Showing 1 - 10 of 170
Grasping the VAT nettle
Oped, Editorial, Published on 24/11/2025
» The proposal to raise value-added tax from 7% to 8.5% in 2028, and to 10% in 2030, by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas is a display of political courage rarely seen in a political landscape where politicians are quick to spend money in the name of "economic stimulus" but stay mum when asked how to finance the schemes.
Lifting the weight on our lungs
News, José Luis Castro, Published on 17/11/2025
» Take a deep breath. Most of us do it 20,000 times a day without thinking.
Why climate finance is no longer enough
Oped, Laura Carvalho, Published on 11/11/2025
» With the UN Climate Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, kicking off, it is clear that the world's widely shared commitment to a just energy transition is falling by the wayside. In the year since governments signed on to the agreement at COP29 to scale up climate finance -- with a goal of mobilising $1.3 trillion (42 trillion baht) annually by 2035 -- wealthy countries have been retreating from their pledges. Worse, these signs of bad faith are coming just as the costs of climate adaptation and decarbonisation in developing countries are mounting.
Abbot's dramatic fall from grace
Oped, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 01/09/2025
» Faith built his empire. Fraud destroyed it. Luang Por Alongkot's fall from grace leaves Thai Buddhism reeling, demanding long-overdue reform.
Sustaining healthcare in volatile times
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 18/08/2025
» Health care is pivotal for human well-being. Yet in today's precarious world, it is pressured by diminishing resources, demographic variables, warfare and violence, and environmental degradation. Sustaining health care thus requires insightful planning and implementation, no less for Thailand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) regions.
Hospice funds scandal takes toll
Editorial, Published on 17/08/2025
» In the 1990s, when Aids meant abandonment and death, Wat Phrabat Nam Phu in Lop Buri opened its gates to the sick and dying. Abbot Phra Alongkot Tikkapanyo gave them food, shelter, and care. It was a noble mission in fearful times.
Lead paint risk lives on
Oped, Editorial, Published on 05/08/2025
» A recent pollution study has revealed that lead-based paint remains a persistent threat in homes and buildings, despite government efforts to reduce the risks.
WTO at 30 after decades of challenges
Oped, Supachai Panitchpakdi, Published on 30/07/2025
» When I sat down to write an article "WTO at 10" for a commemorative book for the occasion in 2005, little did I know of the huge challenges the WTO and the multilateral trading system would have to confront in the following two decades.
High rates hurt public healthcare
Oped, Serah Makka and Rosemary Mburu, Published on 14/07/2025
» May's 78th World Health Assembly (WHA) -- the annual meeting of the World Health Organization's member states -- ended on a self-congratulatory note. From an agreement on pandemic preparedness to increases in assessed contributions to the WHO, there were plenty of achievements to tout. But there was an elephant in the room, hiding behind a banner reading "One World for Health": the high borrowing costs faced by African countries.
Tackling dengue threat together
News, Prasert Auewarakul & Vanessa Daniel, Published on 14/06/2025
» In the face of a changing climate, now is the time for Asean member states to develop a cure for dengue.