Author: user user

The government’s Khon La Khrueng (half-half) co-payment economic stimulus scheme will begin on Oct 29, with registration expected to open soon after cabinet approval next week, according to Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas.

Mr Ekniti, also deputy prime minister, said registration would use the same system, based on the Pao Tang app, that consumers are familiar with from 2020-22 when the programme was first introduced to stimulate the pandemic-hit economy.

The programme will last for two months, with the daily co-payment limit increased to 200 baht from 150 baht previously, aimed at delivering a ‘quick big win’ to stimulate spending and the economy.

The increase is part of a dual-pronged ‘Plus’ enhancement – a higher subsidy and broader inclusion, said the minister.

‘Quick’ refers to the speed of implementation – with the project ready for immediate rollout following cabinet approval. ‘Big’ represents an increase in the co-payment share, said Mr Ekniti.

‘Win’ means this round will be expanded to include small legal entities in addition to individual vendors, in response to public feedback and a desire to distribute benefits more broadly among small business operators and taxpayers.

‘Plus’ means that people who pay tax will qualify for an additional 2,400 baht in co-payment benefits, reflecting the government’s intent to reward those who participate in the tax system. ‘Plus’ also represents the focus on digital skill development, said the minister. Participating vendors will be encouraged to adopt digital tools, use e-commerce platforms, and basic accounting systems to enhance financial literacy and competitiveness among Thai small businesses.

During the debate on the government’s policy statement on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dismissed criticism that the scheme is a thinly veiled attempt at pre-election campaigning.

Khon La Khrueng proved popular and effective during the pandemic, as it subsidised purchases of selected daily-use goods, easing household burdens while injecting cash directly into the economy.

The scheme had a total budget of 208 billion baht from 2020-22. Thais 18 and older who did not hold state welfare cards were eligible, with about 30 million participants in total.

The budget for the 2025 version of the programme has not been confirmed but it is expected to be around 50 billion baht.

Thailand is expected to welcome 200,000 Chinese tourists during the Chinese eight-day Golden Week holiday, a 24% year-on-year decrease, with revenue projected to drop 17% to 9.1 billion baht despite growth in outbound travel from mainland China.

Outbound bookings for the holiday this year surged 28% year-on-year, while international seat capacity rose by 10% to both short- and long-haul destinations, according to ForwardKeys, an air traffic data company.

The growth in travel demand was attributed to visa-free entry to many countries and depreciation of the yen.

The most popular destinations remained in Japan, with Osaka and Tokyo reporting increases of 66% and 24%, respectively.

Many large cities in Southeast Asia reported upticks for the Golden Week holiday period, led by Ho Chi Minh City with a 71% increase, followed by Kuala Lumpur and Hanoi at 66%, Denpasar at 61%, and Singapore at 18%. No Thai city made the top 10.

Thapanee Kiatphaibool, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said Chinese people began entering Thailand for the holiday on Sept 26 and will continue to take trips until Oct 8, taking advantage of the country’s visa exemption scheme for convenient family travel.

However, the number of Chinese arrivals is expected to decline by 24% from 262,001 in 2024, with revenue down 17% from 10.9 billion baht as confidence in safety remains a roadblock, she said.

Other countries offer better value, particularly Japan, where the average cost of travel has fallen by 15% due to the weak yen, while some routes in Singapore and Malaysia have prices that are 6% cheaper year-on-year.

South Korea recently launched visa-free privileges for groups of three people entering via tour companies registered with the South Korean government.

Due to the longer Golden Week holiday period this year, which runs from Oct 1-8, a number of Chinese had opted to venture to Europe, resulting in 110% growth in Chinese tour groups to France, Switzerland and Spain.

South Africa, which offers an e-visa for Chinese tourists, also recorded 30% growth during this period.

Ms Thapanee said Chinese tourists are expected to stay for 6-8 nights on average in Thailand and spend 6,600 baht a day.

Seat bookings during the holiday still rose by 5%, most of which came from Beijing (20%), Guangzhou (18%) and Chengdu (10%), while the second-tier cities that generated the most tourists for Thailand included Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Xi’an, Xiamen and Chongqing.

Ms Thapanee said there would be at least 30 chartered flights touching down in Thailand during the week, mostly from the second-tier cities where the Thai government has already launched its subsidy campaign.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lowered its Thai GDP growth estimates for this year and next, citing export deceleration, a slow recovery of foreign tourist arrivals, as well as weakened private consumption and investments.

In its latest Asian Development Outlook (ADO) report, the Manila-based bank projects Thai GDP to expand 2% this year, down from 2.9% forecast in April, with the economy slowing in the second half as front-loaded shipments to the US end.

Economic growth is expected to slow further to 1.6% in 2026, down from the bank’s previous forecast of 2.9%.

“The 19% US tariff on exports will slow shipments, particularly of electrical equipment, machinery, metals, processed food and vehicles. Small businesses may find it difficult to adjust to the tariffs compared with their US counterparts, which often benefit from larger operations and lower production costs,” noted the report.

Meanwhile, a sluggish recovery of tourist arrivals together with a weakened global economy is dampening the tourism sector. The forecast for foreign tourist arrivals was downgraded from 39.5 million in April to 34 million, primarily due to fewer inbound tourists from China.

“Increased competition from other regional destinations is also contributing to the projected slowdown. Many countries in the region are spending heavily to attract international visitors by developing tourism infrastructure and offering competitive costs. Weakened currencies in some countries also makes them more affordable to foreign tourists,” ADB noted.

The bank downgraded Thailand’s private consumption growth from the ADO April 2025 forecast due to declining income, weak consumer confidence, and a drop in farm incomes based on lower agricultural prices.

“The impact of US tariff hikes and sluggish tourism will likely affect employment and income,” noted the report.

“Persistently high household debt will continue to limit household purchasing power.”

In the latter half of 2025, private consumption may benefit from government domestic tourism stimulus programmes, though the impact could be limited due to registration issues, according to ADB.

Fiscal stimulus measures, particularly for infrastructure, could encourage private investment. However, private investment will be hurt by the US tariff hikes, concerns over domestic political stability, and a weakness in services stemming from the slow tourism recovery, noted the report.

ADB added risks to the outlook “remain on the downside”.

“Domestic economic fragility, including political uncertainties and high household debt, heightened the risk of a slowdown in domestic demand,” noted the report.

“A larger impact from US tariffs, a slower recovery in tourism, and increased geopolitical tensions could slow economic growth to fall short of the forecast.”

About 500,000 vehicles in Thailand still have defective Takata airbags, which could explode and hurl metal fragments at drivers and passengers, the The Thai Automotive Industry Association (TAIA) has warned.

The warning follows a fatal accident in Singapore on Sept 29, when a driver was killed by shrapnel from a ruptured Takata airbag. It was the first such death reported in the city-state, more than a decade after global recalls began.

The TAIA said in July that despite years of recall campaigns by major carmakers, many vehicle owners in Thailand have yet to have their airbags checked or replaced.

The defective airbags have been linked to numerous injuries and deaths worldwide, including cases in Thailand. A total of 14 car brands have recalled affected models in Thailand:

Chevrolet (2007-15)

BMW (1998-2018)

Ford (1998-2014)

Honda (1998-2014)

Mazda (1996-2014)

Mitsubishi (2005-15)

Nissan (2000-15)

Toyota (2001-14)

Lexus (2006-16)

Jaguar XE (2015-17) and XF (2009-15)

Land Rover Discovery (2015-16) and Land Rover (2011-12)

Audi (1997-2017)

Mercedes-Benz (2004-16)

Subaru (2004-12)

Owners of affected vehicles are urged to contact authorised service centres or call centres of their respective brands to book a free replacement. The repair is carried out at no cost. More information is available from the TAIA at its dedicated website www.checkairbag.com.

NEW YORK – For her much-awaited new album “The Life of a Showgirl,” Taylor Swift reunited with Swedish producer Max Martin, who revolutionized modern pop with a formula that blends technology, simplicity — and a feel for the perfect hook.

At first glance, Martin looks more suited to work with heavy metal bands than pop icons.

Indeed, the career of the long-haired, bearded musician clad in black started in metal and hard rock.

Martin — born Karl Martin Sandberg in the Stockholm suburb of Stenhamra — entered the music scene in the 1980s as a singer for the band It’s Alive which, he says, took inspiration from Metallica, KISS and Def Leppard.

In the early 1990s, he pivoted to work more in songwriting and production, quickly making a mark with global hits for Swedish groups Ace of Base and Army of Lovers.

Without leaving Stockholm, Martin attracted the attention of the Backstreet Boys — his work on the boy band’s mega-hit self-titled debut album opened doors in the United States.

Martin’s work stands out for how he shapes the sound, but also for his composition.

“That’s definitely something that’s always been a little bit more prevalent in hip-hop where, a lot of times, you get a producer because they’re really good at creating beats,” explained Michael Johnson, a professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

For Clay Stevenson, an associate professor at Elon University, “his hits focus on booty-bouncin’ and head-boppin’ beats that are unforgettable.”

“Add relatable and repetitive lyrics to catchy melodic hooks and there it is — the Max Martin formula,” Stevenson said.

‘Monosyllabic pop’

This recipe for success spawned some of the biggest pop bangers of the last 30 years, including “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears, The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” and Katy Perry’s “Roar.”

Martin first entered the Swiftverse in 2011, when the then-21-year-old was looking for a new sound to help her transition from country starlet to pop princess.

The result was the number one hit “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” which the duo co-wrote along with two other songs on her 2012 album “Red.”

For her follow-up album “1989,” he co-wrote or produced multiple hits including “Shake It Off” and “Bad Blood.”

“What Taylor Swift learned from Max Martin was how to work with monosyllabic pop music… with not having really long sentences drive the song always, but letting words be minimized to where they were supporting the music,” said the University of Alabama’s Eric Weisbard.

For Elon’s Stevenson, “in the new Taylor Swift era, fans weren’t expected to follow a story, but rather go on a ride. Martin was critical in this evolution with the creation and production of many of those hits.”

‘Bangers’

Swift’s last four albums, ending with “The Tortured Poets Department,” were intimate affairs.

But this year, she teamed up once again with Martin and his regular collaborator Shellback (Karl Johan Schuster) to capture what she called the “effervescence” in her life at the moment.

Swift, now 35, is certainly on a high, between her mammoth Eras Tour and her engagement with National Football League (NFL) star Travis Kelce.

“It just comes from like the most infectiously, joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life,” Swift, speaking on Kelce’s New Heights podcast, said of “Showgirl.”

The album, which is out on Oct 3, will be a tight 12 songs, some of them “bangers,” Swift herself said — harking back to the era of the infectious “Shake It Off” and “22” with Martin.

The 54-year-old Swedish producer’s calculated approach is not for everyone, with some saying it generates songs that are too neatly packaged, but it has inspired other genres like K-pop.

“He cranks out hit after hit with seemingly little concern for the authenticity of the music,” said Stevenson.

“American producers may think a Max Martin song is corny when they first hear it, but they’ll find themselves singing it when they turn it off.”

For Johnson, that description of Martin might have been apt during his days with Spears and the Backstreet Boys.

“In the last few years, he’s actually won some Grammys,” the Berklee professor said. “I think now it’s a little bit of a different story.”

Rukchanok Srinork, People’s Party (PP) MP for Bangkok, called on newly appointed Labour Minister Trinuch Thienthong to urgently address lingering issues within the Social Security Office (SSO), including the controversial purchase of the SKYY9 building.

Speaking during the parliamentary debate on the government’s policy statement, Ms Rukchanok urged the labour minister to expedite an investigation into the SSO’s purchase of SKYY9 at an overpriced rate, demanding that those responsible, whether ministers or senior officials, be held accountable within three months.

Opposition MP Rukchanok also pointed out that several ministers in the current government had links to the SKYY9 purchase, including Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin, Public Health Minister and former building owner Pattana Prompha and Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, who was the former labour minister, as well as Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who formed the probe committee to investigate the purchase of the building.

She further raised concerns about ongoing efforts to derail the Social Security Board election by amending regulations within the SSO, which would exclude employee representatives.

Ms Rukchanok also questioned whether the election would still take place in February 2026.

She added that proposals to change the system to an internal selection process were raised by a Senate committee member who had previously lost the Social Security Board election.

Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) has announced that Somkiat Chantra will join Jake Dixon at the Honda HRC factory team for the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship season.

Both riders are proven Moto2 race winners with extensive world championship experience. Somkiat’s representation of Asian motorsport and Dixon’s European racing heritage combine to form a talented international line-up with the speed and ambition to challenge at the sharp end of WorldSBK.

Somkiat, 26, currently competes in the MotoGP World Championship with Idemitsu Honda LCR, having stepped up to the premier class in 2025.

A graduate of the Asia Talent Cup, which he won in 2016, Somkiat progressed through the FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship before joining Moto2 with Idemitsu Honda Team Asia in 2019. He made history as the first Thai rider to win in Moto2 with victories at the Indonesian GP — Mandalika (2022) and the Japanese GP — Motegi (2023).

Dixon, 29, currently competes in the Moto2 World Championship with the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team. Runner-up in the 2018 British Superbike Championship, Dixon has established himself among the leading Moto2 riders with six Grand Prix victories.

“We are pleased to welcome Somkiat Chantra and Jake Dixon as factory riders for the Honda HRC WorldSBK Team from 2026. Somkiat, the first Thai rider ever to win in Moto2 and to race in MotoGP, now takes an important new step within the Honda family, extending his career at the international top level as the first Thai rider to compete full-time in the Superbike World Championship as a factory rider,” said Taichi Honda, HRC general manager.

“Dixon, a multiple Moto2 Grand Prix winner, has consistently demonstrated the speed and determination required to succeed in a championship as competitive as WorldSBK. Together, their talent, experience, and racing spirit will be valuable assets as we continue to strengthen our position in the series,” he added.

GreenIO, a Bangkok-based artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) solutions company, has developed an AI-powered air quality monitoring system to help safeguard underserved communities from the harmful effects of PM2.5 pollution.

The company is the first in Thailand to receive support under a corporate social responsibility programme run by Qualcomm Inc aimed at promoting collaboration and developing AI-powered air quality monitoring systems.

GreenIO also plans to develop and commercialise AI-on-device technology by designing and manufacturing the devices in Thailand to reduce imports, build domestic technological capabilities, and capitalise on AI-on-device market opportunities.

The company’s ambition is to make Thailand a regional leader in AI-on-devices in the long term, said Ittichai Phoomsirivilai, managing director and co-founder of GreenIO.

According to Grand View Research, the global AI on-device market was estimated at US$8.60 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $36.6 billion by 2030.

“Thailand has its own capabilities for designing and manufacturing AI-on-devices but needs to build a community and an ecosystem of universities and developers to build our own local products,” he said.

By integrating Qualcomm’s advanced AI-on-device technology into GreenIO’s intelligence sensors, this AI smart-edge network air pollution detection programme enables real-time detection of air quality and smoke to help safeguard communities, particularly those that are underserved, face budget constraints and are located in remote areas.

Mr Ittichai said the monitoring device can detect humidity, PM2.5, PM10, total volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide, and can generate real-time alerts with a dedicated dashboard.

“The device also transforms raw environment data into actionable intelligence,” he said.

By having its own design and manufacturing partners, it can make the device price around 20% cheaper than an imported device.

The company deployed the devices with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, public hospitals, and schools with 200 monitoring units across 10 provinces reaching 200,000 people. GreenIO aims to scale this proven model nationwide, engaging ministries, universities, and hospitals to integrate air quality data into health protocols and school safety policies, said Mr Ittichai.

The collaboration with Qualcomm is also exploring commercialising the expansion of AI-on-device solutions beyond air quality, with projects such as a visual impairment navigator already under development, showcasing how this innovation can drive sustainable progress across multiple sectors.

Sharon Alalouf, sales director for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd, said as a CSR programme, the Qualcomm Wireless Reach initiative is a global programme that leverages wireless innovation to drive social and economic progress.

Since 2006, the initiative has implemented 150 programmes across 75 countries, impacting more than 27 million people.

Ms Alalouf said with the Thailand 4.0 strategy, the government is pushing for innovation to address environmental challenges.

“We see high potential in Thailand, which is driving a digital transformation that is among the most advanced in the region,” she said.

“The collaboration with GreenIO will drive innovative local companies to adapt this technology to address other solutions to serve local pain points.”

Central Restaurants Group Co Ltd (CRG) is strengthening its Japanese portfolio with the launch of Ootoya Oki, a premium shabu and sukiyaki restaurant that delivers authentic flavours at Central Pinklao mall in Bangkok.

The new brand offers Thailand’s first “Oozuwai Kani Shabu”, a signature crab fat soup prepared with a whole Zuwai crab, catering to the growing demand for premium Japanese dining experiences and driving sustainable growth for CRG’s Asian cuisine business.

Thirawat Loetthiraphan, head of Asian cuisine at CRG, said the launch represents a milestone for its Japanese portfolio as it taps Thailand’s shabu market, valued at more than 20 billion baht and continuing to expand.

CRG aims to position Ootoya Oki as a flagship brand that appeals to health-conscious diners, shabu lovers and customers who value authenticity and quality, and to elevate the standard of Japanese dining in Thailand.

The company plans to open at least five locations of Ootoya Oki within three years, strategically focusing on leading shopping centres and community malls.

He said CRG is confident this new concept will delight customers and set a new benchmark for Japanese dining experiences in the country.

Myanmar refugees living in nine border camps will be allowed to work legally in Thailand for the next 12 months Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Wednesday, sending a message to Cambodia that Thailand does not need its recalled workforce.

The prime minister said that from Oct 1 Myanmar refugees were allowed to work outside their camps for one year.

In allowing this, Thailand complied with humanitarian principles and opened opportunities for refugees who obeyed regulations and laws and could be helpful, he said.

‘For those who disagree with our regulations and conditions, these regulations cannot be eased. This is sending a message to the country that has problems with us that it cannot assume we will be short of labour or workers,’ Mr Anutin said, in a clear reference to Cambodia.

He gave an assurance that employers would provide working Myanmar refugees with standard welfare and access to provident funds in accordance with labour laws.

‘These workers will be protected because they are legitimate workers,’ the prime minister said.

The permission to work applies to Myanmar nationals in nine refugee camps in four provinces. They can work in 43 provinces in the North, the Central Plains and the East, he said.

According to the Ministry of Labour three of the camps are in Tak province, four in Mae Hong Son and one each in Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi. There are 42,601 registered refugees of working age.

The border conflict with Cambodia led to the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Cambodian workers. It was reported they were pressured by their homeland to return or lose their property in Cambodia.

Although the border remains closed, many Cambodians have tried to sneak back into Thailand in search of work.