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Mekong Memo Thailand Weekly: Business, politics, finance, trade & legal news.

Jul 10, 2026

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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