
Circular solution to plastic plight
We are drowning in plastics. Unless we change our behaviour, there will be more plastic by weight than fish in the ocean by 2050. Solving this crisis requires us to do more than just banning plastic straws. We need a paradigm shift. We must adopt ...
Commerce Ministry eyes Asian top-five trade ranking
The Commerce Ministry has set a goal to raise Thailand’s international trade value to Asia’s top five by 2027, up from eighth in 2019, by focusing on value-added industries such as digital, food and healthcare.To achieve the goal, Thailand would need to fetch at least ...
Phusadee Arunmas
NESDC keeping an eye on borrowing
The state planning unit is keeping a close watch on rising household debt after debt defaults on personal loans increased at a faster rate. The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) reported on Fridaythat household debt in the third quarter of 2018 was equal ...
Chatrudee Theparat
The less-cash economy
Even though cash remains the preferred mode of payment in Thailand, its share is on a gradual decline in light of efforts by the government to promote electronic payments under its National e-Payment Master Plan, according to a report by the data and analytics company ...
Bangkok Post Reporter
Circular economy hype builds
With the circular economy model moving from buzz to business and trade strategy, the Commerce Ministry has pledged to beef up promotion and campaigns for the circular economy to reduce waste and increase value-added production.Keep reading ...
Penchan Charoensuthipan
Thailand’s rich freshwater biodiversity under threat
The Thai government has taken efforts to tackle climate change by building a large number of water retention projects. But they could threaten the country’s freshwater biodiversity unless new sustainable solutions are taken into consideration. In a remote forest in Thailand’s western Ratchaburi province, a team ...
Pratch Rujivanarom
Inquiry afoot after sand shipping video goes viral
The Ministry of Mines and Energy on May 2 said it was investigating potential irregularities in the export of sand after a video from the NGO Mother Nature claiming that banned exports continued unabated went viral yesterday, racking up hundreds of thousands of “likes”. While the ...
WWF-Cambodia announces new ‘accurate’ survey of reptiles
To help conserve the critically endangered Siamese crocodile, WWF-Cambodia has announced it will conduct a survey this year to accurately record the number of the reptiles left in the wild in the Kingdom’s Eastern Plains Landscape. The Siamese crocodile was once widespread throughout much of ...
E-tax to help provide B100bn in VAT
The electronic tax and single financial account scheme are expected to boost value-added tax by at least 100 billion baht a year, Thailand’s Revenue Department has said. Keep reading ...
Laos buys fewer Thai goods after VAT at Friendship Bridge
Laotians have spent less money on goods in Thailand after Vientiane imposed a 10% value-added tax late last year, a Lao customs official said on January 26. Soutchai Inthavong, deputy chief of the customs international checkpoint at the Friendship Bridge, said the number of Laotians ...
Public debt up 0.5% in February
Thailand’s public debt outstanding as of February 28 was Bt6.09 trillion, up Bt30.58 billion or 0.5 per cent from January 31, while the Japan Credit Rating Agency has maintained Thailand’s credit-rating ceiling at “A+” with “stable” outlook, the Finance Ministry’s Public Debt Management Office reported on ...
Volatile Mekong threatens birds’ nest
Just 50 metres from the Mekong, in the shadow of a discarded plastic cup, a lone chick sits camouflaged on the sand. It is a newly hatched small pratincole in Bueng Kan province, northeast Thailand. “I recorded 15 nests on the beach, smaller numbers compared with previous ...
Tyler Roney
Higher PPP investment limit urged
The Thai government hopes to ease its public debt burden by luring the private sector to invest more in multibillion-baht infrastructure projects, especially in telecommunications and transport, through public-private partnerships (PPPs). Keep reading ...
Finansa directors back B180m licence deal
The board of SET-listed Finansa Plc has given the nod to its securities brokerage arm Finansa Securities to divest securities and derivatives agent licences to joint venture SBI Thai Online Securities for 180 million baht. Keep reading ...
Public debt drops B24.3bn in January
Public debt dropped by 24.3 billion baht in January from the month before, leaving the country owing of 5.98 trillion baht, according to latest data released by the Public Debt Management Office in Thailand. Keep reading ...
Mekong River bird species threatened by dam discharges
The Mekong River ecosystem has been devastated from rising water levels during the dry season, as upstream dams in China discharge water to facilitate navigation in the river.Keep reading ...
Pratch Rujivanarom
Virus pandemic linked to destruction of wildlife and world's ecosystems
Covid-19 is the latest example of how human impact on biodiverse areas and wildlife habitats is linked to the spread of infectious diseases.After the novel coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, China in late December 2019, it didn’t take long for conspiracy theorists to claim it ...
Ecotourism gives impetus to tourism
Some 800,000 foreign tourists last year came to Thailand with the specific purpose of visiting villages, natural sites, communities, and hilltribes across the Kingdom, while more than 2 million Thai tourists also pursued these interests. They mingled well with like-minded travellers who cherished the “ecotourism” ...
