Showing 1 - 10 of 14
TikTok, Universal Music Group seal new deal to return Taylor Swift, BTS, other artists to hit short video app
Published on 03/05/2024
» HONG KONG: TikTok is bringing back many of the world's most popular recording artists - including Taylor Swift, BTS and Drake - under a new licensing deal with Universal Music Group (UMG), even as the hit short video platform faces a sell-or-ban ultimatum from the United States government.
Inspirations for travel
Pattarawadee Saengmanee, Published on 21/08/2023
» When I visited Ayutthaya Historical Park last week, I noticed some tourists posing for photos among the ruined temples while wearing classic period attire. My companions and I started to perspire under the brilliant blue sky and soaring temperatures, but they carried on happily exploring various places to take in the nostalgic atmosphere. I could not help but admire how eager they were to enjoy their vacation.
Celebrate International Coffee Day, Oct 1, with the drink's history in Thailand and chit-chats with experts
Guru, Suthivas Tanphaibul, Published on 30/09/2022
» Nothing gets you through the day like a cup of coffee, whether to kickstart your morning or keep you awake all day long. Many might see coffee as just another caffeinated drink, regardless of how it is brewed, with little or no thought to its origins.
Lessons from Korea on soft power
Life, Arusa Pisuthipan, Published on 28/03/2022
» South Korean actor Lee Jung-jae recently bagged the Best Actor title at the 27th Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles earlier this month. This makes him the first Korean actor to take home the Best Actor accolade in the Drama Series category. Lee is known internationally for his lead role in the nine-episode survival drama Squid Game.
Riding the South Korean wave
Life, Suwitcha Chaiyong, Published on 28/12/2021
» Looking back on the year in music, the global phenomenon BTS helped propel the fan base expansion of K-pop groups into the United States. BTS, the seven-member boy band, continues to break recording history and open new frontiers for Asian artists. In March, IFPI, the organisation that represents the recorded music industry worldwide, named BTS as its Global Recording Artist of the Year 2020. The septet won over Taylor Swift, Drake, The Weeknd and Billie Eilish, who ranked second to fifth place respectively. The boy band was the first Asian artist to win the IFPT Global Recording Artist of the Year Award.
Year of Turbulence
Asia focus, Published on 27/12/2021
» Pandemic drags on recovery: In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, many Asian countries had enviable success, avoiding large-scale outbreaks and mass deaths. But the arrival of the more transmissible Delta variant this year and sluggish vaccine rollouts compounded by low availability sent cases surging. Combined with poor monitoring and easy movement among countries, often unofficially, Southeast Asia became a virus hotspot. The ballooning health crisis collided with churning political discontent in the case of Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. Economically, the new wave of infections, and attendant restrictions imposed to curb the spread, stalled recoveries. After nearly two years of strict border controls, many countries started to loosen up and live with Covid. But the rise of the Omicron variant now threatens to scuttle those tentative reopening plans and usher in a third year of economic anxiety.
South Korean fans head overseas to catch first BTS concert since the pandemic
Life, Published on 29/11/2021
» When K-Pop sensation BTS announced that their first in-person concerts since the start of the pandemic would be in the United States, Kim Ji-eun immediately booked a flight and hotel, praying that Covid rules would let her attend all four shows.
Road to where?
Oped, Postbag, Published on 02/05/2020
» Re: "Cut govt some slack", (PostBag, April 29).
Mass testing best
News, Postbag, Published on 21/03/2020
» The most effective and cheapest way of controlling the Covid-19 pandemic will be to conduct mass testing of the population, as urged by eminent French infectious diseases expert Dr Didier Raoult. He has pointed out that cheaply mass produced testing equipment is already available and is being used effectively in South Korea. Countries, including Thailand, should build up this mass testing capability as fast as it can and test as many people as possible. That way it will be possible to isolate only those who test positive and it also makes it possible to treat those who start showing symptoms early which boosts the chance of a favourable outcome for them. This will be far more effective than locking down entire populations of people who are not infected and causing a massive economic dislocation in the process. In Thailand's case, it may cost US$325 million (10.5 billion baht) to test the entire population, but that would be a drop in the bucket compared to the $8 billion cost of a 5% decline in GDP.
Revamp the military
News, Postbag, Published on 23/02/2019
» Let's briefly consider local geopolitics and the Thai military. Thailand needs China like it needs another coup. However, China needs Thailand for a variety of reasons. The US has had a longstanding favourable relationship with Thailand and is its most powerful ally.