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PM Anutin Brings Jet Fuel to Canberra
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul made Australia his first overseas stop since taking office in late 2025, and he arrived with jet fuel access on his mind as US-led strikes on Iran are rattling energy supply chains around the world. In Canberra, Anutin and Anthony Albanese agreed to regular defense ministers' meetings and told police to go after the scam networks that fleece millions from Australians each year. Australia sells Thailand roughly $1 billion in natural gas and more than $700 million in petroleum each year, while buying about $6.5 billion in Thai-made cars in return.
Read more: Yahoo News (police pledge), CamboJA (trade)
Sanctioned General Gets a Guard of Honor in Bangkok
Gen Ye Win Oo, Myanmar's US-sanctioned former spymaster and new defense chief, chose Bangkok for his first trip abroad since taking the job. Gen Ukris Boontanondha gave him a tri-service guard of honor before talks on the 2,400-kilometer border and military education, a polished welcome for a junta that wants (needs?) desperately to look less isolated than it is. Anutin gave Min Aung Hlaing a similar red-carpet reception earlier this month, which Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow defended by saying, "It's not about legitimacy, it's about reality."
Read more: Nation (army talks), Malay Mail
Excise Rewrite Targets Chinese Auto Imports
The Finance Ministry wants a new auto tax structure ready by September, with lower rates for carmakers building factories that genuinely manufacture autos in Thailand and higher rates for those who more or less just ship in finished vehicles. The current gap, 10% excise on imports versus 2% for local assembly, has not stopped Chinese brands from using zero-tariff access under the ASEAN-China trade deal instead of building CKD lines. EVs made up almost a third of domestic auto sales in the first half of 2026, and imports accounted for more than half of the number. The market rose 14% to 346,000 vehicles. Subsidies have been shrinking as well.
Read more: Asia News Network
Anti-Graft Body Traces Exam-Fixing Cash
Financial records of suspects in this year's civil-service exam scandal show cash flows of more than 1 billion baht going all the way back to a 2021 scheme that rigged municipal recruitment exams in Pattaya, NACC secretary-general Surapong Intarathaworn said. Investigators say the network was working in both years and altering raw scores inside the computer registry so chosen candidates were able to land executive posts. The commission has moved the older files into a joint inquiry as AMLO is tracing the money. Courts have convicted in 98% of cases the commission has referred for prosecution, a heady rate the agency is likely to be happy to keep sharing with anyone who will listen.
Read more: Bangkok Post (money trail), Nation (AI passport probe)
SRT Approves Design Work on Two Rail Lines
The State Railway board approved 392 million baht in design and environmental contracts for the 304-kilometer Nakhon Sawan-Ban Phai single-track line and the 230-kilometer Chatturat-Nong Bua Lamphu double-track route. The Nakhon Sawan-Ban Phai line is expected to cost 41.85 billion baht. The MAA Consultant-led consortium that won the Nakhon Sawan-Ban Phai design job trimmed roughly a quarter off its fee, from 275 million baht to 200 million baht, VAT included, without changing the scope. Contracts are expected to be signed in September, and design will start late this year.
Read more: Nation
Cabinet Gets Another Gun-Control Draft
The government is reviewing firearm controls after two deadly shootings near Bangkok pushed gun violence back into the public eye and onto the Cabinet table. Anutin has ordered a pause on the issuance of new gun permits, a review of existing licenses and a draft law within 60 days to tighten firearms data, trade rules and penalties. Thailand has more than 10 million civilian firearms in circulation and roughly four in ten may be illegal. The hard part of gun control will be finding the guns that have already moved through family drawers, via online sellers and through the welfare-gun pipeline for officials.
Read more: Bangkok Post (draft timeline), CNA (gun ownership), Prachatai (death toll)
Ethanol Producers Face a Subsidy Hangover
Thailand's ethanol producers are warning of a glut when biofuel price subsidies expire on Sept. 24. The current support has helped keep demand moving through gasohol blends, and the industry worries that removing it will leave producers with more ethanol than fuel retailers want to buy. That puts Bangkok in the position of trying to cut subsidy bills without knocking a protected supply chain sideways. Farmers, mills and fuel sellers all have a piece of this, so a clean exit was never going to be simple.
Read more: Bangkok Post
Nan Floods Turn Into a Northern Business Problem
Flooding in Nan has killed at least two people and affected more than 30,000, with more rain threatening recovery work. Nan has been declared a disaster zone, and tourism operators in the North are asking for flood defenses and relief before cancellations spread beyond the worst-hit districts. The immediate problem is rescue and cleanup, followed by a rebuilding of confidence, especially for small hotels, tour operators and shops that aren’t able to wait out a long monsoon slump.
Read more: Nation (death toll), Nation (rain forecast), Bangkok Post (Nan recovery), Bangkok Post (tourism operators), ITIJ (travel disruption)
Tourist Dip Meets Export Optimism
Thailand saw 19.76 million foreign tourist arrivals through Aug. 15, down only 3% from a year earlier, with spending at 957.6 billion baht. Chinese visitors are still the biggest group, but short-haul softness is showing up at the wrong time for hotels and retailers. The Commerce Ministry is more upbeat on exports, saying shipments could grow at a double-digit rate and reach 12 trillion baht this year if no new surprises appear. Retailers are less cheerful, thought - they’re asking for measures to lift spending since export optimism doesn’t pay the rent in an empty shop.
Read more: Bangkok Post (tourist arrivals), Bangkok Post (export target), Bangkok Post (retail proposals)
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