e-Border & ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation). Tighter security control, but it also means fewer spontaneous trips. News is circulating that Thailand is planning to implement, soon, a mandatory electronic travel authorisation (ETA) system for visa-exempt travellers. Though

70 of 77 provinces in Thailand on stormy alert this evening. Oh dear!

WSJ: Qualcomm approached Intel about a takeover? The US chip-making giant is sputtering, and pray tell, the outcome will be massive. Intel is among the seven ‘samurais’ that help catapult Penang’s semiconductor industries in 1972 wsj.com/business/deals…

#AseanWatch Cambodia succumbs to citizenry pressure from overseas and online community and withdraws from Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA) formed in 1999. Prime Minister Hun Manet said both Vietnam and Laos had been notified of the decision. The move

Qualcomm-Intel deal. Reuters supplemented WSJ's earlier news-breaking on Qualcomm's interest in a potential acquisition of the troubled chipmaker, Intel. Reuters describes it could be a transformational deal for the chips sector but faces many hurdles. It says Qualcomm CEO

Talcum Powder. Johnson & Johnson will file for bankruptcy on its subsidiary Red River Talc - for a third time - in a federal bankruptcy court in Houston to stop lawsuits from getting out of hand in the US. The healthcare giant seeks to advance an approximately US$10 billion

Nobody is indispensable... in corporate world. Boeing received its new CEO Kelly Ortberg in August, and Ted Colbert, the head of its troubled space and defence unit, Starliner, is leaving the company immediately. Unit COO Steve Parker would assume the job until a replacement is

#EV_Race Most EV batteries could soon be made by recycling old ones. Why? Despite a slowdown in EV sales in some countries, demand for batteries was up by around 40% globally last year, and seems likely to continue at a similar pace, reports TheEconomist. Consequently, the

Proactive measures? You mean modern cars may explode on the road like Hezbollah’s pagers and walkie-talkies simultaneously? Biden Administration proposes ban on Chinese software in vehicles. Federal officials acknowledged that few Chinese vehicles were on US roads now, but

#EV_Race - Supply Chain Control Car manufacturers supported by Thai government's EV promotion measures must invest in producing key EV components domestically by 2026. That's the reminder from the chief of Thai Excise Department, to get manufacturers to focus on 3 key

Forex gain. You believe our ministers who keep boasting about the strengthening Ringgit without counting the cost of goods and services, especially those meant for export market? Across the northern border, the baht has also surged to a 19-month high against the dollar, driven

Are we harbouring the militants? An insurgent group led by the wanted Manso Puteh is believed to have fled across the Malaysian border after bomb and arson attacks at the Hala Bala wildlife sanctuary in Narathiwat, say Thai military sources. But we have heard nothing from Wisma

A world more China-centred. The 11-year-old Belt and Road Initiative, if momentum is sustained in the years to come, will create a more China-centred global order. Imagine how the economies of Northeast and Southeast Asia, the Mideast and even the Arctic will crank up pace on