Thailand

Travelers in Asia and those traveling to Asia can now look forward to low-cost trips as new budget carriers are planned by Malaysia and Thailand.

The East Asian bond market, especially corporate bonds, continues to expand and draw strong demand from return-starved Western investors.

Thailand’s economy fell into recession following a contraction in the past two consecutive quarters, as strong baht and a weak global demand hit the country’s exports.

In Bangkok, on Sunday, a debate was brewing as scores of people gathered to condole the death of more than 2,000 young souls. They placed milk, baby clothes and toys at the morgue of a Buddhist temple where foetuses were found hidden in plastic bags last week. The morgue at the now detested Wat Phai Ngern, is to be demolished next week after a cleansing ritual. The traditionally orthodox Buddhist country, had ruled out abortion on morals grounds.

Rubber futures rallied on Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) on Friday, on expectations China may top off its stocks and on continued supply concerns.

ASEAN countries are seeking foreign direct investments -- especially those from OECD countries -- to power their economic growth.

Rubber recovered most of the losses it suffered on China rate hike fears, partly helped by a broadly weak US dollar and speculative buying interest on the commodity. The benchmark April futures on Tokyo Commodity Exchange settled Thursday at 369.2 yen per kilogram, 7.1 yen up on the day and nearly 4.5 percent higher from Wednesday's close.

Storied Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who faces trial in the U.S. for plotting to kill Americans by making weapons available to terror outfits, was extradited to the U.S. on Tuesday, almost three months after a Thai court overturned his plea contesting an earlier extradition verdict.

Tata Steel, the world's seventh largest steel company, has said its consolidated net profit after tax increased 8.5 percent to 19.79 billion rupees ($440 million) for the second quarter higher than the profit of 18.25 billion rupees ($406 million) in Q1 FY’11.

The next time you decide to light up a smoke, you may be greeted by an image of a cancer patient or even worse, a corpse, thanks to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision to put graphical warning labels on cigarette packs.

Italian shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo presented its Spring 2011 Collection at the 9th Annual Celebration of Dreams held under the aegis of Dream Foundation in California last Saturday.

A new research study provided insights into how the poor people in four Thailand provinces increased their net worth and pull out of poverty. Poor people in developing countries who used their existing assets most productively were more successful at pulling themselves out of poverty.

The Group of 20 (G20) leaders in Seoul could not thrash out any agreement on contentious forex and currency issues though talks ran through past midnight on Wednesday, said a spokesman at the summit media hall on Thursday morning.

Douglas Clayton, chief executive officer of private equity fund manager Leopard Capital, has launched his second fund focused on Cambodia.