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Thailand

February

The lobby at Anantara BoPhut as featured in The White Lotus season three.

Pack your kaftan or run for cover? White Lotus effect hits Thailand

These are the four luxury hotels featured in the HBO anthology’s third season – plus a few others for the vibe but avoiding the rush.

December 2024

Mourners lay flowers at a memorial for victims of the Muan plane crash.

‘Verging on criminal’: Questions over concrete wall in plane crash

Experts have questioned the location and composition of a runway wall after the South Korean plane smashed into the barrier and burst into flames this week.

We check into the next White Lotus resort

The third series of the streaming hit is set in the exclusive Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui. Here’s what it’s like.

October 2024

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will meet in Laos.

Albanese to press China on trade

The Association of South-East Asian Nations leaders’ summit will take place in Vientiane, Laos this week, the latest international push by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

September 2024

Penny Wong has raised the alarm on the decline in the study of Asian languages in Australia.

Why has a long-term understanding with Asia eluded us?

Even as Australia has become more multicultural, the best we can manage is a pragmatic relationship punctuated with fits of enthusiasm.

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August 2024

Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

Young, Instagram-friendly heir becomes Thailand’s new PM

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the 37-year-old daughter of the political power broker Thaksin Shinawatra, is becoming prime minister at a chaotic time.

July 2024

An advertisement for Aion EVs in Bangkok’s business district.

How China upends a country’s entire car market

The overseas push is the next phase in Beijing’s long-term strategy to focus on new energy vehicles and upend the balance of power in the automobile industry.

May 2024

Rescue workers at the scene of the helicopter crash that killed Iran’s president and foreign minister this week.

How sanctions played havoc with Iran’s ageing helicopters

The US-made Bell 212 carrying the country’s president and foreign minister was almost 30 years old when it crashed into a mountainside.

April 2024

This image from video provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation shows the surface of the moon as the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft prepared for landing in August last year.  India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole.

China set to launch high-stakes mission to moon’s ‘hidden’ side

China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia.

February 2024

Na

History’s hand on Prabowo’s shoulder

The new president, steeped in Indonesian nationalism, is likely to hew closely to Joko Widodo’s middle path between the US and China.

January 2024

Australia Day has always been controversial

It’s nothing new for the national holiday to be plagued by debates over its meaning and significance. Indeed, that’s become part and parcel of the day itself.

November 2023

This handout photo provided by the Israel Prime Minister’s Office shows Yahel Shoham, three years old, upon her arrival in Israel after being freed. Yahel was one of the 13 Israeli hostages that Hamas released late on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).

Hamas seeks to extend ceasefire as it releases third hostage group

Most of the hostages were handed over directly to Israel, waving to a cheering crowd as they arrived at an air force base on Sunday local time.

Retailer Dusk is being targeted by an obscure Thai shareholder who is calling for a buyback.

Dusk finds itself in the sight of a Thai hedge fund demanding cash

BNG Special Situations says the candle and diffuser retailer has plenty of cash, no debt and is trading cheaply. Its annual meeting is scheduled for Monday.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, right, talks to one of the freed Thai hostages at the Shamir Medical Centre in Tel Aviv.

Hamas frees Israeli, Thai hostages in second stage of truce deal

Television images showed hostages on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing after leaving Gaza, as Hamas handed the captives to the Red Cross.

Amaani Cassim, 16, joins several thousand other demonstrators marching against the APEC  Summit.

Protesters converge ahead of Xi-Biden meeting

Representatives of more than 100 grassroots groups have gathered in San Francisco to demonstrate against a meeting of 21 heads of state.

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A wealthy German engineer and entrepreneur, Rüdiger Koch, declared that the Thai authorities “need to learn their lesson … You have to realise you are a single f---ing human, even if you are an admiral. And we’re coming for you.”

How not to assassinate an admiral in Phuket

Kobus Steyn thought he’d found a whale of a client. Then his assignment turned from make-work to murder.

factory

Asian factory output slumps as China’s recovery teeters

The data are a discouraging sign for the global economy, which has had its bid for recovery threatened by uncertainty over the Israel-Hamas war.

October 2023

Heritage Line’s luxurious Anouvong cruises the upper Mekong between Luang Prabang and the Thai border.

Unwind on a Mekong River cruise: an ex-monk will show you how

Leave Western cares behind on this voyage into Asia’s lush Golden Triangle in Laos. Downing home-made whisky with a village elder is optional.

National Day celebrations in Beijing this week. Economists expected China’s rebound from strict pandemic controls to be stronger and more sustained.

Asia faces one of its worst growth outlooks in 50 years: World Bank

The World Bank said it now expected China’s economic output would grow 4.4 per cent in 2024, down from the 4.8 per cent it expected in April.

September 2023

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, speaks to the media last week.

Pheu Thai puts populist face on Thailand’s discredited establishment

The governing Thai party is risking a lot with its alliance with the remnants of the junta government. It could all just end in yet more political instability.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/thailand-fxd