Author: Churai Ekaluck

Pita Limjaroenrat is not your typical Thai politician. In a country where the average age of cabinet ministers is 65, where unquestioning deference to elders is still a cherished tradition, his youth – he looks far younger than his 42 years – and unabashed confidence make him stand out. That he is, after a shock election result which put his reformist Move Forward party ahead of all the others, poised to become the youngest prime minister in 78 years, has stunned the conservative political establishment which has dominated Thailand for much of the modern era. Difficult negotiations are now under…

More than 100 people gathered at Dorchester’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Monday morning to recite the names of 80 service members from Dorchester who lost their lives in service to their country during the war in Vietnam. Ed Pimental, who served as master of ceremonies, noted it was the 36th annual Memorial Day event at the Morrissey Boulevard memorial since it was dedicated on peaceful spot of land overlooking Dorchester Bay. Many Gold Star families attended, as did numerous Vietnam veterans and representatives of the neighborhood veteran’s posts. As Richard Memorial and Frank Cahill read off the 80 names of…

Large pieces of cargo stood unsteadily at the back of a truck as it moved along traffic in Ha Nam Province in northern Vietnam. The footage was captured by a car behind on May 23. The car driver said: “The customers told me not to overtake that car, it’s okay if the tour is a bit late.” Vietnamese traffic regulations stipulate that one will be fined VND600,000-800,000 (US$25.56-34) for carrying unsecured cargo in traffic. If the act causes accidents, the fines will be VND8-12 million and the driver will have their license revoked for two to four months. Source: VN…

Thailand and India have made progress in their bilateral trade relations, agreeing in principle to use electronic signatures and seals for certificates of origin on products. They are also pushing for the use of QR codes by linking India’s Unified Payments Interface system with Thailand’s PromptPay system to support tourist spending. Additionally, the two countries have discussed more cooperation in the film production and health tourism sectors. During the 13th Thailand-India Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting held on April 20 in New Delhi, Thailand requested that India lift restrictions on the import of tires and color TVs, eliminate the ban…

In Winter and Spring 2023, discussions over the origins of COVID-19 corona virus have been reignited one more time. An unexpected and purely coincidental leakage of the COVID biological agent from a laboratory is still being discussed. Against this rather gloomy background, several countries are continuing their overseas biological experiments, with post-Soviet Central Asia being at the core of such activities. In particular, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have recently joined United States-initiated studies to research the most contagious biological activities. A biological laboratory to research brucellosis and anthrax under the UZ-4 and KZ-2 programs was established at the Institute of Virology in Tashkent,…

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó criticised the EU’s Russia sanctions as “harmful” on Wednesday, and vowed to protect the Bosnian Serb secessionist leader Milorad Dodik against any sanctions “as long as we are in power in Hungary”. Speaking at an energy panel in Trebinje, southeastern Bosnia-Herzegovina, Szijjártó also said Hungary “does not intend to stop purchasing gas from Russia” and was in contact with Russia’s Gazprom, who he said was respecting its contractual obligations. “When the first sanctions package was introduced, those who introduced them said Russia will be economically ruined by the sanctions and will not be able to…

Daughter of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra Paetongtarn Shinawatra widened her lead as the voters’ top choice for prime minister in the latest opinion poll ahead of a general election tentatively scheduled for May. Paetongtarn, who represents Thailand’s largest opposition party, Pheu Thai, garnered 38.2 per cent of support in a poll of 2,000. It is the latest edition of a quarterly survey by the National Institute of Development Administration. Her approval jumped from 34 per cent in the previous poll conducted in December. Pheu Thai seeks to end nearly a decade of military-backed rule with pledges to lift the…

Thailand attaches great importance to the safety of Chinese tourists and will take appropriate measures to ensure the security of those visiting the country, the Thai Embassy in China said in a statement on Thursday, aiming to clarify rumors and reassure tourists of their safety in the country. The issue received overwhelming attention online on Thursday. The hashtag “Tourists’ safety in Thailand” topped trending topics on the Chinese Twitter-like social media Sina Weibo, garnering over 150 million views as of press time. In a Weibo post that drew much attention, a netizen wrote that Thailand is one of her favorite…

As Xi Jinping begins his unprecedented third term as president of China, he has urged his country to fight back against US-led effort to embarrass, isolate, contain and suppress his country. As a follow-up, in his first press conference, new Foreign Minister Qin Gang said he wants China to be the champion of the developing world and contribute to the improvement of world governance. As part of its effort to do so, China is determined to upgrade its capability in international law. That should include its capabilities in the Law of the Sea and public diplomacy in this field.  China has been taking a…

Dozens of American companies are in Vietnam this week in hopes of pushing further into the fast-growing Southeast Asian economy, which has emerged as an attractive potential alternative to China as companies seek to diversify their markets and supply chains. Senior executives from 52 US firms are taking part in the biggest business mission ever organized by the US-ASEAN Business Council, the trade lobby told CNN. The trip, held annually and currently led by former US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius, began Tuesday and runs to Thursday. The council did not specify who was attending, but corporate heavyweights Boeing (BA) and Netflix (NFLX) confirmed they had…