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This time, Pheu Thai is polling strongly along with the progressive, youth-oriented, Move Forward party. 'LOOKING FOR A DEAL'But bringing her father home may ultimately be the deciding factor for Pheu Thai, and that would force it into a deal with the establishment. "Post election, Pheu Thai will be biding its time and looking for a deal. That's why I think the likelihood of Pheu Thai going with Move Forward is very slim." He said he could envision a deal that allowed Thaksin to return in exchange for minimal jail time and a promise not to run for office.

☆ US Women's Open: Nine-year-old Brazilian Bella Simoes becomes youngest ever to attempt qualification
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

At nine years old, the Brazilian is the youngest player ever to attempt qualification to the tournament, set to tee off at California’s acclaimed Pebble Beach course for the first time in its 78-year history in July. Follow along @FSGA ➡️ https://t.co/622czXdhXk pic.twitter.com/4aYolLLL21 — U.S. Women's Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) May 9, 2023Yet that should come as no surprise given Simões’ already-impressive résumé. Aged 14 in 2004, she bested many of the world's top men's players' and major winners at the Sony Open (pictured) despite narrowly missing the cut. The Brazilian shot 23-over par, as two players – Lindy Duncan and Brooke Matthews – secured automatic qualification with scores of 10-under and 8-under respectively. Kimberly Williams, a 60-year-old pro from Bethesda, Maryland, was the oldest player to attempt qualification this year, according to the USGA.

The sole breadwinner of a family of five is about 8 million baht ($236,000) in debt and has no cash savings. In February, it said that household debt levels should be brought down from 86.9% of GDP at the end of 2022 to below 80% to help reduce financial risks. Political parties' extravagant election promises could increase the macro-economic risks posed by debt, analysts say. "There was no warning," said Achin Chunglog, president of a nationwide group of volunteers that helps people struggling with debt. In the rural hinterland, 90% of farm households have outstanding loans, according to a March study that described a "vicious cycle of debt".

☆ Thailand's influential ex-PM Thaksin eyes July return from exile
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Panu Wongcha-Um | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BANGKOK, May 9 (Reuters) - Thailand's billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Tuesday he would return home in July after 17 years in self-imposed exile, just days ahead of an election his party is expected to win. Although Thaksin, arguably Thailand's most influential and divisive former leader, has failed to make good on numerous pledges to return, his remarks on Twitter were the first time in recent years that he has set a timeframe. The latest surveys show parties in the ruling, military-backed coalition far adrift of Pheu Thai and another opposition party, Move Forward. In a later Twitter comment, Thaksin said he would not "be a burden to Pheu Thai" and his return would follow legal processes. But his family and business clique is reviled by some of Thailand's most powerful families and institutions, including the military.

☆ Thailand election: Campaign freebies may be a 'band-aid solution' with fiscal risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Nyshka Chandran | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

A Thai protester with a sign calling for equal workers' rights and a fair election at a Labor Day rally in Bangkok in 2023. Experts widely agree that pro-democracy groups are expected to perform strongly in light of deep-seated discontent with the current military-affiliated administration. Contenders can be divided into two categories: parties that support the pro-military establishment and a pro-democracy camp of opposition factions. Few details have been provided about funding, worrying economists who say those policies would weigh on already stretched public finances after significant fiscal support during the pandemic. Only the Move Forward party has campaigned on changing the defamation law, while Pheu Thai previously said it will consider discussing it in Parliament.

☆ Thai election agency criticised after snags in early voting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BANGKOK, May 8 (Reuters) - Thailand's election commission came under scrutiny on Monday after what a monitoring group said were widespread complaints in early voting, fuelling concern on social media about the competence of a body appointed under military rule. The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) said it had received 92 complaints and investigations were going on. "They don't understand the system so they only do what they understand," Yingcheep said, adding many complaints were over the same issues. The hashtag "why do we have an election commission?" The commission at the time denied wrongdoing and said it needed time to allow recounts, disqualifications and by-elections.

☆ Thai voters cast early ballots one week before election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] People cast their early vote for the upcoming Thailand's general election at a polling station in Bangkok, Thailand, May 7, 2023. REUTERS/Athit PerawongmethaBANGKOK, May 7 (Reuters) - Many Thais lined up on Sunday in long queues to vote early in parliamentary elections scheduled for May 14. More than 2 million Thais had registered for early voting out of 52 million eligible voters who are aged 18 and above, according to the country's election commission. "I wish to see change and improvement in management," said 51-year-old Gosol Pungtaku, one of the 800,000 Bangkok residents who registered for one-day-only early voting in the capital. Opposition Pheu Thai Party, a populist group that won five general elections before 2019 and was ousted by Prayuth in the coup, is leading in most polls followed by the progressive Move Forward Party.

☆ China's Hozon to produce EVs in Thailand for Southeast Asian market
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BANGKOK, May 6 (Reuters) - China's Hozon New Energy Automobile will make electric vehicles in Thailand for the Southeast Asian market, a Thai official said on Saturday, as it follows others in building facilities in the region's major auto production hub. Hozon signed an agreement with Thailand's Bangchan General Assembly this week to start production of its NETA V model, expected in 2024, Thai government spokesperson Tipanan Sirichana said in a statement. The EV maker launched its NETA V model in the Thai market last year and planned to start offering its NETA U and NETA S models in the near future, Tipanan said. (TSLA.O)Last month, a Thai official said China's Changan Auto (000625.SZ) would invest $285 million in a facility in Thailand. It has set a target that 30% of domestic auto production be EVs by 2030.

☆ Thailand's Pita tops PM poll as opposition leads opinion surveys
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] FILE PHOTO-Pita Limjaroenrat, Move Forward Party's leader and prime ministerial candidate, reacts during an upcoming election campaign event in Bangkok, Thailand, April 22, 2023. Pita Limjaroenrat, 42, the charismatic leader of the Move Forward party, jumped ahead of Paetongtarn Shinawatra of the main opposition Pheu Thai, with 29.37% support versus her 27.55% in a countrywide survey by Nation media group. Reuters GraphicsBoth polls showed the pro-military Palang Pracharat party, the Democrats and Bhumjaithai - current coalition partners - trailing the opposition by a large margin. Most experts believe Pheu Thai will need to form an alliance to govern and Paetongtarn on Wednesday hinted it could partner with Move Forward and ruled out military-backed parties. Separately, a Super Poll survey on parties released on Friday of 14,332 people also showed Pheu Thai leading with 139 of 500 parliamentary seats, followed by Bhumjaithai with 112 seats, and Move Forward with 63 seats.

Her Pheu Thai Party is also leading in recent polls and has won every election since 2001, including two in landslides. If Pheu Thai can win a landslide and be government, we can make change straightaway." Asked about a Move Forward alliance, she said Pheu Thai would join "with parties that support our policies" and ruled out military-backed rivals. Paetongtarn's father Thaksin Shinawatra was prime minister for five years before he was ousted by the military in a 2006 coup. He didn't say he wants to be prime minister," she said.

☆ Thailand in talks with CATL, others on potential battery plants, govt official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Devjyot Ghoshal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We are talking to many companies, not only CATL but many companies in the battery industry," said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, Secretary General of Thailand Board of Investment (BOI). CATL, the world's dominant battery supplier with a 37% market share, currently has no production facilities in Southeast Asia, its website shows. In the past few years, Thailand has drawn investments from EV companies, mainly Chinese, including Great Wall Motors and BYD Co (002594.SZ). Narit said the government's goal was to direct support and subsidies to land larger battery production facilities. CATL currently has 13 battery production hubs, 11 in China, one in Hungary and one in Germany.

☆ Thai prime minister candidate gives birth two weeks before election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Thailand's leading prime ministerial candidate, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, gave birth on Monday to a baby boy two weeks before elections in which she hopes to return to power the populist movement her father and aunt led before army coups ousted them. Paetongtarn, 36, announced the birth on her official Facebook and Instagram accounts with a photo of the newborn. Paetongtarn, who goes by the nickname Ung Ing, has been first or second in polls for voters' favorite prime ministerial candidate throughout the campaign for the May 14 election, trading places with Pita Limjaroenrat of the progressive opposition Move Forward Party. The imminent arrival of Paetongtarn's second child had not kept her from the campaign trail until very recently. Her family's name recognition and her party's enduring popularity that has brought it a string of election victories could again bring it back to power.

☆ Thai PM candidate gives birth two weeks before election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Juarawee Kittisilpa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BANGKOK, May 1 (Reuters) - Thailand's leading prime ministerial candidate, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, gave birth on Monday to a baby boy two weeks before elections in which she hopes to return to power the populist movement her father and aunt led before army coups ousted them. Paetongtarn, 36, announced the birth on her official Facebook and Instagram accounts with a photo of the newborn. Paetongtarn, who goes by the nickname Ung Ing, has been first or second in polls for voters' favourite prime ministerial candidate throughout the campaign for the May 14 election, trading places with Pita Limjaroenrat of the progressive opposition Move Forward Party. Prayuth, who became a civilian prime minister after 2019 elections, trailed in fourth place in a mid-April poll for favourite prime ministerial candidate with 13.72%. However, Prayuth may have help from the 250-seat upper house Senate, whose appointed members were approved by the military junta Prayuth led for five years.

☆ Myanmar's neighbours, some ASEAN members hold secretive talks on crisis - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Devjyot Ghoshal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BANGKOK, April 26 (Reuters) - Government and think-tank representatives from Myanmar and its neighbours, including India and China, held talks in New Delhi on Tuesday as part of a secretive effort to de-escalate a bloody crisis in the army-run Southeast Asian nation, two sources said. One of the sources said participants were interested in bringing into the process Myanmar's shadow National Unity Government (NUG), an organisation affiliated with the resistance and declared "terrorists" by the junta. "The neighbouring countries' perspective needs to be taken into account," said the source, "For them, the foremost priority is the de-escalation of the violence." ASEAN has barred the junta from attending until they implement the plan, which has infuriated the generals. "This effort will not supplant ASEAN," the second source said of the ongoing talks, "This will only complement."

☆ Thai c.bank chief sees economy growing at 3.6% this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BANGKOK, April 24 (Reuters) - Thailand's economy is still seen growing at 3.6% this year, the central bank chief said on Monday, in spite of some turbulence in the first half of the year. Bank of Thailand (BOT) Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput told reporters exports are seen down 7.1% year-on-year in the first half of 2023, before rising 4.2% in the second half. Headline inflation, which cooled to 2.83% in March, is expected at 3.3% in first half and 2.5% in the second half. The BOT last month raised its benchmark rate by a quarter point to 1.75% to curb inflationary pressures. The BOT has raised its key rate by a total of 125 basis points since August, less aggressive than many of its peers.

☆ Thitikul charges through Chevron field to take share of lead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 23 (Reuters) - Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul charged up the leaderboard to share top spot with American Angel Yin in the final round of the Chevron Championship on Sunday, with the pair sitting two shots clear of the rest of the field. Thitikul's pair of bogeys were offset by five birdies after 15 holes at the Club at Carlton Woods near Houston, putting the twice LPGA winner within striking distance of a maiden major title. Yin recovered from a bogey on the very first hole to birdie the par-5 fourth and was level par for the round and 10 under total with the six holes to play. The outing was far less smooth for her compatriot and previous co-leader Allisen Corpuz, who bogeyed four times on the front nine and produced a single birdie on the par-5 eighth. Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York Editing by Toby DavisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Golfers tackle new test in uncharted Chevron Championship grounds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Apr 21, 2023; The Woodlands, Texas, USA; Chella Choi (KOR) drives off the first tee during the second round of The Chevron Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY SportsApril 21 (Reuters) - Golfers have risen to the varied challenges that the new home of the Chevron Championship in Carlton Woods Texas brought after moving from its longtime home at Mission Country Club in Palm Springs. World number two Nelly Korda overcame a rollercoaster round on what she claimed was a completely different course than the opening round on Thursday. Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit, 2021 Chevron winner, also took advantage of the course conditions posting the best early round of the day by returning a five under-67. It feels like we're not playing The Chevron Championship just because the grass and everything is so East Coast."

☆ Thai authorities issue extreme heat warnings for dozens of provinces
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Chalinee ThirasupaBANGKOK, April 22 (Reuters) - Thai authorities on Saturday warned residents across large swathes of country, including the capital Bangkok, to avoid going outdoors due to extreme heat. Parts of Asia are reporting extreme heat this month, with record-breaking temperatures seen in some countries. In Bangladesh and parts of India, extreme heat is leading to surge in power demand, causing power cuts and shortages for millions of people. Thailand's department of disaster prevention and mitigation said that temperatures will exceed 40 C in at least 28 provinces on Saturday. "What is happening right now is caused by climate change, influencing abnormal (weather) and a phenomenon that is called extreme weather," Mathinee Yucharoen, a researcher of coastal oceanography and climate change at Prince of Songkhla University, told Reuters.

BANGKOK, April 22 (Reuters) - Thailand's opposition bloc should stick together to dislodge the military from politics and form a government after an election in May, the leader of a popular opposition party told Reuters on the sidelines of a packed campaign rally on Saturday. Thailand's election, on May 14, is shaping up as a contest between pro-military conservatives and the populist opposition led by Pheu Thai Party and its ally the Move Forward Party. Two governments Pheu Thai supported were overthrown by military coups, in 2006 and 2014. He is contesting the upcoming election but recent opinion polls put him behind both Pheu Thai and Move Forward, who maintained first and second places. Pita said that support bases complimented compliment Pheu Thai, backed by the working class and farmers in the rural north and northeast.

☆ Vu at the top of early second round Chevron leaderboard
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 21 (Reuters) - Lilia Vu took advantage of soft conditions to move to the top the Chevron Championship leaderboard on Friday after the start of second round play at the year's first women's major was delayed by two hours due to heavy rain. "Really happy to finish today," said American Vu, the world number 12. The round left the American on six-over for the tournament well adrift of the projected one-over cut. Taiwan's Chien, the world's 189th-ranked player, was the surprise leader after round one and among the late starters on Friday along with world number one Lydia Ko. Second round play is expected to spill over into Saturday after more than two inches (5 cm) of rain dropped on the Jack Nicklaus designed layout overnight.

☆ Young Thais who questioned monarchy look to win seats in parliament
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Panu Wongcha-Um | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

They are bringing the issue of the role of monarchy in society into the open. Changing - though not abolishing - those laws is part of the platform of Lookkate's progressive Move Forward party, which is campaigning on reducing the severity of punishments for royal insult and how it is applied. Kanokrat said the protests had put issues such as LGBT rights and the ending of the military conscription on the agenda. They had energised the progressive left while at the same time triggering the rise of a right-wing royalist party, Thai Pakdee, which is campaigning on toughening up the lese majeste law, he said. "We have a real progressive left that connects with street politics and a far-right party that rises as a response."

☆ Celebrating Orthodox Easter
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Dave Lucas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

The Songkran festival, also known as the water festival, marks the start of Thailand's traditional New Year and is believed to wash away bad luck.

☆ Thailand's Songkran Water Festival washes away bad luck
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Dave Lucas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Tennessee state Representative Justin Jones returned to the state House on Monday, pumping his fist and declaring "power to the people" as a Nashville-area council restored him to office following his expulsion over a gun protest. Republican lawmakers ousted Jones and another young, Black legislator last week over their gun control protest on the House floor.

☆ New year revelry returns to Thai streets as tourism rebounds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Devjyot Ghoshal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] People play with water as they celebrate during the Songkran holiday which marks the Thai New Year in Bangkok, Thailand, April 13. Festivities for Songkran, a much-loved Thai festival sometimes described as the world's largest water fight, had been muted or barred for the past few years due mainly to COVID-19 restrictions. ABut as travellers now return to Thailand, the key tourism sector is helping revive Southeast Asia's second-largest economy. Thailand beat its target of 6 million tourist arrivals in the first quarter, recording 6.15 million visitors between January and late March, according to government data. At least 30 million tourists are expected to visit Thailand this year and spend 1.5 trillion baht ($43.74 billion), according to projections by the Tourism Council, an industry body.

[1/2] Anutin Charnvirakul, Bhumjaithai Party's leader and prime ministerial candidate, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Bangkok, Thailand, April 10, 2023. This time, new election rules favour bigger parties, and Bhumjaithai has strengthened its slate of candidates to compete with larger opponents. "Last time, Bhumjaithai Party won millions of votes from people who believed in the benefits of marijuana," he said. Some small parties have suggested amending it and Pheu Thai has raised the possibility of discussing it in parliament. "Protecting the monarchy is an inspiration for the party," Anutin said.

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