Thailand’s vision for a land bridge splits opinion: some see it as a crucial new Asian trade route for a global economy held hostage by geography, while others view it as an expensive and environmentally ruinous distraction for a kingdom with plenty already on its plate. But to its backers, the proposed road and rail corridor, bookended by ports on the Gulf of Thailand and another 90km (56 miles) away on the Andaman Sea, to bypass a vital chokepoint, has never felt more urgent. Iran’s virtual...
The age of cheap oil is over and Thailand’s rooftops are reflecting that fact. Across homes, garages and warehouses in the sun-drenched kingdom, the blue-black sheen of solar panels is spreading, as the Iran war has done what years of climate summits could not: turn solar power into a necessity. Demand for solar panels has swamped companies like Wayso, whose managing director is colouring in Thailand’s rooftops as fast as he can find technicians to do it. “We can’t hire quickly enough,” Suwat...
The world’s largest water fight erupted across Bangkok on Monday as the three-day annual Songkran festival drew a surge in tourists to a country whose bruised economy badly needed a reason to celebrate. Thailand has refused to let a fuel crisis triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran dampen its traditional New Year’s celebrations, even as prices spike for everything from petrol to ice during the hottest month of the year. The water festival – also known as Thingyan in neighbouring Myanmar and...