DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

[1/2] Natthawaree Mulkan, embraces her family as she arrived back home after losing touch for nearly two months when she was taken hostage by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Khon Kaen, Thailand November 30, 2023 . Let’s go back home," she told her mother at an airport in Khon Kaen province in northeastern Thailand. A relative tied holy threads on Natthawaree's wrist and on the wrist of her partner Boonthoom Phankhongwas in a Thai homecoming ritual. The two were among the first 10 Thai hostages freed by Hamas during the first truce of the war in Gaza. Natthawaree, 35 and a mother of two, was seen hugging her daughter before the family got into a van to go home.

Persons: Napat, Natthawaree Mulkan, we're, ” Natthawaree, clasped, Let’s, Boonthoom Phankhongwas, Thais, Chayut Setboonsarng, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Hamas, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Palestinian, Khon Kaen, Thailand, Gaza

☆ Thais give digital spin to ancient 'floating basket' festival
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Over the centuries, people have sent 'krathongs' - small, baskets made from plants and loaded with flowers, candles and bamboo - down waterways to make wishes and pay their respects to water spirits. The beautiful 'floating basket' or Loy Krathong festival lights up Bangkok's canals and rivers at night - but often leaves organisers scrabbling to clear canals clogged up with hundreds of thousands of soggy vessels the next morning. This will help reduce waste," said 11-year-old Jirayada Surapant, showing off her design by a Bangkok canal on Monday evening. Across the capital, monks set out in row boats to scoop up the physical krathongs and recycle them into animal feed. Reporting by Napat Wesshasartar, Artorn Pookasook and Thomas Suen; Writing by Chayut Setboonsarng, Edited by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Loy Krathong, Loy, scrabbling, Mathee Vatchara Prachatorn, Napat Wesshasartar, Artorn Pookasook, Thomas Suen, Chayut Setboonsarng, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Thomson Locations: Samut Songkram, Thailand, BANGKOK, Bangkok

[1/3] Noopar Pansa-ard, 63, prays for her son, Somkuan Pansa-ard, 39, a Thai labour who was killed in Israel in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at a temple in Kalasin province, Thailand, October 11, 2023. "I told him - don't talk like that ... My heart will shatter if you don't return," Noopar said. A day later, her son Somkuan Pansa-ard, 39, was killed during an attack by Hamas militants on Israel, where he had gone to work in a fruit plantation to send money back to help his family repay a loan. It was not clear where in Israel Somkuan had been killed. So far, 20 Thai nationals have been killed and 14 taken hostage in the conflict, the Thai foreign ministry says.

Persons: Somkuan, Thomas Suen, Noopar Pansa, Noopar, Somkuan Pansa, Israel Somkuan, Khraboan Pansa, Khraboan, Chayut Setboonsarng, Miral Organizations: ard, Hamas, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Thai, Israel, Palestinian, Kalasin province, Thailand, Somkuan's

Oct 10 (Reuters) - When 26-year-old Natthaporn Onkaew headed for Israel two years ago to join thousands of fellow Thai migrants and take a job as a farm worker, his father warned him not to go. Now his words have come hauntingly true: Natthaporn is among 11 Thais and scores of other hostages taken by Hamas militants in their unprecedented assault on Israel at the weekend. He is one of 30,000 Thais working in Israel, mainly in the agricultural sector. Among numerous nations with citizens caught up in the conflagration, 18 Thais have also been killed and nine injured. Thailand and the Philippines are among the largest sources of migrant workers for Israel, the Filipinos mainly in healthcare.

Persons: Natthaporn, Onkaew, Thawatchai Onkaew, Thongkoon Onkaew, I'm, Thais, Napat Wesshasartar, Thomas Suen, Chayut, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Hamas, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Israel, Palestinian, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, SAENG, Baan, Philippines

People flee following shots fired at the luxury Siam Paragon shopping mall, in Bangkok, Thailand, October 3, 2023. China is vital to that effort as the biggest source of foreign visitors to Thailand in pre-COVID years. 'SHOCKED'Chinese visitors accounted for 11 million of a record 39.9 million foreign tourists to Thailand in 2019, before the pandemic. Thailand recorded 20 million foreign tourist arrivals in the January to October period, who spent 839 billion baht ($22.58 billion). At the re-opened Siam Paragon mall, on a typically gridlocked thoroughfare, crowds were trickling back.

Persons: Devjyot, Srettha Thavisin, Thapanee Kiatphaibool, Somsong Sachaphimukh, Dong Peijian, Napat Wesshasartar, Thomas Suen, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Police, Siam Paragon, Tourism Authority of, Tourism Council, Thomson Locations: Siam, Bangkok, Thailand, Rights BANGKOK, China, Myanmar, Asia's, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thai, Southeast Asia

[1/5] A Chinese tourist is welcomed by Thai traditional puppets during a welcome ceremony of the first batch of Chinese tourists under a five-month visa-free entry scheme at Bangkok's International Airport, Thailand, September 25, 2023. The visa waiver programme runs from Sept. 25 until February next year. The government expects 2.88 million Chinese visitors during that 5-month period, slightly higher than the 2.34 million Chinese who have visited this year. "More Chinese tourists come to Thailand for holiday, because it is indeed very convenient," he said. Chinese tourists say they are drawn to Thailand for its beaches and food.

Persons: Athit, Srettha Thavisin, Srettha, Gu, ”, Ye Weihe, Panarat Thepgumpanat, Miral Fahmy, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Bangkok's International, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Thai, Thailand, Rights BANGKOK, Bangkok, Shanghai, Srettha, Tourism, Suvarnabhumi, China, Pattaya

☆ As the sea warms, struggling Cambodian fishermen seek to preserve crab stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Thomas Suen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Fisherman Ung Bun, 39, sits in his boat out at sea off the coast of Cambodia's southern Kep province, Cambodia August 18, 2023. Ung Bun dropped the crab - a male that was too small - back into the sea. The Cambodia government's crab releasing campaign dates back to 2010 but this year it began working with Wild Earth Allies, a non-profit organisation. I can hardly afford to buy gasoline to go out to fish or pay for my children's school fees, and so I face problems with my family," Ung Bun said. "If the villagers see my work, many would not understand what I'm doing," Ung Bun said.

Persons: Bun, Thomas Suen, Ung Bun, Ung, hasn't, Kay Johnson, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, University of Maine's, Allies, Thomson Locations: Kep province, Cambodia, Kep, Kampot

CHONBURI, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Thai farmers marked the beginning of rice cultivation during the monsoon season on Sunday with their annual water buffaloes race which dates back to the 1800s. More than 60 buffaloes took part in the race along a 200-meter dirt track in the Napa sub-district of Chonburi province, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of the capital Bangkok. Samart Suksawang, mayor of Napa, said the event honours the buffalo's traditional role as beast of burden in rice farming. Though many farmers now use tractors for rice ploughing, water buffaloes are still kept for other duties like carrying. The race took place in hot dry weather, with a 5% drop in rainfall forecast for the July-October monsoon, according to the country's Meteorological Department.

Persons: Samart Suksawang, we've, Noppadorn Ponpaiparn, it's, We're, Napat Wesshasartar, Thomas Suen, Panu, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: CHONBURI, country's Meteorological Department, Thomson Locations: Napa, Chonburi, Bangkok

REUTERS/Thomas Suen/File PhotoJOHANNESBURG, March 28 (Reuters) - China spent $240 billion bailing out 22 developing countries between 2008 and 2021, with the amount soaring in recent years as more have struggled to repay loans spent building "Belt & Road" infrastructure, according to a study published Tuesday. People's Bank of China (PBOC) swap lines accounted for $170 billion of the rescue financing, including in Suriname, Sri Lanka and Egypt. China's rescue lending is "opaque and uncoordinated," said Brad Parks, one of the report's authors, and director of AidData, a research lab at William & Mary College in the United States. China is negotiating debt restructurings with countries including Zambia, Ghana and Sri Lanka and has been criticised for holding up the processes. In response, it has called on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to also offer debt relief.

CNN —Nearly two-and-a-half years after the Trump administration threatened to ban TikTok in the United States if it didn’t divest from its Chinese owners, the Biden administration is now doing the same. The new directive comes from the multiagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), following years of negotiations between TikTok and the government body. “If protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem,” TikTok spokesperson Maureen Shanahan said in a statement. TikTok is really only a national security risk insofar as the Chinese government may have leverage over TikTok or its parent company. China has national security laws that require companies under its jurisdiction to cooperate with a broad range of security activities.

In a last minute U-turn, two days before the tournament's opening match, international soccer governing body FIFA said on Friday that alcoholic beer would not be sold at Qatar's World Cup stadiums. Now fans can only consume beer at the FIFA Fan Festival in Doha. "Not having alcohol is not good because the World Cup it's a party of the world," said Brazilian fan Julio Cesar, wearing a felt hat in his country's colours. The 2022 World Cup is the first edition of the tournament held in a conservative Muslim country with strict controls on alcohol, the consumption of which is banned in public. For the fans unfazed by Qatar's dire human rights record, the absence of beer at World Cup venues has proven a major disappointment.

☆ As world population hits 8 billion, China frets over too few babies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Such decisions by countless people like Tang will determine the course not only of China's population but that of the world, which the United Nations says is projected to reach 8 billion on Tuesday. Tang, 39, said many of his married friends have only one child and, like him, they are not planning any more. But now the United Nations expects China's population will start shrinking from next year, when India will likely become the world’s most populous country. China's fertility rate of 1.16 in 2021 was below the 2.1 OECD standard for a stable population and among the lowest in the world. The proportion of the population over the age of 65 is now about 13% but is set to rise sharply.

BEIJING, Oct 14 (Reuters) - China's ultra-strict COVID-19 curbs are taking a toll on businesses and jobseekers as Beijing stresses again and again the need to maintain its zero-tolerance approach to the virus, to save lives, if not livelihoods. Keeping a lid on China's COVID death toll has come at a cost to its economy. Business was disrupted at first by temporary closures to comply with COVID policies. In January-March, China's economy barely grew as authorities battled with the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Since July, Zheng Mili, 30, has sent hundreds of job applications and done dozens of interviews in Beijing.

Search resuls for: "Thomas Suen"

13 mentions found