Showing 1 - 10 of 27
The price of PromptPay
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 08/01/2017
» Manaschuen Kovapirat considers herself the average user when it comes to online banking transactions: on a monthly basis, she uses her bank's mobile application to transfer money to her mother and to donate money. She does online shopping and prefers to transfer money online for transactions less than 100,000 baht. On some occasions, when she's out with her friends and doesn't have enough cash, she pays them back via online banking.
Making megabucks from trips to Mecca
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 15/05/2016
» Like all Muslims, Lukman Baik has been looking forward to the once-in-a-lifetime hajj pilgrimage. Despite being a mandatory religious duty provided one is physically and financially capable, Mr Lukman has been trying hard to save money for the trip. For the 35-year-old rubber farmer, doing so has been difficult, especially at a time when Thailand is struggling with falling rubber prices.
Monopoly money under a tax
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 24/04/2016
» Poom Prasit had been smoking the local Krong Thip cigarettes for the past 13 years. On the day of the announcement of the latest tobacco tax hike in February, however, he immediately decided he would switch brands. The next day, he bought a pack of SMS instead.
Flower market vendors face last lonely Valentine's
News, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 14/02/2016
» This may be the last Valentine’s Day Onsirin Saenyakul ships her roses to vendors at Bangkok's famous Pak Khlong Talat flower market. Her two-rai plantation in Chiang Mai’s Mae Rim district has been the only source of income for her family for the past 12 years, and 80% of the roses are shipped by truck to Thailand’s largest fresh flower market.
Gold rush crawls to a standstill
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 06/12/2015
» It was a billion-baht aerial survey of potential mineral deposits that sparked an enthusiastic start to gold mining in Thailand 32 years ago. Foreign investors were wooed and local communities were excited about the idea of new roads leading into their villages.
Shopping for turkey? Get in quick before they’re all gobbled up
News, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 22/11/2015
» The government ban on US turkey imports has left Thai farmers struggling to meet local demand and customers facing a four-fold price hike ahead of the festive season.
School in the slow lane
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 25/10/2015
» Unlike his kindergarten peers who learn how to write the alphabet and memorise their times tables, a typical school day for three-year-old Titus Deesaen consists of observing rice fields, moulding candles and folding blankets.
Pay coconuts, get monkeys
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 06/09/2015
» The next time you drink canned coconut milk, look at the label. If it’s produced in Thailand, the coconuts have most likely been collected by monkeys — specifically, southern pig-tailed macaques.
Subs plan tests navy to sink or swim
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 09/08/2015
» It has been 64 years since the Royal Thai Navy decommissioned their four submarines in 1951, but when they first expressed their desire to purchase a new fleet from Sweden in 1995, they ended up empty-handed due to insufficient funds.
Do we really want to be just like Singapore?
Spectrum, Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Published on 12/07/2015
» The meeting on June 15 at the Chatuchak district office lasted less than an hour. By the end of the month, the 14 licensed street-food vendors were told, they would have to move out.