Bangkok Post
Cross-border trade drops by over 9% in first half
Thailand’s cross-border trade fell by 9.18% year-on-year in the first half, attributed to lockdown measures and the slowing economies of neighbouring countries.The Foreign Trade Department reported overall cross-border trade, including transit trade, totalled 627 billion baht for January to June, with Malaysia the biggest partner ...
Phusadee Arunmas
Depa tries to provide local startups with digital edge
The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa) is stepping up efforts to work with the Commerce Ministry and other related agencies to strengthen local startups and boost demand for their services as a way to break up foreign digital platforms’ hold on the market.Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, president ...
Suchit Leesa-Nguansuk
Internet driving children to violence: study
Thai youths who spend most of the hours of their week on mobile phones and computers are at risk of developing violent behaviour and gaming addiction, a study shows.The study, by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth), showed Thai youngsters spend more than 35 hours ...
Penchan Charoensuthipan
Confidence down as political tension flares
Stock investors’ confidence for the three months to October remains in neutral territory as concerns over heightening domestic political tension and the economic slowdown drag down optimism.The investor confidence index (ICI) fell 16% to 85.3 from June’s 101.2, according to the monthly survey by the ...
Bangkok Post Reporter
Poll suggests need for better strategy
Thailand is being urged to fine-tune its development strategy and rejig incentives to focus on promoting the nation as a production hub for health products like rubber gloves, supplements and medical devices in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.Aat Pisanwanich, director of the Center for ...
Phusadee Arunmas
Time to give child protection a boost
In the first half of this year, there were numerous reports of violence against children. Many of these cases share a similar pattern — those responsible for the violence are people close to the child. According to statistics from the 1300 hotline, from October 2018 ...
Bank of Thailand leaves policy rate unchanged at record low
The Bank of Thailand (BoT) left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low for a second straight meeting on Wednesday, as widely expected, on signs of improvement in the economy after the easing of measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak.The BoT’s Monetary Policy ...
SSO payments cut again to ease pain
Monthly social security contributions by employers and employees will be cut for the second time as a Covid-19 relief measure from September until November.Pissamai Nitipaiboon, deputy secretary-general of the Social Security Office (SSO), said the cabinet has approved the SSO board’s request for a reduced ...
Bangkok Post Reporter
'Safe and Sealed' plan brings hope for inbound tourism
Tourism operators are proposing a new inbound tourism plan, called Safe and Sealed, to replace travel bubbles and keep Thailand from realising a worst-case revenue scenario of 675 billion baht next year, down from 3.01 trillion baht in 2019.At Wednesday’s joint meeting of the Tourism ...
Narumon Kasemsuk
Rice strategy awaiting rejig
Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit pledges to speed up adjustment of the Thai rice strategy as quickly as possible as the industry faces a slew of challenges including a strong baht and rising production costs.Mr Jurin said after presiding over a Thai hom mali fragrant rice ...
Phusadee Arunmas
