The Cabinet on Tuesday eased several conditions for granting long-term resident visas (LTR visas) for wealthy individuals and digital nomads with high incomes, as a means of attracting more potential foreign residents to the kingdom, a well-informed Government House source revealed. The source stated that the Cabinet had approved the proposal from the Office of the Board of Investment (BOI) to ease conditions for granting LTR visas and to revoke Smart visa types, which were deemed to overlap with LTR visas. According to the source, the BOI proposed revisions to the rules for granting LTR visas for three groups: those…
Author: Asia News Network
The ASEAN Chairmanship 2025 will extend beyond high-level meetings, encompassing a range of activities and programmes, aimed at engaging communities at the grassroots level across Malaysia, said Secretary-General of the Foreign Ministry Datuk Seri Amran Mohamed Zin. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Amran said that a total of 29 programmes have been specifically designed to benefit various segments of society, including rural communities; micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs); youth; women; people with disabilities; senior citizens; and children. The programmes include a campaign to promote Malaysian-made goods, the ASEAN Plus Three Forum to empower rural women, the ASEAN…
The Court of Appeals Region 5 sentenced a police officer to one year and four months in jail for the brutal killing of Chiang Mai University’s beloved dog Tia (Shorty). The court originally sentenced Pol Corporal Prinya Panyabutre to one year and six months in prison for animal cruelty and another six months for theft, but reduced it to one year and four months retroactively. The court also ordered Prinya to pay 100,000 baht to Chiang Mai University in compensation. Saban-nga Nontara, founder of the Watchdog Thailand Foundation, said she was satisfied by the ruling and pleased that justice has…
Legalising casinos in Thailand could generate as much as 120 to 240 billion baht per year in tourism revenue from an additional 5-10% foreign arrivals, the Finance Ministry said on Monday. Earlier on Monday, the Cabinet approved the principle of the draft “Entertainment Complex Business Act”, as proposed by the ministry. The draft law aims to legalise the kingdom’s vast underground gambling industry, allowing the establishment of entertainment complexes and casinos to generate tax revenue. Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat said that as the next step, the Council of State would check the draft and make adjustments, before sending it…
Chinese officials are evaluating a potential option that involves Mr Elon Musk acquiring the US operations of TikTok if the company fails to fend off a controversial ban on the short-video app, according to people familiar with the matter. Beijing officials strongly prefer that TikTok remains under the ownership of parent ByteDance, the people say, and the company is contesting the impending ban with an appeal to the US Supreme Court. But the justices signalled during arguments on Jan 10 that they are likely to uphold the law. Senior Chinese officials had already begun to debate contingency plans for TikTok…
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul on Monday reaffirmed maintaining close cooperation between the two countries against North Korea, which continues its nuclear and missile development. Iwaya met with the South Korean foreign minister in Seoul and the two also agreed to continue to strengthen such things as their countries’ bilateral cooperation and their trilateral cooperation with the United States. It was the first in-person meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers since President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in December. It was also the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister to South…
Two North Korean soldiers deployed in the Ukraine-Russia war claimed they believed they were participating in a military exercise, not a war, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reported on Sunday. According to the NIS, the North Korean soldiers were captured by Ukrainian military forces in the Kursk region of western Russia on Thursday and are currently in the custody of the Ukrainian government. The NIS stated that one of the detainees testified they arrived in Russia in November last year and underwent a week of military training under Russian military authorities before being sent to the battlefield. The detainee added…
Mr Kumar, an Indian-origin automotive design engineer from Santa Clara, California, who is currently on holiday in Mumbai, said his immigration attorney has asked him to “return to the States before Jan 20” – the day of US President-elect Donald Trump’s swearing-in. Many Indian H-1B holders told The Straits Times that their employers and lawyers have told them to avoid travelling out of the US in case a visa rule change blocks their re-entry. The H-1B is a temporary visa to the US for skilled foreign workers with a minimum qualification of a bachelor’s degree. Renewable every three years, it…
Korean fashion brands will actively target the global market this year as they are experiencing a domestic recession due to high inflation and climate change. Handsome Corp., a leading apparel maker under the Hyundai Department Store Group, is going after the French market with its private brands such as System and Time by expanding its distribution channels. For instance, System is expected to open a store in one of the major department stores in Paris as it is currently running a temporary store at Galeries Lafayette Haussmann in Paris since July last year. Industry insiders suggest that being open for…
The alleged assassin of a former Cambodian MP was a hired killer who says he committed the crime to repay a debt of gratitude, police revealed on Sunday. Pol Maj-General Atthaphon Wongsiriprida, commander of Metropolitan Police Division 1, provided updates after interrogating Ekkaluck Paenoi, the suspect in the shooting of Lim Kimya, a former Cambodian opposition MP. The suspect confessed that a benefactor, a civilian, had hired him to kill Lim, Atthaphon said. During the initial interrogation, Ekkalak insisted he did not receive any payment, Atthaphon said. He said he did it because, when he was in trouble after being…