Bank of Thailand’s modest rate rise will not stymie current economic growth and momentum which is moving upwards. The last rate rise still leaves levels in Thailand well behind its peers in Asia and the United States with lower borrowing and deposit rates while core inflation is growing although the rate of consumer price rises in July was just below that seen in June.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/08/11/bank-of-thailand-tailored-rate-rise-of-25-basis-points/

Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok.

2022 could be the year that Thai Airways returns to operational profitability as the Minister of Finance reveals that state banks will provide any required facilities for the flag carrier as it currently plays a strategically important role in flying in foreign tourists to the kingdom while now on target to complete its business rehabilitation plan early by 2024.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/08/10/thai-airways-flies-high-carrying-tourists-in/

Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok.

Owner of the gutted and soon-to-be demolished entertainment venue in Sattahip, Pattaya promises to make amends to families of those who died and were injured as he appeared in court facing a negligent homicide charge with police objecting to bail on the basis that the case involved serious criminality. Earlier, the man’s lawyer told reporters that his client may have been mentally ill when he confessed to police at Phlu Ta Luang Police Station.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/08/09/pattaya-court-grants-bail-to-mountain-b-fire-boss/

Carla Boonkong reports from Chonburi province

Leading social development expert says that the current discussion about the source of monkeypox infections is leading to both homophobic and xenophobic discourse as the Department of Disease Control mulls who to target with vaccines against the disease and if they will come to get them.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/08/08/monkeypox-case-in-a-woman-stigma-fears/

James Morris reports from Bangkok.

Top engineer says Thailand does not yet seem to have learned lessons from the Santika nightclub fire in Bangkok in 2009 which killed 66 people in New Year’s Eve celebrations as an extensive survey is launched in Bangkok and other provinces probing entertainment venues with 83 already shuttered in the capital and more expected to follow as 19 people fight for their lives in hospital on ventilators after Friday morning’s nightmare inferno.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/08/07/no-circuit-breaker-at-death-trap-nightclub-mountain-b/

Carla Boonkong reports from Chonburi and Bangkok.

China’s diplomatic efforts are now countered by a larger diplomatic presence in the region on behalf of the United States and Japan as Foreign Minister Wang Yi walked out of a Phnom Penh gala dinner this week. On Thursday, the communist country reminded Thailand of its commitment to the One China principle by which Bangkok recognises its sovereignty over the renegade island while it engaged in the largest military drill in its history just 20km off Taiwan as it simulated a blockade of the island by sea and air as its forces encircled it at six points.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/08/05/china-may-act-by-2024-to-blockade-taiwan/

Joseph O' Connor reports from Bangkok and Phnom Penh.

Authorities in Phuket this week confirmed that the 25-year-old German man who is believed to have picked up the infection abroad is neither homosexual nor bisexual. The foreign tourist entered Thailand and first began to suffer symptoms on July 23rd with blisters spreading on his body until he sought medical attention last Tuesday at a private hospital on the island where a monkeypox infection was confirmed.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/08/04/german-girlfriend-negative-for-monkeypox/

James Morris reports from Phuket and Bangkok.

Alert and assiduous Immigration Bureau officer at Bang Khen Immigration Bureau Detention Centre in Bangkok foiled efforts by a senior serving police officer and another man connected with the plot to gain access to the British national being held after his arrest and pending his extradition on foot of an Interpol notice.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/07/20/big-joke-reveals-fraud-linked-to-uk-detainee/

James Morris reports from Bangkok.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan ocha expressed optimism about the economic situation on Tuesday saying the kingdom’s prospects had not been as good since 2017. However, it will still be next year before Thailand recovers its economic equilibrium after the disastrous 2020 setback when the economy contracted by 6.1%.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/08/03/economic-upswing-1-million-tourists-a-month/

Carla Boonkong reports from Bangkok.

The landing of the US House of Representatives Speaker in Taipei has triggered a major crisis between China and the United States in the region and will be viewed as a victory in a test of confidence between the two powers for America and personally for Nancy Pelosi. However, it is feared that this may be only the beginning as China’s Foreign Ministry, on Tuesday, warned the United States that there will be a price to pay while officials again repeated President Xi Jinping’s chilling message to President Biden that things will not end well for those who play with fire.

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/08/02/pelosi-defies-communist-china-over-taiwan/

James Morris reports from Bangkok, Singapore and Taipei