A group of senior Thai politicians and businessmen are meeting in China with Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, and other companies to seek investment in Thailand, as Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy moves to speed up digital transformation and upgrade its technology sector.
“Yes, I heard he (the deputy prime minister) is in Shenzhen, China. He will visit three companies in that area (Guangdong province) including Foxconn,” said a Thai…
Naked Japanese hermit, 82, forced to leave the remote island where he had hoped he might die
An 82-year-old hermit who has lived naked on a remote Japanese island for almost 30 years has been taken from his home because of concerns that his health might be failing. Masafumi Nagasaki had lived in Sotobanari, in a chain of islands near Taiwan, since 1989 and stuck to a strict daily regimen, according to news.com.au, a website for several Australian newspapers. His morning routine included exercises, followed by several hours of beach cleaning with a pair of white gloves and a rake…
Flooding complicates search for 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach trapped in cave for three days
Efforts to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach who have been missing inside a flooded cave in northern Thailand for three days hinge on pumping out water so that navy divers have room to operate, the first high-level Thai official to visit the site said on Tuesday.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda told reporters that navy SEAL divers leading the search were handicapped by muddy water that has filled some chambers of the large cave to the ceilings.
He said the divers can proceed only when…
IUA Brexit insurance continuity clause available for use
A model ‘continuity clause’, designed to clarify how insurers will pay claims in the event of Brexit-related disruption to contracts, has been published by the International Underwriting Association (IUA).
Japanese networking site Wantedly looks to expand in Southeast Asia, help companies ‘date’ millennials
Wantedly Inc., the Tokyo-listed job recruitment networking company, is considering expanding into Malaysia and Vietnam after setting up in Singapore as it steps up its presence in Southeast Asia.
“Finding a good country manager is key” to expansion, Akiko Naka, CEO of Wantedly, said in an interview at the Techsauce Global Summit in Bangkok. “We have made so many mistakes in the past,” she said, without elaborating.
Wantedly differs from other job recruitment sites by…
Rodrigo Duterte branded an ‘evil psychopath’ after calling God a ‘stupid son of a b***h’
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, already notorious for having cursed the pope and world leaders such as former US President Barack Obama, has been branded “evil” and a “psychopath” after he called God “stupid” and a “son of a b***h” in Asia’s largest Catholic country.
Duterte questioned in a televised speech on Friday the Biblical story of man’s creation and asked why God created Adam and Eve only to allow them to succumb to…
UK to grade public contracts on social value
Companies bidding in public procurement exercises will be assessed by their social value, with the aim of enabling more small businesses and social enterprises to win contracts, the UK government has announced.
Watch: tidy performances as Japan and Senegal fans clean up at World Cup
It was perhaps fitting that the World Cup match between Senegal and Japan – whose fans have received international acclaim for their cleanliness in the stadium – ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw on Sunday in Yekaterinburg.
Both teams won their opening games of the World Cup, yet it was the two sets of fans who grabbed the headlines.
Videos posted on social media showed Japanese fans cleaning up after themselves in the wake of their win over Colombia, picking up litter under the seats…
Grab to include third-party providers in quest to build ‘everyday app’
Grab, the Singapore-based on-demand services company that bought out Uber’s Southeast Asian business, is working toward opening its platform to third-party providers as part of its stated aim to build an “everyday app” for consumers.
The company may soon announce its first batch of external service providers, according to people familiar with the plan, who declined to be named because the information is private. Grab declined to comment.
Singapore’s Grab gets US$1…
Singapore’s university challenge: to value skills as much as degrees
One week before Sean Lee started his campus life, he pulled out of university. He preferred to pursue photography, a hobby he picked up right after junior college.
“I was not good at anything, and average at everything. I had to study very hard to get my grades, and even though I ran 12km every day, I couldn’t make the school cross-country team,” he said. “But I had a feeling that I’d be good at photography.”
For years, his instinct seemed more crazy than…