Nareerat Wiriyapong
Acting Asia Focus Editor
Acting Asia Focus Editor
Time to rein in tutoring firms
I have always been puzzled about why so many Thai parents send their children to private tutors after school. Even my 9-year-old niece has to study on weekends when she could be enjoying time with her parents or playing with two lovely cats at home.
Don't leave migrant workers behind
In many regions, migrant workers make up a significant share of the labour force, making vital contributions to the societies and economies of their destination countries.
Vaccine collaboration crucial now
Southeast Asia has been under attack from the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant lately, and the fact that a large portion of the population is unvaccinated makes it extremely hard for countries to curb the spread.
All eyes on the Sandbox
While most Japanese people are anxiously awaiting the start of the Tokyo Olympics on July 23, here in Thailand we're holding our breath as the country counts down to reopening Phuket.
Taking a stand on Myanmar
When leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) economies met in England earlier this month, they issued a communique that "condemns in the strongest terms the military coup in Myanmar, and the violence committed by Myanmar's security forces".
Hopeful talk from superpowers
While the economy looks gloomy at home, I've been cheered up by the broader trend reported last week by the World Bank.
Can we stop the baby bust?
Raising three children might not have been so difficult in the old days when most people lived in extended families. Take my mother and my aunt for example. Mom raised her three kids -- me and two brothers -- at home while she made desserts for sale with the help of grandma, while my auntie did so with a helping hand from her mother-in-law.
Work-life balance eroding
Getting up every morning these days, I often feel like falling asleep again, but with nightmares. The unrelenting daily rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths is wearing us all down. Some days I try to avoid social media, telling myself that maybe the less I know, the less I'll worry.
Are the Olympics worth it?
In an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Japan from today is barring the entry of foreign nationals who have recently travelled to Thailand and six other countries: Cambodia, Sri Lanka, the Seychelles, Saint Lucia, East Timor and Mongolia. That brings to 159 the number of countries and regions under such restrictions by Tokyo.
Learning to live with robots
China's once-in-a-decade census data released last week make clear that the world's most populous country is ageing more rapidly than many developed nations, including the US. People of working age will make up just 60% of China's population in 2050, down from 75% in 2010, the figures show.
