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  • News & article

    Open economy evangelist

    Asia focus, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 14/08/2017

    » New Zealand has long been known for kiwi fruit, lamb and the invincible All Blacks, the fearsome national rugby team. But in the global economic sphere, the country is also known as a champion of open economies and free trade. Last year, the country was rated the world's second-best place to do business by Forbes magazine. That helps confirm its reputation in the field of trade -- and explains why the British government chose a New Zealander to head its post-Brexit trade negotiating team.

  • News & article

    It need not be the end of the road

    News, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 27/06/2016

    » Route 3077, a small lane that cuts through the heart of Khao Yai National Park, a Unesco World Heritage site, is one of my favourite drives. Several times my family brought me to this national park when I was very young.

  • News & article

    Making money from our resources

    News, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 23/07/2018

    » Since the military government came to power, new economic policies have been rolled out and economic catchphrases coined.

  • News & article

    Going bananas over Chinese investment

    Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 20/04/2016

    » Kluai hom -- or the Cavendish banana -- found itself in the spotlight recently on social media and in local news. The issue involves Chinese investors renting land in Chiang Rai to grow kluai hom. Local villagers complained about water because the farm sucked up a large volume of it, leaving so little for local farmers. Fears about the use of chemical fertilisers also arose. Another problem is that the practice might be against the law, which reserves the occupation of farmer for Thais. The public is alarmed because Chinese-backed kluai hom farming in Laos has already proved a disaster. Toxic pesticides are dumped into the river, while environmental management is below par.

  • News & article

    Thais must face up to China reality

    News, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 28/03/2016

    » There has always been a special bond between China and Thailand, which hosts the largest overseas Chinese community in the world. In Thai culture, the Chinese influence is easily traced, through descendants whose origins can be found in rural areas of the southern Chinese mainland, from where their ancestors fled poverty, communism and political oppression to the more hospitable environs of Thailand.

  • News & article

    Court urges public input as mining licence axed

    News, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 19/03/2018

    » A recent verdict by the Udon Thani Administrative Court to revoke a limestone mining concession in a forest reserve in Nong Bua Lam Phu province has set a new precedent in terms of mandating public participation in projects of community significance, said Surachai Trong-ngam, who represented villagers in the long-running dispute.

  • News & article

    Molecular interpretation of traditional cuisine

    Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 04/04/2016

    » Local foodies will not be able to comprehend why Michelin-starred Thai restaurants are located overseas -- such as Nahm at The Halkin Hotel in London, and KIIN KIIN in cold Copenhagen, Denmark, and Thais will keep busy comparing the taste authenticity. The question, perhaps, does not need an answer. Food should not have a racial barrier, and Michelin-star standardisation helps notch up Thai cuisine into the territory of haute cuisine.

  • News & article

    The fear of becoming a banana state

    News, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 15/08/2016

    » 'The company changed the pattern of the rains, accelerated the cycle of harvests and moved the river from where it had always been." This vivid line is from the book <i>One Hundred Years of Solitude</i>, a magnum opus written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a Nobel Prize-winning writer.

  • News & article

    Iron man

    Life, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 10/06/2016

    » Banjerd Lekkong, who grew up in his father's garage and whose intricate iron-welded sculptures are being exhibited in a New York gallery, is an outlier among Thai artists. The 47-year-old did not graduate from any art school -- neither Poh Chang or Silpakorn University, the most respected training grounds for local artists. His works have never been displayed in a local museum or gallery. Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre (BACC) turned down his proposal for an exhibition. Private galleries did the same. The only show he had was a brief display at Amarin Plaza, a shopping mall.

  • News & article

    Did Apec elite taste enough of Thailand?

    Oped, Anchalee Kongrut, Published on 26/11/2022

    » What lasting benefits will Thailand enjoy having just wrapped up its hosting of Apec 2022 -- a global trade forum held in Bangkok last week? How will the much-touted meeting make Thailand better off in the long run? And will the excited chatter about a "BCG" economy ever amount to more than an acronym few working in those targeted sectors can decypher to give a full name to?

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