Bangkok Post
Mekong leaders call for $66bn in investment
The leaders of six countries along the Mekong River adopted an ambitious investment plan worth US$66 billion over the next five years. At least $7 billion will come from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the rest from governments and the private sector, they said.Keep ...
The Associated Press
Phuket 'has the smarts' for hi-tech
Digital equipment and high-speed internet spots have been set up in Phuket as part of its bid to make the island province a smart city. Phuket provincial governor Thavornwat Kongkaew called a meeting on Thurday (March, 29) attended by state agencies, the National Electronics and ...
Achadtaya Chuenniran
Rice exports up but may lose momentum
Thai rice exports in the first two months of 2018 rose 10% year-on-year by volume to 1.91 million tonnes and 16.1% in baht value to 30.32 billion baht but orders are falling due to the strong baht.Keep reading ...
Bangkok Post Reporter
Give renewable energy a chance
The Minister of Energy announced this week the government will stop purchasing electricity from renewable power projects for the next five years. The reasoning is that such projects have caused retail electricity tariffs to jump by 20-25 satangs per unit, and that the electricity system ...
Sopitsuda Tongsopit
Asia's energy challenge
Asia’s rapid development over the past four decades has transformed the region’s stature in the world economy, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and creating new opportunities for future prosperity. Keep reading ...
Tanyatorn Tongwaranan
Is Bangkok savvy enough to become a 'smart city'?
The “smart city” has become a new buzzword for development policy in the Thailand 4.0 initiative, which would see big cities in the country like Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and the Eastern Economic Corridor, transformed into technology hubs.Keep reading ...
Anchalee Kongrut
City pollution at 'national disaster' level
Bangkok must upgrade its ultra-fine dust pollution problem to “national disaster” level in order to strengthen protections against its far-reaching health impacts, ranging from heart and brain disorders to cancer.Keep reading ...
Apinya Wipatayotin
Immunising Asean
Southeast Asia has become a hot spot for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, which has led to stepped-up international efforts to strengthen national and regional pandemic preparedness capacity.Socio-economic, demographic and environmental factors are driving the emergence of more disease outbreaks in the region, according to ...
Nareerat Wiriyapong
Rural economic stimulus vowed
The Commerce Ministry has pledged to move ahead with plans to drive local economic development, e-commerce, exports and big data for farm products and trade.Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong said on March 16, 2018 after a workshop that the ministry is still focused on stimulating the ...
Phusadee Arunmas
Mekong researchers seek ways to improve dams
Researchers backed by multi-million-dollar grants from NASA are heading to Southeast Asia’s Mekong River region to find ways to improve dams so they are less harmful to people and the environment.Researchers from Michigan State University (MSU) will spend three years analysing sites in the lower ...
Thomson Reuters Foundation