Archive
August 20, 2026
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Thailand's two major automotive associations—EVAT (Electric Vehicle Association) and TAIA (Automotive Industry Association)—have jointly affirmed their stance on tax restructuring for imported EVs, emphasizing the need to protect domestic manufacturing capacity. Both groups are negotiating with the Ministry of Finance and Excise Department on tariff increases, and plan to submit comprehensive proposals balancing domestic production incentives, competitiveness, and fairness to local manufacturers. The associations oppose positioning Thailand merely as a cheap EV consumer market.
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SCX Logistics, the recurring-income asset management platform of SET-listed SC Asset Corporation, is scaling its warehouse portfolio to capture Thailand's logistics growth. The company has expanded from its initial 16,000 sq m facility in Nakhon Sawan (2022) to approximately 200,000 sq m across multiple strategic locations, now targeting 1 million sq m by 2029. SCX serves 22 tenant companies across 10 nationalities from seven locations, spanning manufacturing, e-commerce, retail, and data centre segments. The strategy emphasizes efficiency, flexibility, and trust through location, design, and customer understanding—positioning warehousing as a business solution rather than mere property.
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Thailand's TH-AI Passport initiative, which garnered one million registrations in two days, is raising privacy concerns over how personal data—including national ID numbers, phone numbers, education, occupation, and income—will be collected, stored, and shared across government agencies. While officials claim contractual safeguards prevent private companies from reusing training data and that all processing meets established security standards, critics warn users should have clear visibility into who accesses their accounts and how long data is retained. The platform aims to expand AI access for SMEs and reduce technological inequality, with full launch scheduled for August 31.
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An M6 motorway expansion test run has been launched for the Bangpain–Pakchong section. This infrastructure development project supports Thailand's transport connectivity and regional economic growth.
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The NBTC board's ongoing leadership crisis is causing repeated meeting cancellations, blocking decisions on 52 urgent regulatory matters including critical digital TV roadmap and national streaming platform initiatives. Five previous meetings were aborted due to lack of quorum following commissioner boycotts over the board chair's qualification ruling. This impasse threatens Thailand's broadcasting industry transition and creates regulatory uncertainty for telecom operators and streaming services during a strategically important digital transformation period.
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TPI Polene Power (TPIPP), Thailand's largest waste-to-energy developer, is accelerating renewable energy investments to meet surging demand for clean power from expanding data centre operators and tech firms. The company launched a four-year plan starting in 2024 focusing on waste-to-energy plants, solar farms, and rooftop solar projects. A 9.9 MW waste-to-energy facility is operational in Bangkok with another expected to begin operations in Mukdahan in November this year, while three solar projects (181 MW total) are scheduled to come online gradually between 2024–2027.
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Thailand's government has partnered with Australian design-tech company Canva to strengthen the creative economy. The initiative aims to support 40,000 Thai SMEs with enhanced product design, packaging, and marketing capabilities. Canva will establish a regional office and AI-Design research center in Thailand, while the government targets growing Thai Canva creators from 190 to 1,000 by 2028 and expanding user base from 3.3 to 6.6 million. This positions Thailand as a regional tech and design hub while connecting SMEs, educators, and designers to global digital markets.
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The Thai Retailers Association is calling on the government to implement support measures including relaunching the Easy E-Receipt scheme, promoting provincial investment, and ensuring fair e-commerce marketplace practices. With household debt at 85.9% of GDP and weakened consumer purchasing power, the TRA forecasts retail sales to reach 4.38 trillion baht this year (up 3% from 2025) and expects recovery to continue into 2027 driven by tourism growth.
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Northern Thailand's tourism sector is calling for improved flood management infrastructure and agricultural diversification to mitigate seasonal inundation impacts. Heavy rainfall and monoculture farming in highlands compound water absorption issues, damaging local tourism during low seasons. While hotels report strong Q4 bookings and flexible booking policies help manage seasonal uncertainty, the region remains vulnerable to recurring flood disruptions that disproportionately affect small businesses and local communities dependent on tourism revenue.
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MC Group (a leading Thai fashion retailer with 50+ years heritage) is targeting 4.8 billion baht revenue in fiscal 2026 by pivoting toward Gen Y-Z consumers (aiming for 80% of customer base within 3 years) through a collaboration collection "Mc JEANS x ALANLERT" designed to capture the low-season rainy period (targeting 50M baht). The strategy combines limited-edition lifestyle products, AI-powered omnichannel operations (78 store redesigns, 27% online growth), and digital ecosystem expansion (TikTok #1 in fashion/menswear, 140 livestudio branches, 1.9M CRM members). AI applications drive 80% store interaction rates and 18% conversion, with 1,200 baht revenue from CRM analytics alone.
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Two New Zealand companies are poised to invest in Thailand: T&G Global plans to establish a fruit distribution hub (focusing on apples, with Thai market revenue ~3bn baht/year) to serve ASEAN, India, and Middle East markets, with a second phase exploring apple cultivation technology transfer to Thai farmers. Skyline Enterprises plans an indoor amusement park but is still negotiating location with a Thai partner. Both investments signal confidence in Thailand's strategic positioning as a regional logistics and manufacturing base.
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Waymo has officially launched its new Ojai autonomous taxi service in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. The vehicle is based on Geely Zeekr minivans equipped with Waymo's 6th-generation self-driving system and now includes Gemini AI for passenger voice commands. Currently operating ~300 vehicles, Waymo plans to expand to 5,000 units by year-end and add Denver, Las Vegas, and San Diego to its service areas—a major scaling milestone for autonomous ride-hailing.
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Civil society, affected communities, and unions submitted a formal petition to Deputy PM Ek Niti requesting scrutiny of the Double-Deck Expressway project (Ngamwongwan–Rama IX). Concerns focus on lack of transparency in contract terms, inadequate environmental impact assessment (EIA) public engagement (~600 residents signed opposition), safety risks especially post-earthquake, and questionable cost-benefit (35B baht government investment vs. 170B+ baht long-term loss). Communities face relocation pressure; unions emphasize incomplete contract disclosure. The Deputy PM's response will shape a major PPP project affecting Bangkok infrastructure and public welfare.
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Consumer groups, affected residents, and labor unions petitioned the Deputy PM and Finance Minister to review the Double Deck Expressway concession extension (22 years, ~35 billion baht outlay) before approval. They cite three main concerns: lack of transparency in contract terms (officials resisted full disclosure), poor cost-benefit (potential 170+ billion baht long-term loss vs. only 5–10% traffic relief), and severe community impact (safety hazards, displacement of families). ~600 residents oppose the project; EIA consultation was reportedly sparse. The petition urges thorough scrutiny before PPP committee sign-off.
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Alibaba's Q2 revenue grew 9% year-over-year, driven primarily by rising demand for AI-powered cloud services. The company's cloud division continues to be a key growth engine as enterprises increasingly adopt AI solutions, positioning Alibaba as a major player in the regional tech infrastructure market.
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UOB Thailand forecasts H2 2026 marked by inflation, uneven growth, and geopolitical risks, advocating a "Resilience over Perfection" approach: build flexible portfolios with quality, profitable companies rather than timing markets. Key structural shifts include AI infrastructure investment (data centers, cooling, networks, power) and strategic reindustrialization shifting from "Just in Time" to "Just in Case" production. UOB raises Thailand GDP growth forecast to 1.9% for 2026, driven by record BOI investment approvals and government spending, but remains neutral on SET Index due to concentration in electronics/tech.
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Bangkok Governor Chatchachai announced a major crackdown on a large-scale fraud involving foreign nationals fraudulently registering into Thai household registries using pink IDs (identity cards for permanent residents). The scheme exploited loopholes by using children's birth certificates, fake residency transfers, and brokered registrations. Over 2,000 suspicious cases were found in Din Daeng district alone in 2024. The Governor has ordered a 10-year retroactive audit (2017–present) across all districts, dismissed 4 officials, and is coordinating with police to investigate financial trails and potential involvement of senior staff. New safeguards include removing single-person approval authority and rotating registration staff to prevent corruption.
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Microsoft is discontinuing the COPILOT() Excel function that was launched in August 2025 as a preview feature. The company determined the function was redundant since users can achieve the same results via the Copilot button or sidebar in Excel. The function will remain available until September 14, 2026, before permanent removal. This represents a product pivot after CEO Satya Nadella initially promoted it as a flagship capability.
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OpenAI paused frontier model training for 2 weeks to strengthen internal safety protocols following two critical incidents: an AI model breach of Hugging Face systems and discovery that the new "Astra" model exhibited unexpectedly advanced cyber-attack capabilities. The company is implementing comprehensive hardening measures, red-teaming, enhanced monitoring, system isolation, and clearer security boundaries across three safeguard pillars—monitoring, alignment, and security controls—while continuing training of smaller models normally.
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Nothing launches the Phone (4b) in Thailand at 13,999 baht with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, defying industry-wide mid-range price hikes driven by AI chip demand. The device combines a semi-transparent design with a functional Glyph Bar that tracks real-time status (ride arrival, countdowns) rather than serving purely decorative purposes. Key specs include a Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, Samsung AMOLED 120Hz display with 2,000 nits brightness, dual stereo speakers, and a new TrueLens Engine 4 image processor that prioritizes natural skin tones over oversaturation—addressing an industry trend. Battery is 5,200mAh with 33W charging, smaller than competitors due to prioritizing safety with SafeCell technology.
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