The Thai New Year festival of Songkran is recognised as the most important annual event in the country, similar to Golden Week in China and Japan when a torrent of people are expected to hit the road for a long holiday.

Despite growth prospects, the Thai economy still has to brave a spate of risk factors such as high inflation, soaring energy prices, persistent Covid-19 outbreaks and relatively hefty household debt, says Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeecha...

If the central bank wants to raise the policy rate, it has to be confident the economy is in full recovery first, says Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.

The government has agreed to relax entry requirements for overseas arrivals by replacing the second RT-PCR test with an antigen test kit (ATK) and reducing health insurance coverage for foreign visitors from at least US$50,000 to $20,000.

Business leaders are increasingly worried about the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict, with rising oil prices threatening to drive up living costs.

Tourism operators have thrashed the government announcement increasing the Covid-19 alert to Level 4, insisting state policy should enable people to live with the virus instead of limiting travel activities.

The government recently approved an array of incentives, including lower excise tax and import duties on significant auto parts, in a bid to make electric vehicles (EVs) more appealing to both car buyers and manufacturers.

Businesses have appealed to the Labour Ministry to reduce the expenses involved in importing migrant workers and shore up labour shortages.

The government will on Wednesday weigh up whether it will scrap the second RT-PCR test for overseas arrivals under the Test & Go scheme, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said.

The government has decided to delay a plan to remove Covid-19 treatments from the list of conditions covered by the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (UCEP) scheme, as the number of new infections continues to rise.