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Thailand’s Prime Minister Gives Chinese Tourists a VIP Welcome

On Monday, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin personally received the first group of Chinese tourists to arrive in Bangkok since Thailand dropped visa requirements for Chinese people in an effort to bolster its vital tourism industry.

Puppeteers and traditional costumed dancers performed for the puzzled tourists who had flown in from Shanghai. Srettha was the subject of many tourists’ selfies.

After inheriting a faltering economy, newly elected Srettha has made revitalising the tourism industry a top priority. The country is Southeast Asia’s second largest economy and is recognised for its beautiful beaches and exciting nightlife.

Srettha is hoping that the visa-free travel will encourage more Chinese tourists to visit Thailand, which was formerly the country’s most lucrative market.

The prime minister told reporters at Suvarnabhumi airport, “We are confident this policy will stimulate the economy,” adding that the safety of tourists will be a top priority.

The visa waiver programme begins on September 25 and continues through February 1, 2019. More than 2.34 million Chinese tourists have arrived so far this year, but the government expects 2.88 million during that same five-month period.

Tourist Gu Siyi, 25, who was visiting Thailand for the first time with companions, said the visa waiver was helping to attract new visitors by making it simpler to enter the country.

Thailand's Prime Minister Gives Chinese Tourists a VIP Welcome

More and more Chinese tourists are flocking to Thailand, he claimed, because the country is “indeed very convenient.”

Thailand had a record 39.9 million visitors in 2019, with 11 million coming from China. These visitors spent a total of 1.91 trillion baht ($53.11 billion) before the epidemic hit.

The beaches and cuisine of Thailand are reportedly major draws for Chinese visitors.

“The fruits here are great, especially the durian,” said Ye Weihe, 53, who also claimed to own property in the popular seaside resort of Pattaya.

This year, Thailand has already seen 19 million tourists.

tourists Thailand

Thailand’s New Government Focuses on Foreign Visitors

Thailand has always been a favourite among those looking to take a vacation or move there permanently. Foreigners are flocking to Thailand as a growing number of international corporations set up shop there.

Cities and villages around Thailand, from the coast to the mountains, are sprouting expat communities to accommodate the growing numbers of foreign workers and retirees.

According to Colliers Thailand and the Employment Department, there were 156,596 foreigners in Thailand in the first quarter of 2023, with more than half of them residing in Bangkok.

In 2022, citizens of Japan, China, and India made up the top three, and recent news indicates that Chinese citizens are increasingly purchasing condos in Thailand.

The Thailand Tourism Authority (TAT) has designated the year 2024 as the Year of the Expat.

After the epidemic, there has been a change in the tourism industry towards longer stays, and businesses are looking for ways to capitalise on this.

TAT governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool has said that the agency is working on implementing long-awaited benefits for foreign residents of Thailand. These benefits will grant foreign residents of Thailand the same access to national parks and other attractions as Thai citizens.

Ms. Thapanee noted that as part of Thailand’s Year of the Expats celebration, there would be advertising campaigns highlighting workations (locations that combine work and vacation) all over the country.

Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao are popular destinations for digital nomads in the Surat Thani province of Thailand.

tourists thailand

Island Hopping in Thailand

According to Ratchaporn Poolsawadee, president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui, “the beautiful nature and local culture, as well as various types of accommodation at different price ranges,” attract long-term visitors and remote workers.

He stated that between 10,000 and 15,000 digital nomads were residing on the three islands with tourist or other non-immigrant permits.

Mr. Ratchaporn believes digital nomads are a great way to boost the islands’ economy because they tend to spend more money than locals and bring in customers during the off-season.

He said that the Russians and Europeans like the French made up the bulk of his market.

Many Russians fled to Thailand to escape the conflict in Ukraine, and they have stayed longer than usual because of the convenience of working from abroad. Mr. Ratchaporn identified freelancers and online business owners as part of this group.

With 702 condos worth 2.55 billion baht changing hands in the first half of 2023, Russians stood second nationally, according to data compiled by the Real Estate Information Centre (REIC).

Facilities such as apartments, cafes, and shared workplaces are mushrooming to meet the needs of those on long-stay and non-immigrant visas, he said.

Mr. Ratchaporn acknowledged, however, that some international offenders have made Samui their home base while their visas are still valid.

He claims this incident caused officials to step up security.

Japanese

Japanese investing in Thailand

Hitoshi Sato, general director of TDC International, a real estate agency, said, “Thailand has long been a favourite investment destination for Japanese companies that produce auto parts, computers, and food products because of strong facilities built for these manufacturers.”

The Board of Investment (BoI) reports that in 2022, Japanese applicants won 293 projects worth a combined 50.70 billion baht, more than any other country.

According to the BoI, there is still some interest from Japanese businesses in investing in Thailand.

To offset the disadvantages of slow economic growth and a weak yen, many companies have stopped relocating executives from Japan and have instead hired Thai nationals for managerial or comparable jobs since the outbreak, he said.

Mr. Sato predicted that the number of Japanese retirees and expatriates in Thailand will decrease if the weak yen persisted for another 5-10 years.

Meanwhile, he said, the number of Chinese expats in Thailand has increased in tandem with the rise in investment by Chinese enterprises there, particularly electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers and technology firms.

Industrial estates in Rayong province, which is a member of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), have attracted primarily Chinese investors.

The REIC reported that in the first six months of 2023, the Chinese market accounted for 3,448 condo transfers worth a total of 16.9 billion baht.

After the pandemic was over, the EEC saw a rapid increase in investment and foreign residents, according to Krit Techasumma, managing director of Origin Nationwide, a developer specialising in condominiums outside of the Bangkok metropolitan area.

Electric vehicles, biofuels and biochemicals, and electronics are the top three industries, according to Mr. Krit.

Companies from Asia, especially Japan, China, and South Korea, are the EEC’s most common source of new members.

Long-term leases of 1 to 5 years and shorter-term rentals of 3 to 6 months have both seen an uptick in demand as a result of investment and employee relocation.

Investment in new public facilities

Thailand

Origin Nationwide rents out 70% of its Rayong and Si Racha buildings to non-Thais who work for enterprises in industrial parks, while selling the other 30% to Thai nationals. He projected that the rental yield for both the Notting Hill Rayong and the Hampton Sriracha would be around 5-6%.

Si Racha rental properties have an occupancy rate of 70-80%, whereas Rayong rental properties have an occupancy rate of 65-70%. “Though the global slowdown could impact the real estate segment, the housing segment in the EEC remains resilient,” said Mr. Krit.

A 4.7% GDP estimate for the three EEC provinces is greater than the 4% GDP projection for the country as a whole.

He is confident about continued expansion thanks to the city’s investment in new public facilities including the U-tapao airport, high-speed train link, and Laem Chabang Port.

Mr. Krit argued that the government should keep trying to entice overseas investors while also thinking about how to collect the necessary taxes.

He suggested that the EEC build additional attractions to entice more spending from expats and inbound tourists.

Chiang Mai has suffered in recent years as the PM2.5 air condition has worsened annually, damaging the city’s reputation as a popular retirement destination for expats.

Chiang Mai Northern Thailand

The province known as the “Rose of the North” has the worst air quality in the world this year.

A Japanese retiree named Sumitoshi Nishida, 72, who has resided in Chiang Mai for almost a decade, said that the pollution has hampered inbound travel for over a month.

Mr. Nishida is one of about eighty retirees from Japan who make up the Chiang Mai Longstay Life Club.

He added some visitors leave for their home nations for a couple of months till the air clears.

Mr. Nishida has stated that he thinks Chiang Mai is still the ideal location to live because of the low cost of living, pleasant weather, local culture and cuisine, and high standard of medical care and recreational opportunities available.

When compared to other Asian retirement plans, the minimum savings of 800,000 baht needed to apply for a retirement visa is reasonable, he added.

Mr. Nishida speculated that the number of Japanese retirees in Thailand would decline as a result of the increase in the retirement age in Japan to 70.

He thinks Thailand can profit from retirees who desire to travel for a short period of time (often one or two months).

According to Mr. Nishida, most Japanese retirees who visit Thailand do so permanently if their health permits.

He explained that this is because Japanese health insurance does not cover treatment abroad, prompting the patients to return home when their health deteriorates.

Mr Nishida, an expat retiree, expressed his hope that the government will address the high rate of traffic accidents in Chiang Mai by improving the city’s roads, walkways and zebra crossings.

 

 

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

google

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

google

Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

google

Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

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2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

trump

Washington — Trump Media,  The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.

The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.

The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.

The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.

trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.

Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.

trump

Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.

The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.

musk trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.

The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.

He also welcomed back a vast list of previously banned users, including Trump, and endorsed him for the 2024 presidential election.

SOURCE | AP

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The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

Supreme Court

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP

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Scientists Awarded MicroRNA The Nobel Prize in Medicine.

US Inflation will Comfort a Fed Focused on Labor Markets.

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