Five years after Thailand floated the baht and triggered a disastrous regional economic crisis, analysts say plenty has been achieved, but to make the most of the current recovery reforms must go on. As a recovery fuelled by consumer spending and an ambitious government stimulus package kicks in, economic growth predictions for 2002 have been…
Read moreVenice of the East fights its own watery future
The criss-crossing canals that once earned Bangkok the moniker "Venice of the East" have long gone, but the city still draws one comparison with its famed Italian cousin: it too is sinking. "Bangkok is sinking at varying rates throughout the city… The settlement rate can be more than 12 centimetres per year in the worst…
Read moreNew Asian regional forum to launch amid scepticism of usefulness
Thirteen Asian foreign ministers are to gather Tuesday evening to launch the inaugural Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), a brainchild of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra that sceptics fear will prove to be just another regional talking shop. The Thai premier has invited foreign ministers from 17 other Asian countries to attend the dinner at his holiday…
Read moreJapanese tourists taste real Thai bullets
Japanese tourists have discovered that Thai holidays can be about more than just cheap shopping and snoozing on tropical beaches: shooting guns at Thai military ranges has become a popular new diversion. "There are so many Japanese tourists coming to Bangkok — if they want to do some shooting and some sightseeing, then that’s the…
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