The baht is looking to repeat its performance as one of Asia’s best currencies last year. Monday’s growth data will shed light on a key pillar of its recent strength and may help it stay in pole position at least through the first quarter.After being beaten by only the yen in 2018, the Thai currency has outshone all its regional peers so far in 2019, rising by four percent against the United States (US) dollar.
Junta chief Prayut Chan-o-cha's grip on power was tossed into doubt by the political cameo of a princess, but a week later his ambitions to rebrand as a civilian leader appear back on track, a survivor – for now – of Thailand's treacherous politics.Princess Ubolratana's candidacy for premier for a party aligned with billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, appeared to have kicked over a totem of Thai politics: that the military alone is the unassailable partner of the monarch
Thailand made international headlines recently for detaining refugee footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi. Hakeem was a former Bahraini national youth player who was granted refugee status in Australia after fleeing charges in Bahrain connected to the Arab Spring protests. He was arrested at Bangkok’s main airport at Bahrain’s request in November last year when he arrived in Thailand for his honeymoon.
Thailand's constitutional court on Thursday said it would hear a case to dissolve the party which proposed a princess for prime minister, an ill-fated candidacy which threatens to sink the election strategy of the powerful Shinawatra clan.The Thai Raksa Chart party nominated Princess Ubolratana for premier last Friday, a bombshell move bringing Thai royalty to frontline politics for the first time since the 1932 establishment of a constitutional monarchy.Hours later the princess's b
Refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi left Thailand on Tuesday after Bangkok dropped extradition proceedings against him at Bahrain's request, ending a two-month detention ordeal that stirred global outcry.Araibi, 25, a former Bahraini national youth team player, was granted refugee status in Australia after fleeing charges in the oil-rich kingdom connected to Arab Spring protests.But he was stopped at Bangkok's main airport at Bahrain's request on 27 November as he arrived in Th
Opponents of the Shinawatra political clan campaigned triumphantly in the Thai capital on Sunday, after a weekend of high political drama when a Thai princess' bid to be premier provoked a rare royal rebuke.Thai Princess Ubolratana's unprecedented attempt to become prime minister of Thailand was scuttled after her party agreed to comply with a command from her brother King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Friday, opposing her move to contest the upcoming election.The Thai Raksa Chart party, a
Thai Princess Ubolratana's unprecedented attempt to become the country's next prime minister was abruptly nixed Saturday after her party agreed to comply with a command from the king opposing the plan.The party's announcement effectively blocking Ubolratana's candidacy came after an extraordinary rebuke by her brother King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and removes a hurdle for the ruling junta to hold onto power after the 24 March – the first since a 2014 coup.The Thai Raksa Chart
The upcoming Thai election has got everyone excited. Everyday there are new twists and turns in the unfolding drama. Most recently, the elder sister of Thailand's king Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya was announced as leader and Prime Minister candidate for the Thai Raksa Chart Party – a party reportedly affiliated to Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thailand’s Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya has been named the prime ministerial candidate for a party linked to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra in one of the country’s biggest political upheavals.Ubolratana will be the prime ministerial candidate for the Thai Raksa Chart Party in the 24 March general election, its leader Preechaphol Pongpanit said Friday in Bangkok.
On 17 January 2001, the Philippines witnessed the Second EDSA Revolution (EDSA II). The EDSA II, also known as the People Power II revolution, was a four-day political protest ending on 20 January 2001, that protest peacefully overthrew the government of Joseph Estrada, the thirteenth President of the Philippines. The main weapon of that revolution? The cell-phone.
Thailand’s ratification of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Work in Fishing Convention on 30 January has won it international plaudits – but how well will it be received locally?As the first country in Asia to ratify ILO’s Convention 188, Thailand – the world's third-largest seafood exporter – has received praise for “setting an excellent example” to ensure acceptable living and working conditions for fishermen onboard ships, according to ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.
Hundreds of aspiring politicians, including a masked costumed hero, registered on Monday for Thailand's first election since the 2014 coup, promising a colourful cast of candidates stumping for political parties both, old and new.Since the coup, the military has rewritten the constitution, clamped down on dissent and appointed allies across the bureaucracy.But recent days have seen echoes of Thailand's formerly rambunctious politics, with outdoor political announcements, campaign po
