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Bite Size Bangkok News of the day, written our way. Your Bangkok based, daily news briefing covering local to global headlines (and some fun stuff).
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Thailand has announced its first confirmed case of Monkeypox, a 27 year old Nigerian man who landed in Phuket from Niger...
22/07/2022

Thailand has announced its first confirmed case of Monkeypox, a 27 year old Nigerian man who landed in Phuket from Nigeria. Not long after his case was confirmed, the man reportedly fled and is now missing.

Acccording to the Bangkok Post, he was admitted to a private hospital last week with a fever, coughing, sore throat and runny nose as well as a rash. Today, he's nowhere to be found, but the timeline remains unclear to whether he was being treated, awaiting results, or simply just fled.

Currently, immigration officials and disease contorl officials are looking for him. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has publicly condemned his behaviour, and have assigned authories to search for him in order to bring him back for treatment as soon as possible.

Although Monkeypox is nowhere near as contagious as Covid-19, cases are rising across the world, with Canada seeing a 59% rise in just 9 days, with 477 confirmed cases. The U.S. has over 1.800 confirmed cases across 45 states and Thailand just reported our first one.

Yesterday, WHO reported that there has been 14,000 confirmed cases of Monkeypox now worldwide, with five deaths reported in Africa.

So, whilst us Thais were asleep, Mark Zuckerberg announced some big changes coming to our Facebook home feed. Here's the...
22/07/2022

So, whilst us Thais were asleep, Mark Zuckerberg announced some big changes coming to our Facebook home feed. Here's the full rundown.

Facebook will be revamping its main news feed, and launching a new “Feeds” tab where users can see posts from their friends, groups, pages and more in chronological order. However, a new "Home" tab will be what you first see when you open the application, which will follow a TikTok formula of personalized posts and stories from creators, not from your second cousin's baby shower or your aunt's birthday party.

This is a significant change for Facebook, and a move that highlights just how much TikTok influences product decisions.

The new Feeds tab is a return to Facebook’s core value experience where your feed is mainly focused on activity and posts from your friends and groups. However, the new Home tab is basically the social media platform trying to compete with TikTok.

The Home tab is where we'll land first when opening the app, so it's definitely going to be a prominent feature.

Cryptocurrency exchange  has issued an official statement regarding the halt of withdrawals on its ZWallet, which direct...
21/07/2022

Cryptocurrency exchange has issued an official statement regarding the halt of withdrawals on its ZWallet, which directly impacts the ability for users to access funds in ZipUp, the platform's staking product.

The company is currently in communication with Babel Finance, which is affiliated with Celsius, the crypto lending giant that just filed for bankruptcy. So, whilst legal talk is ongoing, users with ZipUp accounts are finding it difficult to be optimistic about their funds.

Zipmex is exploring several options; one, is to file a class action lawsuit against a bankrupt company, who likely won't have the funds to finance a payback. Another option is exploring whether an investor or a company would bail them out of this situation, which would likely not happen instantaneously.

The company also declared how much they have with Babel and Celsius (included in image).

• US$48 million with Babel Finance
• US$5 million with Celsius

Altogether, that makes up US$53 million (THB1.95 billion)

Users of Zipmex can currently trade on their trade wallets as normal, and those that are affected are those who locked up their crypto via ZipUp.

So, what happened exactly? Here's a very Bitesize explanation. Zipmex Thailand routed customers' funds to Zipmex Global in Singapore, who then placed the funds under Babel and Celsius's funds. As we know, Babel and Celsius are having some liquidity issues, hence what's happening now.

Zipmex announced that as exposure against Celsius was minimal, at US$5 million, they will write it off against their balance sheet. This shouldn’t be a significant challenge, but Babel’s impact is materially larger.

This is a developing story.

Last night, Bangkok saw one of the heaviest rainfalls we’ve seen in recent times, with 163.5 mm of rainfall recorded in ...
21/07/2022

Last night, Bangkok saw one of the heaviest rainfalls we’ve seen in recent times, with 163.5 mm of rainfall recorded in the capital city.

Whilst some were lucky enough to be at home, watching Netflix, others were stranded on the road with flooding everywhere, from central Sukhumvit to Bangna.

Images soon spread across social media of cars stranded, public transport coming to a halt and more.

Plan your evening accordingly tonight, rain is expected again today.

⛈☔️

Cryptocurrency exchange  has paused withdrawals on its trade wallet function, causing a flurry of questions on social me...
20/07/2022

Cryptocurrency exchange has paused withdrawals on its trade wallet function, causing a flurry of questions on social media.

Thailand CEO Dr. Akalarp Yimwilai addressed the public on Facebook Live earlier this evening, and clarified some key issues that’s happening.

•Zipmex will be halting the use and functionality of the trade wallet until 8pm tonight

•trade waller is functioning as normal. However, the company’s staking product (ZipUp) is experiencing serious complications due to its financial partner Babel Finance’s liquidation issues.

Babel Finance is affiliated with Celsius, which just declared bankruptcy.

•The key takeaway? Customers with crypto in ZipUp cannot access their funds. Zipmex plans to file a class action lawsuit against Babel Finance.

This is all we know now, and a developing story.

Good morning, here's what you need to know today.1. The British public is getting ready to tan in the park if recent wea...
19/07/2022

Good morning, here's what you need to know today.

1. The British public is getting ready to tan in the park if recent weather reports have anything to say about it. The U.K. is poised to experience the hottest day on record, with temperature poised to surge up past 40 degrees.

Europe has also been experiencing similar patterns of an extreme heat wave this summer.

The weather warning comes amid a bustling tourist season for Europe and the U.K, amid travel disruption, cancelled flights and delays due to unprecedented demand.

Britain has issued its first-ever “red” warning for exceptional heat.
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2. Residents in Shanghai are again bracing for a possible lockdown, as Covid cases continue to surge in the city. Both Shanghai and Tianjin ordered mass testing as the more contagious Omicron BA.5 strain dominates.

Currently, forty-one Chinese cities are under full or partial lockdowns or district-based controls. This accounts for about 18.7% of China's economic activities, according to investment bank Nomura.

Over the weekend, China reported only 1,090 cases. However, this was enough to trigger restrictions and mass testing. Meanwhile in Macau, all casinos remain closed to combat cases.
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3. Vietnamese EV company VinFast says it has tapped banks such as Credit Suisse and Citi to fuel its expansion to the United States, as it seeks US$4 billion to build a factory in North Carolina.

The company eyes to compete with legacy automakers in the U.S, as well as startups that are producing electric SUVs.

VinGroup, the conglomerate behind VinFast is Vietnam's largest listed company with a market value of $11.4 billion. The company's business is in retail, hospitality ,and real estate.
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4. SCB Abacus, SCB's digital lending unit has revealed that its lending platform, Money Thunder has closed US$20 million Series B round (700 million baht). Overall funding has exceeded 1.5 billion baht.

The company aims to provide lending services to 10% of Thais that lack traditional credit within 2 years.

Money Thunder leverages AI and Machine Learning to evaluate alternative data, in order to provide micro-loans.

Good morning, here's what you need to know today.1. President Joe Biden has made a significant, if not slightly controve...
18/07/2022

Good morning, here's what you need to know today.

1. President Joe Biden has made a significant, if not slightly controversial visit to Saudi Arabia, where he was greeted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Biden quickly came under fire for the friendly handshake, as observers cited the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and the Crown Prince's likely involvement in that.

Following the meeting, Saudi Arabia agreed to boost oil production to 13 million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia's importance as an energy producer has increased following Russia's invasion of Ukraine which has sent oil prices soaring.
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2. London's Heathrow Airport quickly became a nightmare for many summer vacationers, with the airport unable to keep up with skyrocketing demand due to a lack of staff.

Following the meeting, Saudi Arabia agreed to boost oil production to 13 million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia's importance as an energy producer has increased following Russia's invasion of Ukraine which has sent oil prices soaring.

Many airlines have been asked to cut back their flights, such as Emirates and Qatar. Emirates criticized Heathrow for its "incompetence" and initially rejected the request to stop selling summer tickets. This weekend, it agreed to cap ticket sales.
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3. Crypto lender Celsius has filed for bankruptcy, following months of challenges and initially, freezing customers' abilities to withdraw funds.

The initial filing estimated Celsius assets and liabilities both between $1 billion and $10 billion. Celsius also owed over $500 million worth of crypto to three of the biggest DeFi lenders – Compound, Aave and Maker. The debt has been paid.

The Terra blockchain's collapse in May had a domino effect on many businesses in the industry.
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4. China's GDP grew slightly by 0.4% in Q2, narrowly escaping a contraction and falling below analysts' estimates. The on-again, off-again approach to strict lockdowns is not helping the economy or solving supply chain woes.

However, retail sales in June rose by 3.1%, recovering from a prior slump.

Industrial production in June also missed expectations.

US consumer prices rose more than forecast in June, hitting an annual pace of 9.1% at a 40 year high amid global concern...
14/07/2022

US consumer prices rose more than forecast in June, hitting an annual pace of 9.1% at a 40 year high amid global concerns over inflation, oil prices, and a potential recession. The higher than expected consumer price point will also put pressure on the Fed in their next policy meeting.

Why should we care about this number in the United States? Well, U.S. numbers affect everything across the globe, and its sentiment trickles down to Thailand too. The Consumer Price Index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics went above economists’ estimates for an 8.8 per cent increase.

The index expresses the change in the current prices of the market basket of goods in a period compared to a base period. It is done monthly in the U.S. The Fed will be watching this, and will likely seek to maintain an aggressive approach to tightening monetary policy.

Overall, prices for services such as gasoline, airline tickets, food and energy have shot up year over year, leading to strain in consumers' pockets.

And this happened. Elon Musk has pulled out of the US$44 billion Twitter deal, following weeks of turmoil and months of ...
09/07/2022

And this happened. Elon Musk has pulled out of the US$44 billion Twitter deal, following weeks of turmoil and months of will he, won't he?

However, the social media giant will not make it so easy for Musk to walk away and has threatened to sue.

"Mr. Musk is terminating the merger agreement because Twitter is in material breach of multiple provisions of that agreement, appears to have made false and misleading representations upon which Mr. Musk relied when entering into the merger agreement," wrote Musk's lawyer.

Musk's main claim about not going through with the acquisition is because Twitter has reportedly failed to provide information on the auditing the inclusion of bots and fake accounts on its platform.

Musk will have to prove that Twitter breached the original agreement or risk being sued for a US$1 billion breakup fee.

It's no easy feat to walk away from the mega-deal, with many of Twitter's high-level executives having already resigned ahead of the takeover. This has also left Twitter in a more complicated position.

The social media platform is still insistent about suing Musk in order to complete the merger.

“The Twitter board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement,”said Bret Taylor, the chair of the board at Twitter.

This is a developing story.

Good morning, here's what you need to know today.1. A tragic shooting occurred in a Copenhagen department store yesterda...
05/07/2022

Good morning, here's what you need to know today.

1. A tragic shooting occurred in a Copenhagen department store yesterday, killing three people and critically injuring four others. The 22-year-old suspect has been arrested, with no ties to terrorism. Now, he will be detained in a psychiatric facility for 24 days.

The shooting unfolded on Sunday at multiple locations inside Field's, a shopping center in the Danish capital. Two teenagers and a 47 year old Russian national were shot and killed.

A total of 27 people were wounded or injured in the attack, with 20 of them "lightly injured during the evacuation.

Separately, six people were shot dead in the 4th of July parade shooting near Chicago, United States, when a gunman randomly shot at the crowd with a rifle.
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2. Its Meta's turn to warn staff of potential layoffs, after Mark Zuckerberg's comment that "there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn't be here."

Zuckerberg also said he will be aggressively raising goals and expectations, and if employees decide Meta isn't the place for them, "self-selection" is alright with him.

This shouldn't come as a surprise, as many tech giants have either been trimming their workforce or placing a hiring freeze.

Meta will also shut down Novo, its short-lived crypto wallet due to lackluster support.
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3. Singaporean crypto lender Vauld has suspended withdrawals after clients have redeemed almost US$200 million from its platform in the past three weeks. The drop in sentiment over cryptocurrency is very real.

The company is backed by Coinbase, Pantera, and Peter Thiel's VC fund.

Although the company is not associated with Three Arrows Capital or Celsius, it notes that the former's collapse triggered big redemptions by clients.
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4. EasyJet's COO Peter Bellew has resigned amid increased complaints over delayed and cancelled flights across Europe, causing endless travel disruptions. Bellew has reportedly left to pursue other business opportunities.

The airline business cut a lot of jobs during the pandemic, but now that travel has resumed, many have struggled to keep up with rising demand.

Good morning, here's what you need to know to start the week.1. Sahaphat has launched a new line of Mama noodles for mor...
04/07/2022

Good morning, here's what you need to know to start the week.

1. Sahaphat has launched a new line of Mama noodles for more health concious consumers (well, those who still want to slurp the delicious instant noodles care about the sodium count), with reduced sodium by 43-32%. Each packet will be priced at 8 baht.

Last month, the conglomerate submitted a price increase request to the Ministry of Commerce to put prices up by 1 baht, to 7 due to rising costs and inflation. This has not been put into motion yet.

According to reports, Thais have reduced their sodium intake by 14% in the last decade, leading to more brands releasing seemingly "healthier" variations of their staple products.
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2. More travel chaos and disruptions are happening in Europe, with Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport slashing 20% of flights on Saturday between 7am-2pm due to union strikes. Unions walked out after failing to reach a wage deal with operator Aeroports de Paris.

Air France, the biggest carrier at Charles de Gaulle, cancelled 90 flights on Saturday,

This follows London, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt airports also scrapping thousands of flights amid labor shortages and disputes over pay. London Heathrow made headlines this summer for flight cancellations, long queues, and lost baggage due to a lack of manpower.
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3. Thailand's iconic Thai boxing stadium Rajademnern has gone through a total rebrand and overhaul, with renovations and a new logo to attract a new generation of stadium fans.

The stadium is now under Global Sport Ventures (GSV), with a key mission to modernize Thai boxing into an international-level league, with events, proper sponsorship, and promotion laid out.
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4. Grab Thailand is experimenting with a new advertising model, by piloting a "Digital BagAd" program for 18,000/month across 20 different drivers for 1 month. Bouncing off from the increased adaption of on-demand delivery services, drivers have become key touchpoints for consumers.

The new initiative also aligns with the increased popularity of OOH media. Beauty, fashion and food brands can pay the monthly fee to be featured.

Justice is served, as R&B singer R.Kelly was handed a sentence of 30 years in prison for s*x abuse, a string of cases an...
30/06/2022

Justice is served, as R&B singer R.Kelly was handed a sentence of 30 years in prison for s*x abuse, a string of cases and allegations that spans across many years throughout the singer's life. Last September, Kelly was found guilty of s*x trafficking and racketeering on nine counts involving women, girls and boys.

Ahead of his sentencing, a handful of women took the stand to confront Kelly.

US District Judge Ann Donnelly said the singer used s*x as a weapon, forcing his victims to do unspeakable things and saddling some with s*xually transmitted diseases. He also used his influence to manipulate both women and children into s*xual abuse for decades.

He was charged with 21 counts of making child s*xual abuse videos involving various s*xual acts in June 2002, but cases were dropped in 2018.

"There wasn't a day in my life up until this moment that I actually believed that the judicial system would come through for black and brown girls," said Jovante Cunningham, a former backup singer for Kelly.

He has been detained at the Metropolitan detention center in Brooklyn since the verdict last September. It's not done yet, this August, he faces another trial in Chicago for possession of child abuse images.

R.Kelly was known for hits such as, "I believe I can fly" and "Ignition"

Good morning, here's what you need to know to start the day.1. Western leaders gathered in Bavaria on Sunday for the G7 ...
30/06/2022

Good morning, here's what you need to know to start the day.

1. Western leaders gathered in Bavaria on Sunday for the G7 Summit, basically a conference for powerful world leaders to discuss pressing topics. This year, it was Putin and oil.

The three-day event centered around how to tighten the economic and military vice around Vladimir Putin without leading to disastrous spillovers.

“Putting a ceiling on the price of fossil fuels imported from Russia has a geopolitical goal as well as an economic and social one,” said Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi-where he gained support from France's Macron.

Russian oil production has fallen due to sanctions, but its per barrel revenues are up due to the high price of oil.
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2. Bangkok Governor Chadchart's vision for Bangkok makes us all look like slackers. This time, the new Governor announced Bangkok will be operating under a "12 months, 12 festivals" concept, or simply-monthly theme events to draw in revenue and revive the city.

July's theme will be "cinematic", which will see a series of open-plan movie showings to support Chadchart's "night economy" policy, in partnership with Thailand's film industry. Vendors and more will be able to sell their goods at the showings every Thursday-Saturday.
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3. For now, Shanghai has declared victory over Covid-19, and is re-opening Disneyland today with visitors required to show proof of a negative Covid test taken within 72 hours. Entry will be capped.

Shanghai is also gradually resuming dine-in services at restaurants, with guests having to show proof of negative tests, and eating time is only 90 minutes. The city's recent fight against the pandemic took a toll on the city with lockdowns that spanned almost four months.
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4. Funding Societies, Southeast Asia’s biggest digital financing platform will be acquiring CardUp, a Singaporean-based payments platform to fuel its SEA expansion.

The acquisition will allow users to manage expenses, receive payments, and borrow funds on a single platform, basically making Funding Societies more of an ecosystem.

The company recently expanded into Vietnam.

Good morning, here's what you need to know today.1. Thai Life Insurance is looking to raise up to US$1.04 billion in its...
28/06/2022

Good morning, here's what you need to know today.

1. Thai Life Insurance is looking to raise up to US$1.04 billion in its upcoming IPO (approximately THB37 billion) at 16 baht/share to power its digital transformation and technological capabilities.

All legacy companies across multiple sectors these days need strong tech capabilities, and insurance companies are particularly vulnerable to disruption.

The company is targeting a July listing.

Thai Life is currently the third-largest life insurer in Thailand, with approximately 13% market share. Its strong brand and vast agent network should secure demand from investors. Institutions such as GIC have already committed.
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2. Indonesian-based logistics platform Deliveree announced it has raised US$70 million Series C, led by Gobi Ventures to power its existing operations in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

The delivery landscape in Southeast Asia is crowded and competitive, as well as fragmented. Deliveree says its edge is in large trucks that move commercial goods or large items.

Its technology is used to identify trucks that travel back empty from a delivery job (a common problem), thereby improving efficiency and cost, and matching them with jobs for the way back.

Deliveree wants to help companies offset these costs, and opt for a more asset-light basis by booking the company's services on demand.
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3. Tech giants such as Microsoft, Sony, Meta, and Qualcomm are teaming up for The Metaverse Standards Forum, which will focus on “pragmatic, action-based projects” like hackathons and prototyping tools for supporting common standards.

The forum signals a united interest in formalizing standardized procedures for the Metaverse by leading tech titans.
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4. This is rather controversial, but Amazon's Alexa is reportedly working on a function that will allow it to mimic the voice of a deceased person, which means you could potentially program your deceased loved one's voice on the machine.

In a video played at the event, an Amazon Echo Dot is asked: "Alexa, can Grandma finish reading me 'The Wizard of Oz'?"

Does this make anyone else uneasy?

Good morning, here's what you need to know to start the week,1. The U.S. Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade...
27/06/2022

Good morning, here's what you need to know to start the week,

1. The U.S. Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, in a regressive move that will change the lives of many Americans.

The end of Roe means that abortions will no longer be a constitutional right. The decision immediately triggered abortion bans in Kentucky, Louisiana, and South Dakota. Missouri, Arkansas, and other states did the same within hours.

It still means that women can travel to other states (which have not banned abortions) to have one, but it won't be so easy.

More liberal states such as California, Oregon and Washington issued a joint statement promising to protect access to abortion and contraception.
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2. The upcoming Liverpool vs. Manchester United game in Bangkok is already seeing controversy with high ticket prices and now, re-sales which have been frowned upon by the leagues themselves.

The drama started when influencer Pimrypie claimed she had 20,000 tickets for sale at discount prices, leading to fury as to how she was able to purchase that many, and others lamenting at their own full-price tickets.
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3. Goldman Sachs is looking to raise $2 billion to buy up distressed assets from crypto lender Celsius, as the troubled company is going through tough times with major liquidations taking place on the platform.

In the event of a bankruptcy filing, the deal would allow investors to buy Celsius's assets at a steep discount.

Celsius abruptly announced earlier this month that it would stop withdrawals from its platform, citing “extreme market conditions.” The company has US$12 billion under management.
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4. Netflix is forging ahead with more layoffs, following on from May's 150 job cuts across the original content department. This time, the streaming giant is letting go of 300 staffers (mainly in the U.S.), approximately about 4% of the workforce.

In its most recent earnings, Netflix committed to cutting costs in order to keep its margins at 20%. This came after the company revealed it was losing subscribers, with more losses projected in the next quarter as streaming wars intensify.

Thailand's outdoor mask mandate has been officially lifted, effective since last night after being published by the Roya...
24/06/2022

Thailand's outdoor mask mandate has been officially lifted, effective since last night after being published by the Royal Gazette. Now, people are no longer required to wear masks when walking outdoors, unless they wish to for personal reasons.

Meanwhile, those with respiratory diseases should continue to wear a mask out at all times.

The Ministry of Health still recommends people to wear masks in crowded, poorly ventilated areas indoors.

The mask debate has been a "hot button" issue across the world, with many citizens in western countries defying mask mandates due to it being a violation of human rights.

Now with the pandemic normalising, despite spurts of Omicron across the world, mask wearing has become more of a "recommended directive", or simply just by personal choice.

According to reports, Qantas Airline has scrapped mask requirements for some international flights from Australia to the U.K. or U.S.

Good morning. Here's what you need to know.1. The owner of Daruma Sushi, a Thai based Japanese restaurant chain was arre...
23/06/2022

Good morning. Here's what you need to know.

1. The owner of Daruma Sushi, a Thai based Japanese restaurant chain was arrested upon arrival in Thailand for alleged fraud. The ongoing case has been building up online, with thousands of netizens taking to social media to accuse the chain of defrauding them with discount vouchers.

Owner Metha Chalingsuk denied all charges and blamed Covid for poor cash flow, leading to the closure of 27 Daruma branches. The restaurant sold discounted vouchers for 199 baht, with some people even selling the vouchers for profit. They never got to use them.

Police estimated that total damage could exceed 100 million baht, with over 10,000 customers scammed.
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PTT OR has been rapidly building its retail ecosystem, last week the oil and gas conglomerate also spent 1 billion baht to acquire 40% of Otteri Wash & Dry. Texas Chicken and more. The program launched with five pilot locations, such as Vibhavadi Rangsit and Rama 2.

PTT also teamed up with queue management application QueQ to reduce the time it takes to buy food at the station.

PTT OR has been rapidly building its retail ecosystem, last week the oil and gas conglomerate also spent 1 billion baht to acquire 40% of Otteri Wash & Dry.
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3. Vietnam's Anfin raised US$4.8 million pre-Series A round to build out product development for its investing app, which aims to simplify investing for retail investors.

The app offers fractional trading and in-app communities such as live audio rooms for discussions. The app also plans to launch more financial asset classes in addition to stocks and ETFs.

Anfin has 100,000 funded accounts and deposits have reached up to US$5 million, with US$10 million in total transaction value, since its launch in October 2021.
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4. Ikea is coming to Bangkok's city center, namely EmSphere retail complex in Sukhumvit. Whilst we love a good affordable and well-designed furniture space, we can also imagine the traffic there.

Ikea's city store concept was first introduced in 2017 and has since spanned across Paris and Shanghai to offer an in-store experience similar to its larger out-of-town locations.

Good morning, here's what you need to know today.1. Chadchart will bring Bangkok's budget for 2023 online to promote tra...
22/06/2022

Good morning, here's what you need to know today.

1. Chadchart will bring Bangkok's budget for 2023 online to promote transparency and educate the public about different units' allocation, in a move that sees the Bangkok Governor's Office embrace digitisation.

The initiative is called "Open Bangkok Open Data", as well as promote digital transcripts for the education sector.
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2. So, here's something we never knew the internet needed. Meta will be rolling out avatars with designer clothing, through partnerships with Thom Browne, Balenciaga, and Prada so that users can decorate their avatars with their favourite designer labels.

According to Meta's official announcement, "we’re excited that creators and brands are experimenting with digital clothing and shopping via this new canvas".

It's likely that the decorated avatars won't stop here, and the company is likely experimenting with ways they can engage with fashion brands, influencers and ultimately, users.
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3. Elon Musk's virtual appearance at the Qatar Economic Forum was packed with insights. Musk touched on topics of Twitter, a pending recession and Tesla layoffs.

A recession in the US “is inevitable at some point in the near term," said the entrepreneur. He also admitted to growing "a bit too fast" in some areas of Tesla, which will lead to reducing the workforce by 10% within the next three months.

Musk also spoke about supply chain constraints which are putting a strain on Tesla's growth, due to a lack of raw materials.
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4. The United Kingdom will soon see its biggest rail strike in thirty years, a series of workers'' strikes that will paralyze London's commuting, trains, and other modes of transportation. At least these strikes are planned and pre-announced, so people can work at home accordingly.

Business leaders warned that the strikes would hit the sectors hardest that were just recovering from the economic impact of Covid-19. UKHospitality estimates that more than £1bn will be wiped off revenues of business in the leisure and tourism industry this week (reported by the Financial Times).

40,000 workers are refusing to work over pay disputes.

Good morning, here's what you need to know today.1. Solend, a lending platform on the Solana blockchain tried to gain co...
21/06/2022

Good morning, here's what you need to know today.

1. Solend, a lending platform on the Solana blockchain tried to gain control of a so-called “whale” account which could put the protocol at risk. Solend's users have voted to block the move.

A whale is sitting on an “extremely large margin position,” potentially putting the protocol and its users at risk. The account concerned had deposited 5.7 million sol tokens into Solend, accounting for more than 95% of deposits.

The move led to a backlash on Twitter.
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2. French President Emmanuel Macron loses majority in parliament, just under two months after winning the Presidential election against right-wing Marine Le-pen.

Macron has lost control of the National Assembly in legislative elections after significant gains by a newly formed left-wing alliance, and record wins by the far-right.

The president’s centrist Ensemble coalition will still be the biggest party in the next National Assembly with 245 seats. 289 seats are needed to gain a majority.
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3. U.S. cosmetics giant Revlon filed for bankruptcy last week and is currently working out the kinks of its restructuring deal. Due to a banking error though, the company still does not know the identity of all its key creditors.

Last week, passengers were told they may not get their luggage for two days as bags piled up due to a technical error. that was held by multiple asset management groups.

Revlon is also facing a liquidity crisis, coupled with supply chain restrictions that left it short on cash. The company’s debt exceeded $3 billion, with only $13 million in cash.
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4. Heathrow is everybody's worst nightmare right now, with long immigration queues, flight cancellations, and lost suitcases scattered everywhere. Heathrow has asked airlines flying from Terminals 2 and 3 to cancel 10% of their schedules for Monday due to mounting problems with its baggage handling.

An estimated 15,000 passengers on 90 flights will be affected. EasyJet is also cutting thousands of flights this summer.

Last week, passengers were told they may not get their luggage for two days as bags piled up due to a technical error.

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