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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

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Checkpoint Ambush Leave Five Rangers Dead

Gunmen attacked the Bukeh Sami checkpoint in Rangae district, Narathiwat, on Wednesday evening, killing five members of Ranger Task Force Regiment 45 and wounding six civilians, including some children. Before escaping, the attackers stripped the checkpoint of weapons, bulletproof vests and mobile phones. Their pickup turned up torched 21 kilometers away in Sri Sakhon district, with a burned Songkhla license plate the only trace left behind. No group has yet claimed responsibility, but it is one of the deadliest strikes on security forces in years. PM Anutin Charnvirakul said it was a "brazen act of terrorism," while Army Chief of Staff Gen. Chaipruk Duangprapat flew to Narathiwat and promised to hunt the attackers down "whichever country supports them." Formal talks with the BRN, last held in December, were expected to restart in June, but they never did.

Read more: AP News (pipe bombs), CNA (governor visit), Bangkok Post (victims), Khaosod English (security order), Al Jazeera (death toll)

Chinese Embassy Pressures Cinemas On Taiwan Film Fest

A caller claiming to speak for the Chinese embassy called two Bangkok cinemas on July 22 and demanded that they remove Taiwan's Ministry of Culture logo from promotional materials for the Taiwan Documentary and Film Festival. When organizer Thida Plitpholkarnpim refused, the caller, speaking Thai with a Chinese accent, apparently started getting loud and threatening. A person identifying himself as an embassy official then showed up at one venue the next day to repeat the request. He said he would report the matter to his superiors and try to escalate it "to a national level." Thida said it was apparently the first such interference in the festival's eight-year run. Taiwan's representative Peter Lan said he had received no calls from Thai government officials about the incident. The festival, with 17 Taiwanese films in Bangkok and Khon Kaen, opened as scheduled. This story might be well-paired with the next one.

Read more: The Tribune (opening remarks), Taipei Times (Ang Lee film)

Anutin Signs Beijing's Taiwan Line, Taipei Objects

Anutin Charnvirakul's five-day China trip, which came to a close on July 20, resulted in at least 15 cooperation deals in AI, aviation, anti-money laundering and more, in addition to a joint statement backing Beijing's "one country, two systems" formula on Taiwan. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry rejected the wording, as Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said it was “false.”. Lin stopped short of threatening the visa-free arrangement between Taiwan and Thailand, saying travel policy is based on reciprocity and equal treatment, not politics. Back in Bangkok, Anutin took the stage at the Thailand-China Cooperation Expo to promise Chinese investors fast-track approvals by way of the BOI and EEC office and to personally guarantee their security.

Read more: Bangkok Tribune (railway pledge), Taiwan News (Lin Chia-lung), Asian News Network (expo jobs)

Bangkok Closes Door on Cambodia Border Talks

Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow says "the door has closed" on land border negotiations after Cambodia took the maritime dispute to UNCLOS compulsory conciliation. The Joint Boundary Commission has not met since October 2025, as Thailand postponed an earlier meeting during its general election. Phnom Penh says Bangkok walked away from the bilateral maritime framework first.

Read more: Prachatai English

Bitkub Charged for Hidden 1.7 Billion Baht Hack

The biggest crypto exchange has been hit with criminal charges over a 1.7 billion baht hack that it kept off its books. The SEC claims that after hackers stole 16 types of digital assets in May 2021, Bitkub's daily net liquid capital reports filed between May 10 and October 30 showed no meaningful dip in assets. Bitkub made customers whole by October 31, 2021, then kept filing clean reports. Former directors Sakolkorn Sakavee and Thaweesap Rawan, who signed the filings, are named along with the company and have additional charges for false statements in corporate documents. The case will go to the Economic Crime Suppression Division, then prosecutors, then the courts.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Bitcoin Miners Skip the Meter in Samut Sakhon

Raids on seven sites in Samut Sakhon and Nakhon Pathom netted about 1,900 mining rigs after operators tapped directly into 22-kilovolt lines, bypassing meters on the high-voltage side of transformers. A legitimate 2,000-machine setup would use about 22 million baht (~$650k) a month in power. These facilities apparently only paid 10,000 to 25,000 baht. The total value of the stolen electricity is being figured to be more than 280 million baht, and the seized equipment is valued at 200 million.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Yuan Passes Yen in Thai Wallets

The yuan is now involved in about 5% of trade transactions, edging past the yen as importers look for cheaper settlement on the $42.2 billion in non-dollar, non-euro, non-yen imports last year. That is up sharply compared to the $18.2 billion reported in 2015. The dollar still owns 80%. The rupee, discussed for years, remains stuck below 1%.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Chinese Corruption Reporter Faces Deportation

Fifty-nine rights groups signed a statement last week urging Thailand not to deport Bai Zhaodong, an investigative journalist who spent more than 25 years reporting on corruption before Yulin's Public Security Bureau issued an "extortion" warrant in September 2024. Bai has been held at the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Center since January. Rights groups say Bai has faced six separate rounds of Chinese criminal charges connected to his reporting on money laundering that implicated senior CCP figures in Shaanxi. UN Special Rapporteur Andrea Bolanos Vargas has also called on Thai authorities to bring an end to deportation proceedings and help move the man to a third country.

Read more: Prachatai English

Court Convicts First Conscientious Objector

The Samut Prakan Provincial Court has found Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal guilty of draft evasion, giving him a six-month sentence suspended for a year. It’s the first such conviction of a conscientious objector in Thailand. The court used a prior Constitutional Court ruling to claim that the Military Service Act makes no exception for religious belief or conscience. Five Harvard Divinity School scholars, including Buddhist Studies professor Janet Gyatso, wrote to the court asking it to let Netiwit, now enrolled in the school's Master of Theological Studies program, return to finish his degree. No word yet on an appeal.

Read more: Prachatai English (indictment), Thai Enquirer (supporters), Prachatai English (academic record)

Finance Ministry Weighs $714M EV Fleet Swap

The Finance Ministry is weighing a 24 billion baht ($714 million) program to replace up to 80,000 taxis, tuk-tuks, motorcycle taxis, buses and trucks with EVs. Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat says the government is now reconsidering whether to extend help to every vehicle category, not only commercial fleets. The push got a bump after this month's Constitutional Court ruling clearing a 400 billion baht borrowing plan. The Energy Regulatory Commission is expanding its direct power purchase pilot, first opened to data centers, to EV makers, steel, auto parts, electronics and health care firms as "special electricity users.” ERC secretary-general Poonpat Leesombatpiboon said exporters without clean-power credentials have the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to worry about, but transmission capacity is limited and the rollout will be phased. Data centers will still be the priority through this year.

Read more: CNA (EV sales), Bangkok Post (power users)

AC Exports Ride Europe's Heat Dome

Air conditioner exports were $149 million in May, up almost 41 percent year-on-year and the strongest month since October 2025, pushing year-to-date shipments to $784 million. Germany bought $30.8 million worth (up almost 90 percent), Finland's orders more than quadrupled, and Sweden's almost tripled. The Trade Policy and Strategy Office said an early heat dome pushed May temperatures in parts of Western Europe up more than 10 degrees Celsius above normal, forcing retailers to restock ahead of a summer the World Meteorological Organization expects to run hot through September. Reversible units with heat pump features, favored under EU energy rules, led category growth. Air conditioning still extends to only about one in five European households, compared to a global average of more than one-third.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Cognizant and Gulf Edge Chase AI-Native Pitch

Cognizant and Gulf Edge, the digital infrastructure arm of Gulf Development, are teaming up to sell AI services in Thailand, starting with banking, energy and health care. The offering puts together Gulf Edge's data centers, cloud and satellite capabilities and Cognizant's engineering muscle. The tie-up could eventually result in the creation of 1,000-or-so high-skilled jobs. Gulf CEO Sarath Ratanavadi said it was a step toward making the country "an AI-native economy." The partners also hope to work with universities and public-sector bodies on talent development.

Read more: Khaosod English (Ratanavadi), Investing.com (announcement), Stocktitan (infrastructure), TradingView (Reuters)

Chiang Mai Wants a Direct Line to India

The government is making a case for direct flights between Chiang Mai and India, in addition to more efficient use of cargo connections between Ranong Port and Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata, betting the Andaman coast can pull tourists past Bangkok and shorten cargo routes to South Asia. Indian arrivals were 1,056,729 from January to May 2026, up almost 8 percent year-on-year. Talks with Indian carriers are under way, but no airline has, as of yet, committed to the Chiang Mai route.

Read more: Nation Thailand

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

Bar Fire Kills 32; 2008 Loophole Still Open

The Rong Beer Na Ladprao fire killed 32 people and hospitalized more than 70, making it Bangkok's deadliest blaze since the Santika Club fire killed 67 on New Year's Eve 2008 which resulted in the 2012 fire-safety overhaul. Police found beer crates blocking one fire exit, a table blocking another, and a third door near the restrooms bolted shut because the owner feared customers would slip out without paying. Officials told PM Anutin Charnvirakul that the door was marked "staff only" and unknown to patrons. Investigators say combustible foam soundproofing and plastic flowers around the stage fed the flames within seconds of a short circuit in a ceiling air conditioner. None of the 2012 post-Santika rules on fire-resistant materials, sprinklers, or properly sized exits applied, because the venue was registered as a "restaurant with live music" rather than an “entertainment venue.” Opposition MP Paramait Vithayaruksun told parliament that venues outside Bangkok's three designated entertainment zones are unable to get proper licenses even when operators are willing to meet the standards.

Read more: AP News (licensing gap), CNA (occupancy limits), BBC (Mountain B), BBC (owner history), ABC (flashover)

Four Chinese Dissidents Held as Anutin Visits Xi

Bai Zhaodong, the Caixin investigative journalist who spent 25 years reporting on Communist Party corruption, has been in Bangkok's Suan Phlu detention center since January, barred from leaving the country under a Yulin arrest warrant for "extortion." Zhang Xinyan, a UN-recognized refugee and Falun Gong practitioner wanted by Hong Kong police on a HK$200,000 bounty, was pulled off her July 8 flight to Vancouver. Her lawyers have not been able to talk to her since July 9 and have filed a torture and enforced-disappearance petition with the South Bangkok Criminal Court. Rights groups say Zhou Junyi and Tan Yixiang have the same deportation risk. Thai immigration have not been willing to say where Zhang is being held.

Read more: Prachatai English (UN review), Philenews (journalists), Prachatai English (Zhang hearing), Prachatai English (Bai warrant)

Appeals Court Upholds Lese-Majeste Conviction

Bangkok's Appeals Court upheld a two-year sentence against lawyer-activist Anon Nampa, the first lese-majeste conviction to reach appellate review in the current wave of protest-era cases. Another individual, a programmer named Atirut, has withdrawn his Supreme Court appeal and will serve 1 year 8 months at Bangkok Remand Prison for shouting "you are a burden wherever you go" at King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida's motorcade in October 2022. His March appellate loss was based on the idea that calling the royals a burden "leads to hate, loss of faith, and conflict." The ruling said Atirut has a bachelor's degree and "therefore should know right from wrong."

Read more: Thai Enquirer (case tally), Prachatai English (sentence)

800,000-Baht Exam Bribery Scheme Unravels

The Central Committee for Local Government Personnel Examinations will come together today so they can decide the fate of 3,621 local officials, the first group expected to be let go after investigators found their late-2025 exam scores had been electronically improved, often in exchange for bribes as high as 800,000 baht ($23,847). Almost 6,000 of 14,988 appointees had eyebrow-raising scores, and the Interior Ministry is now going to re-examine about 800,000 answer sheets and recount results for more than 400,000 candidates. Three suspects are in custody after a 17-day police and anti-corruption raid; one had fled to Laos before getting picked up. If convicted, they will probably get fines and may need to spend up to five years in prison. The PM said the scheme was "disgusting" and warned of a "vicious circle" of officials buying power to sell more of it.

Read more: CNA (dismissals), Bangkok Post (bribes), WION (reform)

Cabinet Restores India Visa-Free After 20% Slide

The cabinet has restored visa-free entry for Indian travelers for 30 days, half the 60 they lost when a May proposal to scrap the privilege was dropped before taking effect. Confusion seems to have been enough, as arrivals from India, the third-largest source market after China and Malaysia, fell almost a fifth as the threat remained unresolved. Tourism Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul said the 30-day window is matched with how Indians normally travel anyway; their trips normally run about a week. The overhaul reduces visa-free access down from 93 countries to 59. Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Malta and the Maldives all are getting the same 30-day terms. The new rules will take effect 15 days after publication in the Royal Gazette.

Read more: Bloomberg (policy reversal), Travelweekly Asia (tourism revenue), NDTV (Royal Gazette timeline)

Consumer Board Sends Spies Into EV Showrooms

The Office of the Consumer Protection Board has ordered inspections of EV dealers, starting with Bangkok showrooms, and says sellers need to post clear vehicle specs, battery performance data and warranty terms since complaints have started to pile up over slow claims, parts delays and unclear fine print. EV sales rose 70 percent in 2025 (about 140,000 units), to make up almost a quarter of new car sales. Chinese brands made up more than two-thirds of that number.

Read more: Eco-Business

Gunkul Wires Up for the AI Data-Center Boom

Gunkul Engineering wants to sell renewable power to foreign AI investors under the new direct-PPA pilot, a 2-gigawatt scheme from the Energy Regulatory Commission that lets clean-energy firms avoid restrictions on peer-to-peer power trading. CEO Naruechon Dhumrongpiyawut says the company is taking lessons from its Philippine operations, where a liberalized market already allows direct sales, partly as a hedge against delays at home. BOI applications totaled more than a trillion baht in Q1 2026, up almost two and a half times the prior year, ~90% of the total coming from data center and cloud services investments.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Marsh Buys Out Its 48-Year Thai Partner

Marsh McLennan took full control of its local broking business, closing out a 48-year partnership with Bangkok's PB Group and founder Piya Jittalan. The renamed Marsh Risk (Thailand) Company Limited is now entirely inside the Marsh McLennan corporate structure as it no longer needs a local partner to satisfy the Foreign Business Act's old restrictions on insurance broking. Fully foreign-owned brokerages are allowed subject to licensing.

Read more: Insurance Business

Royal Orchid Blames Trustee for Missed Buyback

Royal Orchid Hotel missed the deadline to repurchase its Bangkok riverside property (the Royal Orchid Sheraton) for 4.87 billion baht and blames trustee MFC Asset Management for giving payment instructions that didn’t match the original sale-and-leaseback deal terms. Managing director Vitavas Vibhagool says the buyback is still on, that the dispute is simply procedural, and the company has no funding problem. ROH sent a representative to the land office on deadline day and has asked MFC to fix what it calls a breach. GROREIT's manager ONEAM is lining up Starwood as interim operator.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Chamber Tells Exporters to Route Around Hormuz

The Thai Chamber of Commerce is telling exporters to keep watching the Strait of Hormuz as the US-Iran ceasefire remains shaky (at best) and only a trickle of vessels is able to transit the strait. Chairman Poj Aramwattananont said shipping lines are already rerouting cargo to Khor Fakkan in the UAE and to Salalah and Sohar in Oman, adding time and expense to freight bound for the Middle East. No specific figures were shared about how much of an effect the changes are having on shipping costs. His advice is not to panic, but to keep watching energy and freight prices, keep inventories of raw materials and finished goods topped up, and arrange backup suppliers now. The chamber says it is ready to work together with the government if the conflict gets worse.

Read more: Bangkok Post

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

CP Wants Out of the Three-Airport Rail Deal

CP Group has sent the State Railway of Thailand a letter asking to end the three-airport high-speed rail contract, saying it still can’t get an investment promotion certificate from the Board of Investment or issue a notice to proceed with construction. SRT governor Anan Phonimdaeng said the matter will need to be sent to the Eastern Economic Corridor Policy Committee by August, after a joint committee meets on July 15 to settle the terms of what both sides are politely saying is a mutual termination. Killing the main contract also ends Asia Era One's right to run the Airport Rail Link, whose operating contract expires September 30. SRT is now working on contingency plans that may include hiring the private operator to keep trains running while lawyers work through the wreckage.

Read more: The Star (termination talks), Thai Enquirer (House panel)

Nestle Pours About $690 Million Into a New Coffee Plant

The Board of Investment approved 66.3 billion baht ($1.99 billion) for nine projects, with the biggest deal featuring Nestle's 23-billion-baht ($690 million) Nescafe factory in Samut Prakan. It is the company's first wholly owned coffee plant in Thailand after a 34-year joint venture with Quality Coffee Products ended in December 2024 and sent the two sides to court (Nestle won). The new facility, due online in the second half of 2028, will make 170,000 metric tons a year of soluble coffee, mixes, and ready-to-drink cans, will have an on-site distribution center and employ more than 500. Other approvals included Thai Airways aircraft leases, Datasection's GPU server infrastructure in Bangkok and Pathum Thani, and Donsan Group's circuit-board materials plant.

Read more: Bloomberg (jobs), Bangkok Post (BOI approvals), Nestle (local spending), Foodbev (market), Yahoo Finance (joint venture)

Court Upholds Anutin's 400-Billion-Baht Decree

The Constitutional Court ruled that Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's 400-billion-baht emergency loan decree is lawful, splitting the money between the Thais Help Thais Plus consumer subsidy and a green energy transition package. The opposition People's Party, which brought the case, claims that the government never faced the "urgent and unavoidable necessity" that the law requires and could have funded the programs through a normal budget bill.

Read more: Bangkok Post

House Passes Amnesty Bill, Keeps Youth 112 Cases in Court

The House passed an amnesty bill 306-141, related to protest-connected offenses but leaving a carve-out for cases against minors charged under Section 112 (the lese-majeste law). The exclusion means young defendants, some who were prosecuted for actions taken as teenagers during the 2020-21 protests, will remain in the courts even though some other political cases will get covered by the amnesty. The bill will go now to the Senate, where amendments could still change who qualifies.

Read more: Thai Enquirer

Southern Protesters Force Bangkok to Scrap Corridor Act

After nine days camped outside Government House, southern protesters got Deputy Prime Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn to pen a memorandum conceding all five of their demands. The draft Southern Economic Corridor Act, the ministry had been preparing through the transport planning office, will not go to Cabinet. The Land Bridge project connecting Ranong and Chumphon is on hold until a new committee, co-chaired by Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat and including SEC Watch, finishes a southern development master plan along with another study chaired by the deputy prime minister and the finance minister. Phiphat also agreed to raise issue of a demand to drop Prachin Buri from the Eastern Economic Corridor directly with the Prime Minister.

Read more: Bangkok Tribune

Bangkok and Putrajaya End Seafood War

Thailand and Malaysia agreed to drop the shrimp and sea bass restrictions that had frozen fishery trade between them; the fix will take effect within a week. Malaysia tightened controls on Thai barramundi and put a ban on five shrimp species after Thailand curbed Malaysian sea bass over talk of chemical residue. The PM, on his first Malaysia trip since retaking office in March, also signed off with Anwar Ibrahim on border infrastructure, including a second Rantau Panjang-Sungai Golok bridge, faster customs channels, and talks on reviving the rail link between the two towns. The leaders set a bilateral trade target of $30 billion by 2027 (up from ~$25 billion last year), and opened a new road alignment at Bukit Kayu Hitam-Sadao.

Read more: Bloomberg (seafood deal), Bangkok Post (ferry reopening), Malay Mail (border projects), Malay Mail (agriculture trade)

Thai-Passports-for-Chinese-Babies Busted

A medical records officer at a private Thonburi hospital allegedly ran a maternity package for Chinese clients that came with Thai citizenship for the baby. The broker put together Chinese mothers with Thai men willing to acknowledge paternity for a few thousand baht. No delivery room appearance was apparently required. Hospital records show 164 such registrations between 2023 and 2024. DNA testing has confirmed that 19 children share no biology with their listed Thai fathers, and the registrations have been revoked. Police have identified 42 suspects, including 18 "fake fathers," 21 Chinese parents, a hospital employee, a district registrar, and one Laotian mother. Warrants have been approved for 21 people and 16 have been arrested so far. The case started with the April 2024 arrest of Chen Yin Lai over a 70-billion-baht scam and money-laundering network, after investigators found his wife's three children all held Thai nationality.

Read more: Bangkok Post (suspects), Khaosod English (police)

BoT Cuts Inflation Forecast, Menu Prices Hold

The Bank of Thailand thinks 2026 headline inflation will come in below its 2.8% forecast, as crude sticks around $64 a barrel. Pump prices won’t go below 30 baht any time soon though, because the ex-refinery price, the bigger piece of the retail tag, has not changed, and the Oil Fuel Fund is still collecting fees to repay retailers. Restaurants aren’t cutting prices either. The Thai Restaurant Association says operators are still burning through inventory bought when diesel was 50+ baht a liter, and nothing on the rent, electricity, and labor costs front has eased. About three-fifths of large retailers plan to raise prices by as much as 10% over the next three months.

Read more: Bangkok Post (inflation forecast), Bangkok Post (steel), Bangkok Post (refineries)

Court Rules ISOC Liable for Harassment

The Court of Appeal says the Internal Security Operations Command is liable for a disinformation campaign against human rights defenders Angkhana Neelapaijit and Anchana Heemmina. The court said the systematic cyberbullying was a form psychological torture under international human rights standards and told the state to pay compensation. UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Andrea Bolanos Vargas asked authorities to implement the judgment in full, and members of the parliamentary budget panel have since called for a scrapping of the Prayut-era agency outright.

Read more: Thai Enquirer (abolition push), Prachatai English (UN rapporteur statement)

CM Police Block Petition, Break Protester's Arm

Police blocked the People's Network to Protect the Kok, Sai, Ruak, and Mekong Rivers from marching to Chiang Mai's Chinese Consulate, sealing off the street with metal fences and more than 100 officers. When protesters, some wearing Xi Jinping masks, pushed toward the barricade, officers grabbed at their banners. One demonstrator reportedly ended up with a dislocated shoulder, another with a broken arm. The consulate was closed, so the petition never reached the building. Protesters read their statement to the blockade and gave their document to police to pass along, demanding that Chinese firms answer for heavy-metal contamination from mines upstream in Myanmar. The network has filed a complaint against the officers for excessive use of force.

Read more: Prachatai English

IATA Rejects Bangkok's Airport Tax Idea

The tourism ministry wanted airlines to collect a 300-baht fee at booking and refund Thai passengers, who are exempt under the law. IATA regional VP Sheldon Hee said airlines do not collect nationality or passport data at booking, only name and destination, which makes the plan unworkable. The Airlines Association of Thailand piled on, saying more than 100 foreign carriers fly to Thailand on incompatible back-office systems. Both groups want the fee paid via the Thailand Digital Arrival Card instead, since Immigration already runs it and reports straight to the government. The tax, first floated in 2020, is meant to cover accident insurance and offset the 2.5 billion baht Thai hospitals absorb yearly in unpaid bills from foreign patients.

Read more: Bangkok Post

That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.

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Horton International is your premier partner for executive search in Southeast Asia. Whether you're a small startup or a global corporation, our reliable and effective recruiting solutions are tailored to meet your unique needs. With extensive experience and offices across the region, we excel at overcoming recruitment challenges and securing top talent for your organization.

Click here to learn how Horton can make your life easier.

The Memo is published weekdays - Cambodia (every Monday), Myanmar (Tuesday), Laos (Wednesday), Vietnam (Thursday) and Thailand (Friday). The Thailand edition is free in its entirety; the others usually abbreviated for non-paid subscribers.

Please go to https://www.mekongmemo.com/account to select country editions you would like to receive without affecting your overall subscription status.

Bangkok Runs Out of Fiscal Room

Thailand's public debt hit 12.8 trillion baht (66.7% of GDP), in April, leaving less than four percentage points of headroom before the government's 70% ceiling. Before the pandemic, the ratio was a little more than 40%. Two emergency borrowing decrees worth 1.5 trillion baht kicked off the climb, and the Finance Ministry is now admitting that the old fiscal buffer is pretty much gone. The ministry's Fiscal Risk Report says net borrowing room has narrowed to only 1.5% of GDP without pushing the debt ratio higher, as interest payments are eating another 1.5% each year. Fixed spending, including civil servant salaries and welfare programs, grew 3.4% in fiscal 2025 and made up more than two-thirds of net budget spending. The ministry's answer is not spending restraint (silly you), but rather a VAT increase from 7% to 10%, beginning with a 1.5-point rise in 2028, along with reforms it says are essential to lift growth above the post-pandemic baseline.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Asset Freeze May Test Investor Confidence

A US$600 million asset-freeze dispute tied to Cambodian businessman Yim Leak and his wife Veereenyah Yim. Yim is turning into a test of legal certainty for cross-border finance. The story says investors are watching whether pooled FX settlement accounts can expose downstream recipients to asset-freeze risk, especially since in this case, the disputed transfer was reportedly only US$150,000–165,000. The outcome may shape views on Thailand’s AML enforcement, proportionality, fintech regulation, and regulatory-risk premiums.

Read more: InvestingLive

Civil Service Jobs Cost 800,000 Baht

The Interior Ministry's week-long probe into last year's local government recruitment exams confirmed what was widely suspected. Of 79 sampled answer sheets, 48 had scores changed upward, and contractors sat on checked files instead of giving them to the Department of Local Administration. At least five DLA officers are going to have disciplinary charges headed their way. Ten people, mostly civil servants, have so far been arrested after being caught with doctored results. Thousands of candidates reportedly paid between 350,000 and 800,000 baht each to pass an exam that was meant to support the filling of almost 7,000 jobs.

Read more: Bangkok Post (discipline), Bangkok Post (bribes)

Twelve Elephant Bags for 8,800 Baht

A Thai Airways flight attendant known so far only as “Meena,” 26, was arrested at Melbourne Airport after Australian Border Force officers found 1.8 kilograms of heroin sewn into two of a dozen elephant-print tote bags she had agreed to carry to Australia for 8,800 baht, (~$240). She claims she was recruited through an online chat with someone using the name "Rose Rose," whose Facebook account has since been deleted. The ONCB says the heroin came from abroad and was repackaged in Thailand. Spokeswoman Areepak Ngernbumrung said that was a routine sort of deal because that drug is not produced domestically.

Read more: Nation Thailand (official warning), Bangkok Post (recipient), Bernama (aviation response)

Suitcase of Horrors

Simon Peter Carman, a 45-year-old Australian former truck driver, was arrested at Suvarnabhumi on Friday evening as he allegedly tried to board a flight to Perth. He has been charged with murder, concealing a corpse to hide cause of death, and abducting a minor for indecent purposes. The victim, 17-year-old Thunchanok Donhomla, was found naked in a suitcase near railway tracks in Pattaya early Saturday. CCTV shows Carman dragging the suitcase out of a condo around 9:30pm and onto a motorbike. He returned without the bag about half an hour later.

Read more: Thailand Business News (tourism concern), The Guardian (court case), 7News (funeral)

Twelve Years for Abbot Who Banked the Alms

The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases sentenced former Phichit chief monk Wirach to 12 years and ordered him to repay 3 million baht diverted from a donor's contribution. Prosecutors said he conspired with Wilawan Emsawat, the woman at the center of last year's "Sika Golf" scandal, to send the donation into his personal account. The court convicted him under statutes covering misappropriation and misconduct by a state official. Senior monks fall into that bucket because they draw monthly stipends from public funds.

Read more: Bangkok Post

CP's Bullet Train Runs Out of Track

Charoen Pokphand's three-airport high-speed rail project, the centerpiece of Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor pitch, has stalled because the consortium hasn’t been able to line up financing. The much-ballyhooed-project was meant to connect Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, and U-Tapao into a single corridor, with a contract CP won in 2019 and has been renegotiating almost ever since. Real construction was never even started, but neither side seems eager to declare a default and trigger the fallout that would as a result.

Read more: Thai Enquirer

Exports Boom While SMEs Bust

A survey of about 330 SME-listed companies found revenues are still falling, even as the JSCCIB projects export growth of 8% to 10% this year, largely because of growth in electronics and semiconductors related to AI infrastructure. Capacity use in May was only about three-fifths, and the JSCCIB's 2026 GDP forecast is a modest 1.6% to 2.0%, well short of what a real export boom would normally deliver. JSCCIB chairman Payong Srivanich said that exports and investment are growing, but neither is showing up in employment or production in traditional industries. The plan now is to work with the Federation of Thai SMEs to classify businesses by sector, so the government can figure out what support they need.

Read more: Bangkok Post (SME strain), Thai Enquirer (competitiveness)

Peak Shrimp Was 2010

The Thai Shrimp Association is pushing the government to adopt a 5.54 billion baht action plan after disease outbreaks cut production from a 2010 peak of 640,000 tonnes to 270,000 to 280,000 today. Export value has fallen from 110 billion baht in 2011 to about 40 billion; Ecuador and India have picked up much of the market slack. The association puts the cost of 13 years of lost export opportunities at 750 billion baht.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Industry Wants Land Bridge if Environment Allows

The Federation of Thai Industries has set up a panel to push the long-stalled Chumphon-Ranong railway, an 80 to 90 kilometer line between the Gulf and Andaman coasts that has been talked about for years. FTI chairwoman Pimjai Leeissaranukul says the federation has put forward its study and is waiting for the government to call a meeting. The pitch is that a dual-track railway combined with a motorway would shave two to five days off Malacca Strait shipping transit times.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Astana Courts Bangkok With Fine Print

Kazakhstan's ambassador met with Finance Vice Minister Santitarn Sathirathai in Bangkok on Thursday to move along a double-taxation convention and an investment protection pact, picking up threads from Deputy PM Sihasak Phuangketkeow's late-June trip to Astana. The talks also covered hooking Thai firms into the Astana International Financial Centre. Bilateral trade was $255.1 million in 2025, up 7.8% on the year, and Kazakhstan is now Thailand's biggest trading partner in Central Asia.

Read more: Qazinform

TAT Pitches Monsoon as European Heat Escape

The Tourism Authority is running campaigns in European markets including Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, and the Nordics, recasting the May-October rainy season as an escape from the continent's summer heatwaves. The pitch is that rain in Thailand falls only in short bursts rather than all day (which is true), luxury hotels can be had at discounted rates, and the shorter lines to be found at attractions that turn into scrums by December.

Read more: Travel and Tour World

Boy Plows Into Monks on Pilgrimage

An 11-year-old stole his parents’ pickup truck in Mukdahan on Thursday and drove it at full speed into a procession of about 30 monks, killing eight and injuring others. As of press time, officials were still confirming the toll. The group had set off about 30 minutes earlier on a 260-kilometer walk to Ubon Ratchathani when the truck hit them from behind along a roadside about 600 kilometers northeast of Bangkok.

Read more: AZ News

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The Numbers Don’t Quite Add Up

Exports last month reached $34.3 billion, up 10.6% from a year earlier and extending Thailand’s export growth streak to 23 months. The headline looks strong until you take a closer look. Growth slowed to its weakest pace in three months, missed forecasts of 11.6%, and fell well short of April’s 23.1%. Imports were up more than a third (35.1%) to $40 billion, pushing the monthly trade deficit to $5.71 billion and the five month shortfall to $25.2 billion, the country’s eighth straight monthly deficit. Even so, the Trade Policy and Strategy Office now says exports could grow 8% this year, a nice bump up from last month’s base forecast of 3%. Agricultural exports fell about 7% in May and autos and air conditioner parts also slipped.

Read more: Bangkok Post (TPSO comments), TradingView (forecast miss), TradingView (deficit comparison)

Standing Still

The central bank left interest rates unchanged at 1.00% on June 24 for a second straight meeting, even as several Southeast Asian peers have been raising rates to support their currencies after the Iran conflict forced energy prices higher. The Bank of Thailand expects inflation to increase to 2.8% next year, but sees the current pressure as temporary rather than something higher interest rates would fix. It also massaged its 2026 growth forecast up a bit to 2.3% but cut 2027 to 1.8%. Research suggests exports and AI-related investment are doing most of the heavy lifting whereas household spending and small business lending remain weak.

Read more: Bloomberg (economist consensus), FX Street (DBS forecast), FX Street (UOB rate call), TradingView (AI investment)

One Stock to Rule Them All

Delta Electronics (Thailand) has become the country’s first $100 billion company on high demand from AI data center builders. The company is now worth more than Thailand’s next four largest listed firms combined and has become the second most valuable stock in the MSCI ASEAN Index behind Singapore’s DBS Group (banking). Thailand’s stock market has been Southeast Asia’s best performer this year, but much of that gain can be pinned on this single company.

Read more: Japan Times

No Place Left to Hide

Thailand is tightening the screws on foreign nominee companies with help from software and a reduced reliance on tipoffs. The Department of Business Development is already using a system that cross checks company records, tax filings, land ownership, and financial data to flag businesses that appear to be under foreign control despite having Thai owners on paper. The proposed legal changes would also make serious nominee violations eligible for money laundering charges. At the same time, the government plans to open more sectors, including telecom services, HR, IT management, treasury centers, petroleum drilling, and some capital markets activities, to direct foreign investment.

Read more: Legal Business Online

End of The Fare Maze

The cabinet has approved a plan to buy back Bangkok’s electric rail concessions for up to 200 billion baht, which would replace today’s jumble of fares with a single 17 to 45 baht system that would work on every city line. The government is expected to finance the buyback through an infrastructure fund instead of public debt, with a central payment system targeted for January 2027. The final cost could end up well below the 200 billion baht ceiling as the Green Line concession expires in 2029.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Thailand Picks Its Tourist

Thailand has officially cut visa free stays from 60 days to 30 for most visitors, with a single additional 30 day extension available for 1,900 baht. Travelers must also complete the new Thailand Digital Arrival Card before entering the country. The changes come after last year’s crackdown on repeated visa runs. At the same time, the government has made its Long Term Resident visa more attractive by lowering employer revenue requirements, dropping some work experience rules, and extending dependent benefits to parents and legally married same sex spouses.

Read more: Nation Thailand (LTR visa), Eurasia Business News (30-day stays)

The Meter’s Catching Up

Thai authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Wang Yicheng because of a illegal crypto mining operation where he was accused of stealing about 950 million baht, or $28 million, worth of electricity. Wang was also identified in a 2023 Reuters investigation that traced millions of dollars linked to pig butchering scams to a wallet in his name where US authorities separately seized about $500,000 in cryptocurrency connected to a fraud victim in Massachusetts. Investigators believe he has already left Thailand.

Read more: Bangkok Post (scam wallet), AZ News (arrests)

Passing for a Price

Thailand may end up rescanning all 480,000 answer sheets from last year’s local government recruitment exam after investigators discovered a massive cheating scheme. About 10 people have been arrested for altering roughly 3,000 papers for candidates who paid between 350,000 and 800,000 baht for guaranteed passes, creating what investigators believe was a 4.5 billion baht bribery operation. If approved, the entire exam will be rescanned in front of journalists as candidates already confirmed to have passed will continue joining the civil service.

Read more: Bangkok Post (bribe amounts), Bangkok Post (appointment delay)

420 to Nil

Thailand's new Product Defect Liability Bill passed the House without a single vote against it. If defects appear within six months for electronics and motorcycles, or within a year for cars, sellers will have to repair, replace, refund, or reduce the price. Serious defects must be replaced within seven days for most products and within 14 days for electronics. The bill now moves to a committee before returning to parliament. The bill now goes to committee, though after a 420-0 vote, the hard part may already be over.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Four Seats Filled

Thailand and Cambodia have now appointed all four conciliators for their UNCLOS maritime dispute which means the 30 day countdown to choose a neutral chair has started. Thailand picked two former presidents of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Cambodia selected Peter Taksoe-Jensen, who helped broker the Timor Leste and Australia maritime boundary agreement, along with French international law professor Jean-Marc Thouvenin.

Read more: Asian News Network

Chasing a Billion Dollars

Thailand and Kazakhstan want to almost quadruple bilateral trade to $1 billion within five years, up from about $255 million today. The agreement builds on trade growth of roughly 11% and comes as nearly 200,000 Kazakh tourists visited Thailand last year. Both governments also want more direct flights, and Kazakhstan now accounts for more than 70% of Thailand’s trade with Central Asia.

Read more: Nation Thailand (medical tourism), Qazinform (cooperation sectors), Qazinform (Tokayev invitation)

Bangkok Gets Bots

Chinese robotics company AgiBot has chosen Bangkok for its Asia Pacific headquarters as it pushes into factories, shopping malls, and elder care. The company recently built its 10,000th humanoid robot and has partnered with Thai distributor VST ECS to sell and service its products locally. Customers who are not ready to buy outright will also be able to lease robots through the company's subscription model.

Read more: Bangkok Post (VST ECS), Thailand Business News (partner conference)

100 Days Later

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul reaches his first 100 days in office on Saturday after spending much of the period dealing with the oil price spike triggered by the June US and Israeli strikes on Iran. His government tapped the Oil Fuel Fund, increased coal power generation, and sourced more fuel from the US, Malaysia, and Brunei to prevent shortages. The immediate crisis eased, but Thailand still faces the same longer term problems of weak growth, high household debt, and an aging population.

Read more: Straits Times

Still Running on Diesel

Government fuel subsidies are slowing Thailand's move to electric trucks, according to UD Trucks Thailand, which says battery powered models are still only at the feasibility stage. Its Bang Na-Trat factory can produce 20,000 trucks a year but is currently operating at about half that level, exporting vehicles to more than 60 countries. The company sold 1,300 trucks within the country last year and captured a 13% market share in the first quarter of 2026.

Read more: Bangkok Post

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The $300 Billion Question

Thailand has joined the UN conciliation process Cambodia launched earlier this month, and in the process has appointed German jurist Rüdiger Wolfrum and South African maritime law expert Albert Hoffman as its representatives. The move is after Bangkok walked away from the 2001 bilateral framework that had governed the dispute for two decades. Conciliators from both sides now have 30 days to meet and pick a chair before proceedings begin. At stake is an estimated $300 billion worth of oil and gas under about 26,000 square kilometers of Gulf seabed, including about 12 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Phnom Penh said that Bangkok's participation is "welcome."

Read more: Arab News

A Shortcut With Questions

A government-appointed review panel has until the end of July to share recommendations on the $30.5 billion Land Bridge, a project that PM Anutin Charnvirakul has made a priority since taking office in April. The project, as envisioned, would connect deep-sea ports in Chumphon and Ranong by way of a 90-kilometer rail and highway corridor. The government says it could cut up to 14 days off trips between southern China and the Indian Ocean and reduce logistics costs by almost a third. The closure in the Strait of Hormuz gave Bangkok a new geopolitical hook to resurrect the project, but it still faces the same economic doubts that held it back in the past. Ships would have to offload containers, truck (or send by train) them across the peninsula, and reload them, all to skip a strait near Singapore that, for the most part, works fine. Investors are cautious on the price tag. Communities around Ranong say they have been told almost nothing, and regulators have asked for a new Environmental and Health Impact Assessment before anything breaks ground.

Read more: Anewz TV (TEU capacity), Container News (Hormuz angle), Stratnewsglobal (Singapore comparison)

Growth Without Paychecks

Thai household income fell for the first time in six years during 2025, dropping 2.5% to 28,308 baht a month, according to SCB EIC. The decline was driven by a 4.8% drop in earned income. That means that homes are bringing home less from wages and work than they used to. Interestingly, there were differences by income level. Three-fifths of households earning under 15,000 baht a month now lean on financial assistance that covers everything from old-age allowances, disability payments, and transfers from relatives who live outside the home. That assistance income rose almost a full fifth between 2023 and 2025. GDP per capita has risen from 221,195 baht in 2016 to 288,315 baht in 2025 (3% annually increase vs headline GDP growth averaging 1.1%), so the economy is technically growing but the gains aren't finding their way to the people doing the earning. More than half of indebted households say their income is not enough to cover basic expenses, and inflation is expected to pick up in 2026.

Read more: Bangkok Post

A New Tax Era

The era of ultra-low tax rates for large multinationals is coming to an end in Thailand, as the cabinet has approved a 15% global minimum tax. The change means Thailand can no longer rely on ultra-low tax rates to attract large multinationals. Instead, many BOI incentives will need to be replaced with subsidies and tax credits that will comply with OECD rules. To cushion the blow, the cabinet also cut electronic withholding tax from as much as 5% down to 1% until December 2027. Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas is making changes to the Revenue Code, and the BOI's Competitiveness Enhancement Fund remains on standby as a backstop for investors. The Finance Ministry expects the withholding cut to free up about 27 billion baht in private-sector liquidity.

Read more: Asian News Network

A Tale of Two Economies

S&P Global shared an upbeat tone on Thailand this week, keeping the country's BBB+ sovereign rating and stable outlook in place as it said that it expects to see 2% GDP growth this year. The agency also expects per capita income to go up from $8,000 to $9,000 as the baht gets stronger. The Federation of Thai Industries spent the week explaining why that math feels optimistic from the view on the factory floor. The Thai Industries Sentiment Index dropped to 84.7 in May, a 48-month low, as non-tech manufacturers are losing ground to cheap imports and shoppers are choosing foreign appliances, clothes, and furniture instead of local goods. SME loan grants are down 4% year-on-year in Q1 as banks remain cautious on lending.

Read more: Bangkok Post (BBB+ rating), Bangkok Post (chip workforce gap)

DSI Knocks and the Opposition Cries Payback

DSI officers raided 24 locations in five provinces on June 16, cracking open an alleged forex money-laundering network the department says reaches into politics and entertainment. Operation "Shutdown the Laundering," (hopefully that wan’t the secret codename of the op) was run with the Cyber Police, the Central Institute of Forensic Science and the Bank of Thailand, and led to asset seizures and account freezes in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon. After investigators teased the initials "P" for an opposition politician and "F" for a male celebrity, People's Party list-MP Pawoot Pongvitayapanu got in front of cameras within hours saying he wasn't involved. Colleague Rangsiman Rome was less coy, suggesting the raids may not have been entirely unrelated to Pawoot’s focus on the 1.6-billion-baht TH-AI Passport procurement job. The full list of names and corporate entities was due this morning at 10 a.m., when Justice Minister Pol Lt Gen Rutthapon Naowarat was expected to hold a DSI briefing.

Read more: Nation Thailand (operation commander), Bangkok Post (TH-AI Passport)

Phuket's Foreign Landlords Get a House Call

The Interior Ministry has told the Department of Lands to take civil and criminal action against more than 200 foreign-connected companies suspected of unlawfully holding Phuket land, including beach plots that lacked clear ownership documents when officials looked at them on Wednesday. The probe also covers possible forest encroachment and illegally issued titles in nearby tourism provinces. In a separate enforcement track, AMLO will auction the 51-meter superyacht Atlas Strider at Phuket Provincial Hall on June 23, with bidding to open at 600 million baht. The vessel was seized from South African financier Benjamin Mauerberger (aka Ben Smith), who faces fraud and money-laundering charges tied to a $410 million seizure order.

Read more: Bangkok Post (Patong zoning), Bangkok Post (Atlas Strider auction), The Star (Mauerberger timeline)

Five Trade Deals and a European Debut

Parliament's joint session approved five trade agreements. The Thailand-EFTA deal is the headline act and the country's first FTA with any European bloc, covering Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. EFTA members will drop tariffs on a range of Thai goods the moment the deal takes effect. A separate pact with Bhutan, also offering immediate zero-duty access, will open a toe-hold into South Asia for exporters of automobiles, processed food, and textiles. The other three agreements upgrade the ASEAN-China trade area, amend the broader ASEAN goods agreement, and ratify the WTO fisheries subsidies protocol. Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun said the EFTA deal is groundwork for the longer EU FTA that is still under negotiation, and a step toward eventual OECD membership.

Read more: The Star

Travel Industry Stays Cautious

Tourist arrivals from the Middle East are down by between a quarter and a third, and the industry isn’t counting on a US-Iran ceasefire to stem the tide. Thai Lion Air has reduced seat capacity by 15% since the Gulf conflict erupted and warns that jet fuel prices, unlike crude, are not going snap back to pre-war levels once a deal is signed. Hotels are in worse shape. Chiang Mai occupancy is running 40-45% this low season, with some properties at 35%, the weakest in years. Even five-star properties, normally insulated, are seeing bookings slide as European and US visitors balk at airfares. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has trimmed its 2026 long-haul target from 11 million visitors to 10 million, while gamely hosting 39 travel companies from the Gulf and Africa at a Bangkok trade meet.

Read more: Bangkok Post (load factor), Travel and Tour World (retail impact), Travel and Tour World (Middle East drop), Travel and Tour World (trade meet)

A Hundred Thousand Baht Gets You a Thai ID

Police arrested eight people in Chiang Rai on Thursday, including three government officials, for selling Thai identity cards to Chinese, Myanmar, Lao and Vietnamese nationals at roughly 100,000 baht a pop. According to police, corrupt officials in Wiang Kaen and three neighboring districts spent 2024 and 2025 issuing “homeless student” ID cards to foreign nationals. The documents gave holders access to banking services, freedom of movement, and a pathway to Thai citizenship. Among the five foreigners caught were a Chinese woman holding shares in a tech company with a billion baht of registered capital, and a Myanmar man with stakes in four firms, including oil companies in Myanmar and Singapore. Police think about 200 cards were issued in total, a roughly 20-million-baht trade, with buyers including scammers and drug traffickers. Fourteen suspects are still at large.

Read more: Bangkok Post

An ID at Last

Thailand is finally giving ID cards to Myanmar refugees it has hosted along the border since 1984. The Department of Provincial Administration kicked off the registration scheme in Ratchaburi on Wednesday, with UNHCR representatives in attendance. Under a 2026 regulation, verified refugees get "pink cards," non-citizen IDs that open the door to government services and official transactions but stop short of citizenship or any of the rights that would come with it. DoPA director-general Narucha Kosacivilize said the change is "a humanitarian management tool while supporting national security and public order."

Read more: Bangkok Post

Locally Built with Huawei Charging

SAIC Motor-CP put its new MG URBAN on sale Wednesday for a price of less than a million baht. As the company’s third locally assembled EV, it brings driver-assistance systems and automated parking to buyers who previously had to spend a fair bit more to get them. The same day, CP FOTON handed keys for its first BAIC FOTON eView Connect commercial EVs to five logistics, retail, and leasing firms, and signed cooperation deals with Spark EV and Huawei, whose liquid-cooled “ultra-fast” chargers are already operating in Bangkok, Pattaya, and Chiang Mai.

Read more: Xinhua (MG URBAN specs), Antaranews (battery warranty)

Seoul Keeps Tax on Thai Copper Pipes

South Korea has made its antidumping tariffs on Thai smooth copper pipes permanent, with duties ranging from 4.93% to 8.41%. The Korea Trade Commission finalized the decision on Thursday after provisional tariffs had been in place since March. Seoul launched the investigation in September 2025, and found that imports had cut into domestic producers' market share and operating profits, and concluded that local producers had been materially harmed. The pipes are the tubing of choice for air conditioners and refrigerators, prized for corrosion resistance and thermal conductivity.

Read more: Yonhap

Reservoirs Running on Empty

Thailand's 35 major reservoirs were reported at 56% capacity as of June 17, with usable water 490 million cubic meters below what they held at same point last year. ONWR chief Chayan Muangsong is warning that the seasonal dry spell that runs from late June up until mid-July could run longer and harder than usual, as El Niño is expected to stick around until the end of 2026. Cumulative rainfall is so far 10% below the seasonal average.

Read more: Khaosod English

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Erawan Verdict A Decade Late

Bangkok South Criminal Court sentenced Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammed to death on Thursday for the August 2015 Erawan Shrine bombing, closing a trial that outlasted a military government, a pandemic, and a transfer between court systems. The two Chinese nationals were convicted on what the four-judge panel said was “overwhelming” evidence, including video footage and fingerprints, and ordered to pay more than a million baht (~$30k) for property damage on top of the capital sentence. Mieraili, who learned Thai in prison and was asked Thursday to translate the proceedings into Uyghur for Bilal because only an English interpreter was on hand, told the courtroom, "RIP Thailand's justice system. I didn't do anything wrong." Defense lawyers plan to appeal within a month, arguing several aspects of the case went unexamined, including torture allegations that the judges dismissed for lack of evidence. Of the 17 suspects named in 2015, only three were ever caught, and charges against a Thai woman were dropped in 2024. Human Rights Watch's senior Thailand advisor said the investigation was "shoddy" and that important questions about the networks behind the attack remain unanswered.

Read more: Bangkok Post (deportation backdrop), Thestar (due process criticism), Independent (defendants' ages), Chinadailyasia (China's statement)

BKK Funds Narrative, Phnom Penh Takes Tanks

China's delivery of T-59D tanks to Cambodia received a studied shrug from Bangkok. Prime Minister Anutin said the matter was no direct concern of Thailand's; Defense Minister Lt Gen Adul said the tanks were refurbished older models under a cooperation arrangement that has included joint exercises since 2016, and said intelligence confirmed they'd arrived at a Cambodian port but hadn't been moved toward the border. The calm response is probably helpful. On June 5, Thailand agreed to join the UN compulsory conciliation process under UNCLOS to settle the two countries' maritime boundary, a bit of water sitting on an estimated $300 billion of energy resources. At the same time, Bangkok put land border talks on hold, a pressure-reducing off-ramp from negotiations it had been slow-walking for months. The government also reportedly approved 9.8 million baht (~$300k) for a Thai-Cambodian Joint Information Coordination Center, set up in January to push Bangkok's version of the border story to the international media.

Read more: Bangkok Post (Thai minister quotes), Bangkok Post (JIC budget), Foreign Policy (maritime arbitration)

Thai Inc. Tells Gov’t the Japanese Aren't Returning

Boonsithi Chokwatana, chairman of Saha Group, said that Japanese investment is slowing, Chinese money is filling the gap, and the Chinese are buying land by the hundreds of rai at a time rather than the 10-20 rai a Japanese firm might take. The same day, the JSCCIB put the heat on the government to move faster on courting multinationals looking to relocate manufacturing, pointing to 18.9% export growth in the first four months of the year, with almost half of that driven by AI and data center investment. The backdrop is a World Bank growth expectation of only 1.6% for Thailand in 2026, compared to 6.8% for Vietnam.

Read more: Bangkok Post (Boonsithi), Bangkok Post (JSCCIB forecast upgrade)

Anutin's Rural Base Checks the Bill

Diesel up more than 60% at its peak, fertilizer costs up more than 30%, and rice prices are still moving south. The Iran war's tax on fuel and fertilizer has landed on farmers like Chaon Taiupok, a 69-year-old rice grower in Ayutthaya who says the politicians who came courting before February's election disappeared as soon as the polls were closed. A May Suan Dusit University poll found 57% of respondents had little or no confidence in the Anutin government, a backpedalling from March when 68% said that they were optimistic. Nearly four-fifths want urgent action on the cost of living, but with household debt at 86.7% of GDP and inflation looking like it’s going to breach the central bank's 1-3% target, fiscal room to maneuver is thin. The government's 176-billion-baht consumer subsidy program, part of a 400-billion-baht borrowing decree that’s getting an opposition legal challenge, will offer rice farmers a little bit of breathing room, but it’s unlikely to be anywhere close to enough to make a real difference; Pramote Charoensilp, president of the Thai Agriculturalists Association, says it won’t cover the bills.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Baht Blinks, BOT Doesn't

The SET is trading at 16x earnings with per-share profits capped near 95 baht for a decade and GDP growth expected to remain below 2%, a result that appears to be forcing Kasikorn Asset Management to tell clients the rally’s already priced in the good news. The Bank of Thailand sees no need for an emergency MPC meeting despite the baht falling 5.4% since the U.S.-Iran conflict started, saying that reserves are still healthy and foreign outflows are manageable at only $1.3 billion. In contrast, Indonesia hiked 25 basis points in an emergency session and is expected to hike again next week.

Read more: Bangkok Post (K-Asset dividends), FX Street (BOT spokesperson quotes)

Gulf Bets $12 Billion on Becoming Server Farmer

Gulf Development is expected to build out 2,000MW of data center capacity within three to five years, starting with 100MW this year with a five-year capex plan of 130-140 billion baht. That’s about 10% of what it’s set aside for digital infrastructure overall. The 100MW flagship will be erected in Rayong, a 38MW site is under construction in Chon Buri (expected mid-2027), and a 25MW joint venture with Singtel and AIS in Samut Prakan is already running Thailand's first liquid-cooled setup for AI chips. At Gulf's estimate of $6-7 million per MW, the full 2,000MW build-out implies a cost of about of $12 billion. Chief strategy officer Smith Banomyong is also trying to get regulators to create data center rules similar to those already found in Singapore and South Korea.

Read more: Bangkok Post

Seoul's Spooks Raid Bangkok's Medicine Cabinet

South Korean intelligence agents joined Thai forces to hit 10 warehouses in and around Bangkok on June 9. They hauled out 49.98 tons of acetone, hydrochloric acid, and other precursor chemicals the NIS claims could have yielded 700 million doses of a variety of drugs that could have been worth $5.6 billion on the street. It was the first time a Korean government agency has directly worked a foreign drug production site, a move that came in the wake of Seoul's April detention of “Thapanan,” a kingpin accused of controlling more than half the narcotics circulating in the country and sitting on about 50 outstanding arrest warrants accumulated over the past decade. More than 100 military, police, and anti-drug personnel took part along with NIS specialists and dismantled what the agency called a supply hub that fed not only Korea but markets across Asia.

Read more: VietnamPlus

Land Bridge to Nowhere Gets Another 90 Days

Anutin Charnvirakul's cabinet has ordered a new 90-day review of the Chumphon-Ranong Land Bridge (results due August 10). The project, with a price tag of an estimated Bt997 billion, would cut a shipping corridor across the peninsula to connect the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea. Three prior feasibility studies have already come and gone. Foreign capital committed to date is zero.

Read more: Asia Sentinel

World Cup Deal Lands at Kickoff

In a last minute score, JAS chief executive Soraj Asavaprapha confirmed the deal on June 11, the same day the tournament kicked off in Mexico City, after weeks of talks that stalled over FIFA's reported $40 million asking price for Thai rights. The final package covers two World Cups and all FIFA events through 2030 in a $70 million deal. Vietnam reportedly paid about $15 million for its rights, and JAS had reportedly been pushing for something close to that figure. The 2022 tournament ended the same way, with a last-minute $33 million scramble funded by regulators and True Corp.

Read more: CNA, Asian News Network (ASEAN holdout)

ISOC Gets the Bill for Smear Campaign

The Court of Appeal ordered ISOC on Thursday to pay 210,000 baht to activists Angkhana Neelapaijit (wife of “disappeared” lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit) and Anchana Heemmina and scrub offending online content within seven days, closing a case over Pulony.com, a website that published untrue information that connected the two women to national security threats. The court found ISOC liable with the reasoning that it had authority to control and supervise the site, a principle that extends state liability to any agency overseeing a channel used to spread damaging content. Angkhana, who received 120,000 baht to Anchana's 90,000, said it was an important precedent for human rights protection. The court accepted that the operation, the kind of thing now politely called an "information operation", was carried out by people connected to ISOC Region 4 Forward Command.

Read more: Bangkok Post

A Line Message in Bhumjaithai Blue

People's Party MP Pakhamon Nunanant has called on Department of Provincial Administration chief Narucha Khosasivilai to explain a Line message reportedly reading "Please help Blue," a phrase that critics claim was as a nudge toward Bhumjaithai during a recent election campaign. The leak came from former Phuket assistant governor Roongruang Thimabut, who says he was transferred unfairly soon after. He has filed complaints with the NACC and Election Commission, accusing Narucha of breaching political neutrality and possibly violating Section 172 of the anti-corruption law. The department is under the Interior Ministry, currently run directly by the PM.

Read more: Bangkok Post

People's Lawyer Discovers People's Prison

The Criminal Court sentenced Sittra "Lawyer Tum" Biabungkerd to six years without suspension on Thursday, putting a fork in a case that began when police pulled him over in his Porsche Cayenne on the Kabin Buri-Chachoengsao Highway in late 2024, apparently mid-flight. His accuser is Jatuporn Ubonlert, a EuroMillions winner based in France who says Sittra talked her into 71 million baht for an online lottery investment, 13 million for a Mercedes-Benz, and 39 million in bitcoin to hire a Chinese artist (!?). Sittra's defense was that the money was given voluntarily, out of affection (!?). The court gave him four and a half years for fraud plus another 18 months for offenses under the Computer Crime Act, in addition to telling him to repay 72.5 million baht with 5% annual interest. He's out on 1 million baht bail pending appeal, barred from leaving the country.

Read more: Bangkok Post

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Pardoned and Packing for Dubai

King Maha Vajiralongkorn's birthday clemency for Queen Suthida, published in the Royal Gazette late Tuesday, wiped out the remaining four months of Thaksin Shinawatra's parole and freed the 76-year-old billionaire from his ankle bracelet and travel restrictions as of Wednesday. He had served eight months of a one-year sentence for corruption, after the original eight-year term had been commuted (also by royal grace). He spent much of that time in a Police Hospital suite before the Supreme Court sent him to a real prison in September 2025. His next stop, reportedly, is Dubai, where he spent most of his 15-year exile. The family says he may want to step back from politics.

Read more: AP News (lawyer confirmation), Japan Times (Dubai travel), AZ News (anklet removal)

Washington Gives Bangkok a 12.5% Bill

The USTR has finished its Section 301 probes and found that 60 countries, Thailand included, have failed to enforce bans on goods made with forced labor. It is now threatening a 12.5% tariff on Thai imports that could be put in place as early as next month. That's an increase from the 10% blanket rate currently in force and would put Bangkok in the same bracket as China, Brazil, and South Korea. Regional peers Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia, which have already cut deals with Washington, are only looking at 10%. The USTR's evaluation includes the thinking that a country doesn't need to use forced labor itself, it only needs to import from someone who does use forced labor in order to bring the hammer down. This interpretation obviously widens the net considerably. Hearings are scheduled for July 7, the rates won’t be formalized before then. K-Research reckons Thai export growth in the second half of 2026 could go flat if the tariffs bite. The government is scrambling to negotiate; Thai business groups publicly say the impact is manageable.

Read more: Bangkok Post (K-Research forecast), Thai Enquirer (business downplay), The Diplomat (ASEAN peers affected)

Thailand's Richest Bets $4.3B on Server Farms

Gulf Development will spend 140 billion baht in the coming five years to build 2,000 megawatts of data center capacity, up from the ~200 megawatts they own today. CFO Yupapin Wangviwat shared the plan Thursday on an investor call, and the stock rose 5.8% to a new record. That brings the ticker’s year-to-date gain above 61%. Sarath Ratanavadi, worth $18.3 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, already has Microsoft and Singtel as partners and signed an exploration deal with Google earlier this year. The build-out will be funded through operating cash flow, bond sales, and $400 to $600 million in bank loans, with a 20 billion baht bond issue planned for September.

Read more: The Edge Malaysia

50,000 Companies Get an Uncomfortable Call

Thai authorities have identified up to 50,000 “foreign-connected” companies for scrutiny in a crackdown on nominee shareholding, and inspectors say that they’re using AI to cross-check official databases against real business activity. The results got specific fast. One accounting firm in Krabi registered nearly 500 companies, all of them listing Thai nationals as majority owners on paper even though foreigners were running the show. One of the businesses was nominally a nail salon, but turned out to (allegedly) be an OnlyFans operation run by an Israeli woman. Legal firms say they are fielding more than 100 calls a day from foreign business owners and property holders who are now beginning to understand that "my lawyer said it was fine" is not a legal defense. Assets can be frozen pending investigation. Turns out that everything can be fine… until it’s not.

Read more: Al Jazeera

Zuckerberg Gets His Day in Thai Court

Thailand's Consumers Council is going to file the country's first civil lawsuit against Meta and Facebook next week, on behalf of 10 victims who lost 230 million baht to scams running via the platform. The suit names 16 other defendants along with Meta. The council first wrote to Mark Zuckerberg in November 2024 with specific recommendations on fraud prevention; the response, in the council's telling, was unsatisfactory. Secretary-general Saree Aongsomwang has been less-than-forgiving about the double standard, saying Facebook applies stricter ad screening in the US, Europe, and Australia than it does in Southeast Asia. Of the 6,164 scam complaints the council received between 2024 and March 2026, three-fifths involved Facebook. Meta's standing defense is that financial transactions don't take place on its platform and therefore they can’t be held responsible for the losses. Thailand is one of the biggest markets for Facebook in the world - the country is home to about 51 million users.

Read more: Bangkok Post (filing timeline), The Edge Malaysia (complaint breakdown)

Two Million Fewer Chinese Island Crackdown

Thai travel agents have lopped two million visitors off their 2026 Chinese arrival forecast (from 9 million to 7), as ransom cases, disappearances, and scam-network stories have flooded Chinese social media. ATTA president Thanapol Cheewarattanaporn said online claims that some Thai police have ties to criminal groups (quelle horreur!) had done serious damage to the country's reputation. The Tourism Ministry's response, the same day, involves inspections of shops, restaurants, hotels, and transport operators on southern islands including Koh Samui and Koh Samet. Officials who turn a blind eye to mafia-style operations will (now?) face prosecution. Tourism Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul has also met Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jianwei, whose embassy has offered to help screen outbound tourists before they leave to Thailand.

Read more: Nation Thailand (island crackdown measures), The Star (ATTA forecast, roadshows)

Iran War Bill Lands in Bangkok

Finance Ministry permanent secretary Lavaron Sangsnit said Thursday the last five months of fiscal 2026 will look nothing like the first seven, when the energy shock from the Iran war had yet to fully bite and collections were 31.3 billion baht ahead of target at 1.50 trillion. Thailand's Business Sentiment Index dropped to 42.5 in May, the lowest since August 2021, as production, performance, order books, and export conditions all got worse when compared to April. The 2.92 trillion baht full-year goal is now in doubt, though Lavaron wasn’t willing to put a number on the gap.

Read more: Bangkok Post (tax refund overage), TradingView (sector breakdown)

Corn on the Cob With a Side of Trade

Thailand's livestock and feed lobby has thrown its weight behind importing up to a million tonnes of US corn yearly. It’s positioning the ask as a fix for a feed deficit that the industry says is 4 million tonnes (5 million tonnes of domestic production vs the 9 million tonnes the sector says it needs). Pornsil Patcharintanakul, president of the Thai Feed Mill Association, says the cost of local feed corn has climbed to the highest level anywhere in the world, and blames tighter import controls, restrictions tied to crop burning, and delayed rain. Twenty-one livestock, aquaculture and feed associations signed the statement.

Read more: Khaosod English

Coalition Partners Read the Fine Print

Pheu Thai's constitutional amendment bill lost its coalition footing after Bhumjaithai lawmakers pulled their signatures and warned that the plan for a 300-member directly-elected drafting assembly may be in conflict with a Constitutional Court ruling that limits that job to sitting lawmakers. Pheu Thai leader Julapun Amornvivat says the party is going to give the proposal a rethink before the joint parliamentary sitting on July 7-8. He says the spat is procedural, and that there’s definitely for sure no coalition trouble.

Read more: Bangkok Post (Bhumjaithai withdrawal), Bangkok Post (Surapon dissent)

Bureaucrats Meet the Bots

The Civil Service Commission has been told to draft an early retirement scheme for the 415,000-member central government workforce, with higher pay promised for those who stay. Deputy PM Pakorn Nilprapunt, who swatted down proposals to raise the retirement age beyond 60, is benchmarking the overhaul against OECD standards and saying that agentic AI is the reason large bureaucracies are losing their rationale. He pointed to Denmark and France as cautionary tales, where he claims that pushing workers to retire later ends in street protests. If you add state-school teachers, doctors and nurses to the 415,000 tally, the total gets to about 1.7 million.

Read more: Bangkok Post

SCB X Taps the Brakes as Rivals Floor It

SCB X is holding its Gen 2 lending arm, a 169 billion baht book of credit card, auto finance, and digital loans, to single-digit growth despite what executives say is a strong market appetite for more. They are appear to believe that the conflict in the Middle East still has more to play out and acknowledge Thailand's punishing household debt is… worrying. Card X grew 12.2% quarter-on-quarter to 97 billion baht, so the restraint really does seem to be a choice and not a ceiling. The consortium's virtual bank, Bank X, is still expected to launch toward the end of this year after Krungthai-backed Clicx Bank's June 19 debut and CP's Ascend Bank that’s expected in July.

Read more: Bangkok Post

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