Thailand

A 3.29 trillion baht budget bill for the 2021 fiscal year beginning in October was approved by the House of Representatives at reviving an economy battered by the global effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Budget planners have predicted the second-largest economy in Southeast Asia would contract 5-6 per cent this year until it will rise 4-5 per cent in 2021. …

The Supreme Court commuted a two-month jail sentence imposed on Premsak Piayura, a former mayor of Ban Phai Municipality and veteran politician, to two months in detention in 2016 for committing an indecent act against a news reporter. The case started when Daily News published a story about a rumor in July 2016 that Premsak, then 51, had been hired …

Security officials have expected the anti-government student protest scheduled for Saturday won’t turn violent and won’t see a strong turnout. The source said there was little to fear about the proposed rally on the Tha Prachan campus of Thammasat University, with no more than 20,000 people planning to attend the rally, as with the previous Democracy Monument demonstration last August …

Thailand is moving slowly to reopen its borders with a new initiative that will allow international tourists to remain in the country for 90 days, extendable up to 270 days under a special tourist visa scheme (STV), which is expected to produce 12 billion baht per year. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said that the cabinet had in principle accepted the …

BANGKOK –  Thailand’s Cabinet on Tuesday agreed to allow in foreign tourist who agree to a 14-day quarantine and will be staying in the country for atleast 90 days to help support the tourism sector badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The government will allow visas up to 270 days for long-stay tourists and they will be able to extend …

BANGKOK – Speaker Chuan Leekpai said on Thursday, that the Parliament could not punish the MP who were caught looking at “inappropriate” photo during the house meeting for the reason that it was a personal matter. Chuan said that the if a complaint was filed then the House can consider on whether the MP had violatedcode of ethics for parliamentarians. …

The cabinet agreed to encourage the flagging economy to be boosted by international visitors who commit to 14-day quarantine and stay for at least 90 days. After the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the government would grant special long-stay visas for tourists. The most notable requirement will be a quarantine lasting 14 days. Visitors can arrive for tourism …

Two 300 police company from the 3rd Special Branch Division will be mobilized to defend Government House from demonstrators preparing on Saturday to hold an anti-government rally at Thammasat University. Next day, the demonstrators announced a decision to travel to the Government House and hand over their requests to the administration. Pol Col Vacharavee Thamsema, commander of the 4th Subdivision …

Kalae Tapae, a Muslim community located by the river in Sungai Padi district in the southern province of Narathiwat, is now the location of the first half-way house in the restive deep South for Muslims who are former convicts. This half-way house is touted as a solution to solve narcotic problems in the southern provinces which are known as routes …

Four changes to the constitution tabled by opposition parties are likely to touch a hurdle after they were stopped by a Palang Pracharath MP. In view of this, Paiboon Nititawan, the Palang Pracharath Party’s deputy leader and list MP, sent a letter to Chuan Leekpai, president of parliament, on Monday. He argued in the letter that the four bills could …