Team Thailand needs to tweak its strategy to deal with Trump’s tariffs

23 Sept 03:17 Key points summarised by AI

The Trump administration levied a surprise 36% import tax on all Thai products, effective August, escalating trade tensions and demanding an immediate strategic overhaul from Thailand.
Experts urge Thailand to deploy a highly skilled "conductor" in negotiations, emphasizing experienced diplomats over costly lobbyists to precisely anticipate and counter Trump's aggressive trade tactics.
Thailand's initial offer to reduce its trade surplus proved insufficient, as the US now demands extensive market liberalization across agriculture, finance, telecommunications, and military procurement to lift the tariffs.
Team Thailand is reformulating its trade proposal, seeking to balance increased US imports with domestic industry protection, while exploring new leverage points such as opening its energy sector to American companies.

Examining Thailand’s four-part education revolution

Yesterday 14:22 Key points summarised by AI

Thailand's Education Ministry is implementing a four-pronged strategy to address its students' below-average performance in PISA 2025 and tackle significant educational inequality.
The plan prioritizes closing performance gaps by increasing funding for small and low-income schools, overhauling the curriculum to foster critical thinking, and adopting a data-driven management system to reduce teacher workload.
Key initiatives include enhancing school safety, combating cyberbullying, and expanding mental health support through peer-to-peer networks, recognizing the severe impact of distress on academic performance.
An education expert advises verifying if PISA improvements stem from structural changes, advocating for a revived STEM curriculum with practical 'learn by doing' methods, and urging bureaucratic reform to link teacher evaluations to student development.