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Sep 18, 2026

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Election Commission Clears Its Prime Minister

The Election Commission is sending 77 of 427 suspects in the Senate selection case to the Supreme Court, including 26 sitting senators. It cleared all 21 Bhumjaithai figures caught up in the case, including Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and party co-founder Newin Chidchob. The panel threw out testimony from former Bhumjaithai MP Ekkarat Changlao after he withdrew his claim that Anutin and Newin met senators at a Bangkok hotel in 2024. Commissioner Sitthichot Intharawiset disputed the ruling. He referenced 12 coordinated voting lists that were connected to gatherings in six provinces, as well as phone records and financial connections that the commission's majority refused to investigate further. Perhaps unrelatedly, four of the seven current commissioners were approved by the current Senate. Chairman Narong Klunwarin tried to be clear by saying that the ruling isn’t a finding of guilt. The EC this week also opened three new cases against the People's Party, iLaw and independent Senate groups over a separate meeting in 2024.

Read more: Thai Enquirer (vote tally), Prachatai English (money trail), Prachatai English (cleared figures), Prachatai English (protests), Thai Enquirer (evidence)

Bangkok Accuses Cambodia at Maritime Hearing

Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow opened Bangkok's case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration's Singapore outpost by accusing Cambodia of "playing the role of a victim" in a dispute over 27,000 square kilometers of the Gulf of Thailand that’s believed to hold amounts of oil and gas. His Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhonn said Phnom Penh wants a "single, all-purpose maritime boundary" and suggested the joint development of the resources while the boundary talks drag on. Bangkok wasn’t keen to take a bite of that offer. The competing claims go all the way back to the early 1970s. A 2001 framework resulted in only a handful of meetings over the past 25 years before the Thai cabinet scrapped it in the wake of the 2025 land-border fighting. Cambodia ratified UNCLOS in February and soon triggered compulsory conciliation, even though that commission's recommendations aren’t binding.

Read more: AP News (conciliation), Arab News (hearing), Thai Enquirer (joint development)

Anutin Tells Foreigners to Earn or Leave

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has told provincial governors to stop drowning in paperwork for troublesome foreigners and start booking their flights home. He even offered to advance the airfare from the state budget. The first two targets are fighting deportation orders during their appeals. Two are an Israeli convicted of making threats after his family was blocked from entry to a zoo and the zoo's French owner, who authorities accuse of stirring religious division. In Phuket, Governor Chotnarin Kerdsom has given his people seven days to dig through land deeds, permits and shareholder records related to Chabad of Patong. Its Rosh Hashanah dinner last week for 2,000 Israeli travelers was canceled after a pro-Palestinian protest came together near the venue. Prime Minister Anutin also wears the hat of interior minister.

Read more: Bangkok Post (land cases), Nation Thailand (deportations), Israel National News (Chabad inquiry)

Authorities Flag 2,200 Nominee Landowners

Authorities have found about 2,200 companies suspected of holding land through foreign-majority nominee structures. Perhaps they weren’t looking very hard. Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said forced sales will be demanded if investigators are able to confirm violations. The crackdown is part of Anutin's push against foreign land ownership, particularly in the provinces of Phuket and Surat Thani. Officials are also looking at more than 11,000 firms that have “suspicious” shareholder or bank account changes. The assets under scrutiny have risen from 65 billion baht to 85 billion baht. Police and three government departments are cross-checking records and are expect to finish their work by the end of this month.

Bangkok Oil Leak Traced to Bangchak Pipeline

Six days after Bangchak Group said its tests had found nothing wrong, a backhoe under the Rama III bridge in Khlong Toey found an oil patch two to three meters underground. The Energy Ministry has confirmed that a pipeline is leaking into Bangkok's drains. Of course, some are saying that the seepage may have been too small for the earlier checks to catch. The line in question connects the Bangchak refinery to fuel depots to both Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi airports. Thousands of liters of contaminated wastewater have been pumped out so far. After repairs are finished, operators will have to test the full 32-kilometer pipeline before restarting the flow. BFPL and BPT are expected to be on the hook for all damages.

Every LNG $3 Adds 5% to Power Bills

Every $3 per MMBtu increase in LNG prices could increase electricity prices by 5%, incoming PTTEP CEO Kanita Sartwattayu told a Bangkok energy conference. Gas supplies more than three-fifths of Thailand’s power, and LNG makes up about half of that. Kanita expects LNG's share to reach 70% within a decade as domestic fields start to run out and pipeline gas from Myanmar tapers off. Thailand buys half its LNG on the spot market, where prices are volatile and, of course, rose sharply after Middle East supply disruptions. PTTEP says it will work to squeeze more from marginal domestic fields as its able.

USTDA Funds Nuclear Feasibility Study

No site, budget or construction timeline has been published, but the US Trade and Development Agency is paying for an EGAT feasibility study for 600 MWe of small modular reactor capacity. It is another step toward the country's civil nuclear ambitions that have been bandied about for decades. The study will compare designs from seven vendors, identify potential sites and map the regulatory path before USTDA will open the the work to bids from US firms. The deal comes after Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power signed their own SMR agreement with EGAT, so at the moment it looks like the players lined up are in Washington and Seoul.

GMI Cloud Borrows $300M on Nvidia Chips

GMI Cloud is shopping a $300 million loan to banks and private credit funds to buy Nvidia chips for a center inside an STT GDC site. Tencent will be the buyer of the computing power. The loan is expected to be priced with a yield in the low teens and will be secured against the chips instead of the building or land. Lenders are apparently warming to this structure as data center financing moves from bricks and mortar to the hardware onsite. GMI Cloud recently closed a similar $436 million deal in Taiwan that drew bank commitments for more than twice the amount requested.

Anutin Wants Trump Meeting at UNGA

Bangkok is looking for a meeting between Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and President Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, and Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun thinks its likely to happen. Her ministry wants officials to finish up their technical trade talks first though, so that final tariffs and other fine adjustments can be all that’s left for the two leaders to settle. Washington put a 12.5% tariff on Thai goods in July.

BoT Holds at 1%, Keeps Options Open

The Bank of Thailand is holding its policy rate at 1%, and assistant governor Don Nakornthab says every option is still open for the Bank’s October review. The private sector thinks a longer pause is likely. Growth is expected at 2.3% this year and 1.8% next. Don said the baht's 5.7% drop against the dollar has been "quite orderly" and is helping exporters.

Cargill Puts ฿2 Billion Into Chicken

Cargill will spend 2 billion baht ($60 million) on an automated cooked chicken line at its Saraburi plant and a 30,000 metric ton grain silo in Nakhon Ratchasima. The new line is due in 2028, and the silo should be finished in December. Cargill says that its cooked poultry output will be up to 160,000 metric tons, and result in 25 billion baht of export revenue and 300 new local jobs.

Bangkok Caps Rail Fares at 45 Baht

Rail fares on Bangkok's network will be capped at 45 baht per trip (vs a normal hight of ~60) from January 1. Krungthai Bank is going to run the central clearing house, with refunds going to Pao Tang (a Thai software wallet) or the card used for payment within three working days. The government thinks the deal will cost it about 5 billion baht yearly to pay for the scheme. The cabinet should have time to consider the plan in November, although BMA officials warn that replacing Green Line card readers could take up to two years, possibly putting a crimp in things.

Read more: Nation Thailand (card readers), Bangkok Post (current discounts), Khaosod English (line transfers)

King Rama X Flies Himself to Hanoi

King Rama X flew a Boeing 737 into Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport in heavy rain, and Queen Suthida served in the first officer's chair. The flight was the opening event for the first state visit to Vietnam by a Thai monarch since the countries established diplomatic ties. The aviation authority had renewed both royals' ratings for several 737 variants five days earlier. Suthida, a former flight attendant, earned her 737 rating in Germany and holds a Thai airline transport pilot license. The king had logged 3,000 hours on the 737-400 by 2009 in addition to much experience flying F-5s and F-16s.

Sumatra Fires Push Haze Into the South

The Pollution Control Department has published its first cross-border haze warning of this year after satellites picked up 7,236 hotspots in Indonesia (mostly in southern Sumatra) against four in Thailand. PM2.5 in Yala and Narathiwat has risen to exceed local standards with readings in the south ranging from 13.7 to 42.1 micrograms per cubic meter. Rain is expected through September 21, but winds will likely continue carrying smoke north through the weekend.

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