Category: The Bangkok Post

Jasmine International Plc (JAS) faces a marginal loss of around 100 million baht from acquiring the broadcasting rights to the Fifa World Cup 2026, attributed to a shortfall in sponsorship revenue, inflexible marketing packages and inconvenient match times.

Despite the loss, the company insists its financial structure remains manageable due to instalment-based payments, allowing it to maintain healthy cash flow despite the high price.

Soraj Asavaprapha, chief executive of Jasmine, attributed the loss to sponsorship revenue falling short of expectations, with receipts totalling 100 million baht against a projection of at least 200 million baht.

He said the shortfall was because the deal was completed just a few days before the tournament began, meaning some major brands had no marketing budgets available to commit.

“We are viewing the experience as a lesson learned and looking to optimise for the 2030 edition,” Mr Soraj said.

According to Jasmine, its board meeting in June approved the acquisition of broadcasting rights for Fifa competitions from 2026 to 2030, including the 2026 and 2030 World Cups.

The transaction was valued at US$70 million, granting Jasmine broadcasting and distribution rights in Thailand.

For the 2026 competition, the company allocated a budget of up to $25 million.

The tournament, which started on June 11 and continues through July 19, is jointly hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.

Under the agreement, all 104 matches are streamed live on Mono Next’s Monomax platform, with Thai viewers also able to watch more than 40 matches free via the Monomax Sports channel.

For viewers seeking complete tournament coverage, Monomax Sports Premium costs 5,999 baht, with a 0% instalment payment plan available for up to 10 months.

100,000 NEW SUBSCRIBERS

Since securing the broadcast rights, the company has gained more than 100,000 new subscribers for its specialised sports packages.

Mr Soraj said these new users signed up for a bundle priced at around 6,000 baht, which includes the 2026 World Cup alongside the English Premier League and other sporting content.

The loss is estimated at 100 million baht because the influx of new subscribers coupled with sponsorship revenue has nearly covered the $25 million cost, he said.

Securing the World Cup rights was driven by a vision from major shareholder Pete Bodharamik to ensure Thai fans did not miss out on the global event after the government failed to secure the rights, Mr Soraj said.

Winning the rights has yielded “intangible benefits” such as enhanced brand awareness, brand equity and positive brand perception, he noted.

The company’s decision to broadcast the semifinals and finals for free on the Monomax Sports channel was intended to serve the public interest while boosting the platform’s profile, Mr Soraj said.

HOPES PINNED ON 2030

Several factors make the outlook for 2030 significantly more promising, he said.

The main factor is the more favourable time zones, with the 2030 tournament hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal. Matches are expected to air around 8pm Thailand time, a “prime time” slot far superior to the early-morning hours of the 2026 tournament.

Another major factor is marketing lead time, as Jasmine has four years rather than days to negotiate with sponsors and design consumer-friendly packages.

Based on feedback from the 2026 cycle, Mr Soraj said the company plans to offer more flexible “a la carte” packages for fans who only want World Cup matches without other sports, alongside instalment payment options for viewers.

Mixed doubles pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran and men’s singles hope Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul advanced to the second round of the US$950,000 (approx 31.8 million baht) BWF Japan Open on Tuesday.

Fourth seeds Dechapol and Supissara defeated fellow Thais Supak Jomkoh and Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn 21-19, 21-12 to set up a last-16 clash with Yang Po-hsuan and Hu Lingfang of Taiwan in the Super 750 tournament.

Panitchaphon, meanwhile, claimed the opening day’s biggest upset after knocking out fourth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 21-16, 21-14. The 21-year-old will meet Kodai Naraoka of Japan in the second round on Thursday.

However, the women’s singles trio of Ratchanok Intanon, Supanida Katethong and Busanan Ongbamrungphan all suffered first round losses on Tuesday.

Supanida went down to fourth seed Chen Yufei of China 21-23, 12-21 before seventh seed Ratchanok followed her compatriot out of the tournament with an 18-21, 19-21 loss to Sim Yu-Jin of South Korea, while Busanan was beaten by Michelle Li of Canada 17-21, 12-21.

The trio’s exits mean only two Thai players are left in the women’s singles event, with eighth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong and Pitchamon Opatniputh both scheduled to face Taiwan’s Chiu Pin-chian and Turkey’s Neslihan Arin respectively on Wednesday.

Another mixed doubles pair, Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Sapsiree Taerattanachai, failed to advance, losing to Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan of Malaysia in a three-game thriller, 21-15, 19-21, 19-21.

In the women’s doubles event, Hathaithip Mijad and Napapakorn Tungkasatan gave top seeds Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning of China an early scare before losing in three games, 12-21, 21-11, 17-21.

Men’s singles second seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn will face Ayush Shetty of India in his first round match on Wednesday.

Thailand hopes Myanmar will allow Asean’s special envoy to meet detained former state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi during an upcoming visit, as Bangkok pushes for renewed dialogue on the country’s crisis.

Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said on Wednesday that Thailand welcomed recent engagement between Asean and Myanmar, including informal talks between Asean foreign ministers and Myanmar’s foreign minister.

Mr Sihasak said the discussions marked the first time Asean had engaged directly with Myanmar in person since 2021 and aimed to encourage Nay Pyi Taw to provide updates on developments inside the country.

Asean has acknowledged limited progress under the bloc’s five-point consensus for peace in Myanmar, and agreed on indicators to measure improvements, said the minister. These include the further release of political prisoners and positive developments regarding Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military junta announced earlier this year that the 81-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner had been moved from prison to house arrest in Nay Pyi Daw. However, her family, diplomats and legal team have expressed scepticism, as authorities have denied all requests for independent verification or visits, and she has not been seen or heard from since late 2022.

Maria Theresa Lazaro, the Asean special envoy to Myanmar and foreign minister of the Philippines, was in Thailand last week for informal talks with representatives of ethnic armed groups from Myanmar as well as a government representative.

Ms Lazaro plans a humanitarian visit to Myanmar to see the situation on the ground in the period before the Asean summit in November.

‘We also hope that Nay Pyi Taw would allow the [Asean] envoy to get access to Aung San Suu Kyi,’ Mr Sihasak said.

Asked about Myanmar Foreign Minister Than Swe’s response to the request, Mr Sihasak said the proposal had not been rejected, and he believed it would be discussed with Myanmar’s leadership.

‘It’s all about sincerity,’ he said, adding that Thailand was sincere in proposing talks and hoped the engagement would lead to progress.

In a related development, Mr Sihasak confirmed reports that Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing will make an official visit to Thailand next month.

The general who led the 2021 coup that deposed Aung San Suu Kyi is now the country’s civilian president following elections that featured no meaningful opposition.

Thailand has been leading an effort to begin normalising relations, both bilaterally and through Asean.

‘It’s best to bring Myanmar back into the fold,’ Mr Sihasak told a news conference in Bangkok on Wednesday.

‘We believe that after five years we need to talk, we need to listen, and they need to explain,’ he added.

The country’s first formal regulations governing the deportation of foreign nationals have been approved by the cabinet, introducing a framework to expedite the removal of foreigners who violate immigration and criminal laws.

Government spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek said on Tuesday the cabinet has endorsed the draft Prime Minister’s Office Regulation on Deportation, proposed by Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt.

The new regulation specifies six categories of offences under which foreign nationals may be deported when deemed necessary to protect public order and public morality.

The categories include: illegal entry into or unlawful residence in Thailand; working illegally in violation of the law governing foreign workers; operating a business illegally under the Foreign Business Act; forging official documents or using forged government documents; committing criminal offences punishable by imprisonment of three years or more; and acting as an organiser, instigator or accomplice in any of the above offences.

The regulation follows a cabinet resolution on June 16 assigning Mr Pakorn to coordinate with relevant agencies to revise immigration-related laws and procedures to accelerate the removal of foreign nationals who commit offences or enter Thailand illegally.

Thailand had no unified administrative regulation governing deportation procedures, resulting in delays and requiring close coordination among multiple agencies on a case-by-case basis.

The new rules aim to establish standard procedures to improve the efficiency and speed of deportations.

The number of active users on the Google Gemini app in Southeast Asia has more than doubled in a year, driven by Gen Z and local language capability.

Thailand leads the region in lifestyle companion usage, while 87% of prompts are written in Thai.

According to Gemini Report: Southeast Asia 2026, the region has adopted Gemini faster than any other Google app. Gemini is the most searched for artificial intelligence (AI) assistant in Thailand.

“Southeast Asia is not just keeping up with AI, but is setting the pace, with consumer interest in the region three times higher than the global average,” said Sapna Chadha of Google Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier.

Gemini serves more than 900 million users globally across 70 languages.

In Southeast Asia, the number of active Gemini app users has more than doubled in the last 12 months, making it the fastest-growing Google app for the region.

User engagement is deepening, as people are returning 50% more frequently and doubling their average prompts, said Ms Chadha.

Almost three out of four requests in the region come from mobile devices, a trend spearheaded by young “native AI users” who push the technology’s limits through extended, complex problem-solving conversations rather than simply quick queries.

Samuele Saini, director for Google Ads Solutions and Insights in Southeast Asia, said users engage with Gemini across three dimensions: the user’s purpose (the “why”), the output content (the “what”) and the specific Gemini capability used (the “how”).

Around 40% of regional prompts use Gemini as a generative collaborator to create new text, music, images and videos, while 20% use it as a research assistant to gather and summarise information, enhanced by real-time Google Search and Workspace integration.

Another 10% use it as a thought partner for two-way brainstorming and troubleshooting.

Users have created more than 5 billion images across the region since August 2025 and generated more than 1 million songs within a month of the launch of a music generation model.

Furthermore, more than 40% of interactions are multimodal (using voice, photos or videos), with more than 10% of conversations taking place via voice alone.

Regional adoption

Gemini adoption across Southeast Asia highlights diverse, country-specific use cases.

Indonesia leads the region in volume with 9 million daily custom ideas, driven heavily by mobile and voice inputs, while Singapore boasts the highest per capita adoption globally, shifting from weekday technical debugging to weekend lifestyle planning.

Meanwhile, the Philippines stands out as the only market with a majority-female user base, with users frequently leveraging AI for academic, creative and business process outsourcing-related tasks.

Malaysia leads in visual creativity, with the highest share of image generation, alongside a doubling of Malay-language interactions over the past year.

Saranee Boonritthongchai, director for Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier Consumer Marketing, said seven out of 10 prompts in the region are made in local languages, led primarily by Vietnamese, Thai and Bahasa Indonesia.

Thai users heavily favour their native language, with 87% of Gemini prompts written in Thai, the second-highest share among local languages.

While English is preferred for professional tasks and coding, Thai remains the go-to language for academic and casual topics.

Thailand is the market most likely to use Gemini for lifestyle queries, with one in three prompts related to this category.

Adoption is highly inclusive, popular among both “tech youth” and a “silver gen boom” of digitally active seniors who use voice commands and photo analysis for shopping.

Creative journeys are also highly popular, accounting for one in four prompts, driven significantly by female users who use the AI for creative tasks 50% more than men.

Young users under 25 are the most active users of Gemini in Thailand, making more requests per user than any other age group and having the longest conversations with Gemini.

Meanwhile, older Thais aged 55 and above (who make up 10% of the local user base) enthusiastically embrace multimodal inputs by communicating through voice and image prompts most of the time, which marks the highest senior multimodal adoption rate in the entire region.

According to the Southeast Asia Holistic Evaluation of Language Models by leading think tank AI Singapore, Gemini is the best-performing large language model for Southeast Asian languages.

Future of Gemini

Ms Chadha said Google is focusing on democratising AI across the region by driving digital literacy through the Gemini Academy for students, teachers and small and medium-sized businesses.

Key regional efforts include a partnership with True Corporation in Thailand to provide youth with tailored AI training alongside unlimited free internet access.

Concurrently, the Gemini app has been overhauled with a vibrant, fluid new design language called “Neural Expressive” and introduced Gemini Omni — a multimodal feature that enables content creators, particularly in Singapore, to easily create and edit videos or custom avatars.

The next major shift for Gemini introduces secure, permission-based AI agents deeply integrated with apps like Gmail and Google Photos to automate information retrieval.

This powers two main features: Daily Brief, which analyses inboxes, calendars, and tasks overnight to compile a personalised morning digest of the day ahead, and Gemini Spark, a 24/7 companion that actively navigates daily life to take action on the user’s behalf, such as scanning credit card statements to help prevent late fees or tracking important deadlines.

Gemini Spark recently began rolling out in English for Ultra subscribers, and it is expanding to include local Southeast Asian languages for Ultra users this week, with plans to make it available to a broader customer base in the future.

In Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, users can now go from brainstorming to browsing directly within the chat, complete with shoppable product listings, comparison tables, and pricing from across the web.

Police have arrested the supervisor of a Muay Thai boxing camp in Rayong province for allegedly procuring teenage boxers for a foreign sponsor and other pedophiles.

According to the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD), 28-year-old Narubet “Chek” Nilthai was arrested in a sting operation at a hotel in Chon Buri province on Tuesday.

Before the arrest, an informant clued police to the sex service at the boxing camp. A plainclothes policeman then applied for training.

Pol Maj Gen Withaya Sriprasertparp, commander of the division, said Mr Narubet supervised the boxing camp where there were about 30 Thai and foreign boxing trainees aged 18-35. He allegedly procured some of the young boxers for male clients.

The detective quoted Mr Narubet as saying that most of the young boxers offered oral sex and other sexual services with about 15 young boxers at the camp involved in the illicit business. The supervisor said the boys needed money due to behavioural and domestic problems. He shared pictures of the boxers via a chat application to potential clients.

During the sting operation, Mr Narubet brought three boys aged 13, 15 and 16 for sex services at a motel in Chon Buri province. He quoted the price of each boy at 3,000 baht. The boys later told police they received a 1,000 baht cut.

Pol Col Warit Pathumarak, chief of ATPD Division 2, said another team of police and relevant officials went to Mr Narubet’s boxing camp in Rayong. There 12 boys told police that a Norwegian man who had a Thai secretary was its sponsor.

Whenever he visited the camp, his secretary would call several of the young men to a reception room for a meeting with the sponsor. The boys reported being instructed to have sex with one another and with him. He recorded the activities and paid up to 5,000 baht per session.

Pol Col Warit quoted the boxers as saying that the Norwegian man provided those he preferred with mobile phones and school uniforms as well as money for their parents. The Thai people involved did not file a complaint as they chose to receive the sponsorship.

The Ministry of Public Health has begun investigating private hospitals suspected of being linked to fraudulent birth registrations that may have enabled foreign-born children to obtain Thai nationality through falsely declared Thai fathers.

The Department of Health Service Support (DHSS) has started gathering medical records from private hospitals following a police investigation into registration irregularities, Public Health Minister Pattana Promphat said on Wednesday.

The department is examining cases in which foreign mothers, most of them Chinese, allegedly used Thai men to pose as fathers when registering births, potentially allowing children to acquire Thai nationality and access related rights and benefits including property ownership.

Mr Pattana stressed that the hospitals under review had not yet been found guilty of any wrongdoing.

Six private hospitals have been identified as falling within the scope of the inquiry, said Phuwadech Surakhot said, the DHSS director-general. Data has so far been requested from two of them. No state hospitals are involved.

The investigation is focusing on births registered to foreign mothers and Thai fathers, a combination that can make a child eligible for Thai nationality. Children born in Thailand to two foreign parents do not automatically receive Thai citizenship.

According to Dr Phuwadech, authorities are reviewing birth notification documents, which record details such as the child’s sex, date and time of birth, weight, and the names of both parents. The documents must also be signed by the delivery attendant, a supervising physician and the hospital director.

Reports indicate that more than 160 cases across the six hospitals are under review.

‘The key concern is whether the person listed as the Thai father is genuinely the child’s father,’ Dr Phuwadech said. ‘The issue is directly linked to the acquisition of Thai nationality.’

Authorities are examining birth records alongside the identification documents of both parents and household registration records used to add children to household registers.

If irregularities are found, the next stage could involve forensic examinations, including DNA testing, to verify paternity. While maternity can generally be established from medical records, officials are particularly focused on confirming the identity of the fathers.

Dr Phuwadech said that if investigations prove that nationality was obtained through false information, authorities could move to revoke the child’s Thai nationality.

The inquiry will also examine whether hospital executives, doctors or other staff knowingly facilitated false registrations.

Under section 73 of the Hospital Act, officials of healthcare facilities found to have issued false information are liable to a jail term of up to two years and/or a fine of up to 40,000 baht.

Mr Pattana said any potential liability involving hospital directors, physicians or other personnel would be determined on a case-by-case basis based on evidence.

The investigation is part of the widening crackdown on the ‘fake fathers’ network. On Tuesday, all 50 district offices across Bangkok were ordered to review birth registrations dating back to 2017 involving foreign mothers and Thai fathers.

More than 500 foreign children nationwide are suspected of having been falsely registered, and several private hospitals have reportedly come under scrutiny.

The liver fluke infections found among university freshmen in the northeastern province of Maha Sarakham early this month were not linked to any particular somtam shop in the area, the Department of Disease Control reported on Wednesday.

Public alarm greeted reports on July 7 that more than 4,000 university students had initially been detected with the infection (opisthorchiasis). Wide-ranging inspections were subsequently carried out at restaurants in the province.

Public health officials said the unusually large number was obtained using urinary antigen test kits (UATs), which do not deliver an absolute result.

Stool examinations were later conducted with 309 samples sent from Rajabhat Maha Sarakham University. The tests confirmed only four infections, Dr Wichan Bhunyakitikorn, director of the Division of Epidemiology, said on Wednesday.

Other parasites were also detected from the samples, including four with intestinal flukes, five with tapeworms, two with threadworms and one with whipworms.

For Mahasarakham University, which had reported 4,233 infections, Dr Wichan said the figure was only from a screening process and health authorities were coordinating to obtain the samples for further examination.

Related: New liver fluke test under review

As the liver fluke is a parasite associated with human consumption of raw or undercooked freshwater fish, the ordered inspections targeted the use of undercooked fermented fish, known as pla ra, at somtam shops near the universities.

However, the follow-up investigation indicated the first-year students came from different hometowns, and the times of their infections did not match.

Therefore, the situation could not be linked to restaurants or food sources in the area.

From 2016 to 2025, the average liver fluke infection rate nationwide has also decreased continuously, from 16.2% to 2.5%, the department added.

Bile duct cancer rates in Thailand are among the highest in the world, with raw fish consumption in the Northeast a major contributing factor. Provinces that still need monitoring in some areas are Phayao, Phrae, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan and Chaiyaphum, health officials said.

The National Energy Policy Council (NEPC) is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to determine who should bear the cost of electricity for public street lighting, an expense currently shouldered solely by consumers, which contributes to rising household power bills.

An energy official who requested anonymity said the deliberation aims to revise the electricity pricing structure to ensure greater transparency and fairness.

The push is being led by Energy Minister Akanat Promphan, who has criticised the decades-old practice of including public lighting costs in consumer bills.

The official said the NEPC, chaired by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, must decide whether state agencies and the public should share this financial responsibility.

The roots of the issue date back to 1987, when the NEPC exempted state agencies such as the Department of Highways and local administrative bodies from paying for public lighting.

At the time, the cost was minimal, averaging 0.03 baht per unit. Today the rate has climbed to 0.1 baht per unit, adding noticeable pressure to household expenses, said the official.

The matter has largely been ignored for nearly four decades, until the government recently introduced measures to ease electricity costs amid an energy crisis linked to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Mr Akanat argued that local administrative organisations should contribute to public lighting expenses because they generate their own revenue and do not rely solely on government allocations.

While clarity is expected from the meeting, officials caution that changes to electricity bills may take time to implement.

The NEPC is also reviewing renewable energy purchase agreements between companies and state electricity agencies.

The government continues to buy renewable power at high prices even though the adder tariff granted for 10 years has expired. The extra cost is passed directly to consumers, driving up electricity bills.

The eight-baht tariff was introduced to spur investment in solar and wind farms.

The official said the NEPC plans to examine why state agencies still pay inflated rates despite the tariff’s expiry.

Industry sources note companies can still sell electricity at high prices because they benefit from a wholesale tariff of 3.78 baht per unit and the fuel tariff, both included in the final rate.

Another development under Energy Ministry consideration is the creation of a new electricity user category for data centres. These facilities, which operate around the clock and consume large amounts of electricity, are expected to be grouped under Category 9.

They would face higher tariffs reflecting actual infrastructure and fuel costs, with the additional revenue used to subsidise electricity prices for households and smaller businesses, according to Mr Akanat.

Justice Minister Pol Lt Gen Rutthapon Naowarat has rejected claims that the Department of Special Investigation rushed its investigation into the Forex fraud case involving People’s Party list MP Pawoot Pongvitayapanu.

He insisted investigators had followed normal legal procedures based on forensic and financial evidence.

Pol Lt Gen Rutthapon said the Criminal Court had approved arrest warrants for only two suspects, despite the DSI seeking warrants for 24 individuals.

The court did not approve a warrant for Mr Pawoot. Instead, the DSI must issue summonses to the remaining 22 suspects requiring them to acknowledge the charges.

In Mr Pawoot’s case, the DSI will issue an initial summons for him to hear the allegations.

Responding to criticism that the investigation had been accelerated, the minister said the DSI had been conducting its inquiry continuously and had gathered evidence through forensic analysis, particularly of financial transactions.

He also said he did not know the identities of the two suspects for whom arrest warrants had been approved.

Sources said DSI investigators had begun issuing summonses to the 22 suspects.

Investigation reports submitted in support of the warrant applications alleged that several companies served as payment channels and intermediaries for fund transfers before funds reached personal accounts, with additional transactions involving digital asset service providers between 2021 and 2024.

The reports said Mr Pawoot allegedly received 14 transfers of 2 million baht each on July 18, 2024 and that cumulative transactions linked to his accounts totalled more than 833 million baht.

The DSI stressed that the investigation remains ongoing and that all accused individuals and companies are presumed innocent unless proven guilty under the law.

On the DSI’s separate investigation into alleged criminal association and money laundering linked to Senate election collusion, Pol Lt Gen Rutthapon said the agency was awaiting a final ruling from the Election Commission (EC) in line with instructions from the special public prosecutor, who had directed the DSI to incorporate the EC’s findings into its own case file.

He said the DSI had only brought charges against eight suspects because of the available evidence.