<p>Experts and observers find Thailand&rsquo;s informal sector has been devastated by Covid-19 aftershocks and restrictive regulations. They recommend that the government strengthen the sector and the entire economy by providing interest-free loans, easing restrictions, promoting job creation and skills training programs.&nbsp;</p>

<p>After a hiatus of nearly two decades, the Pride Parade returned to Bangkok last Sunday with a bang, drawing crowds of LGBTQ community members, sex workers, feminists, political dissidents, and even corporate representatives.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Levels of toxic Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) air pollution have rebounded in cities around the world, Bangkok included,&nbsp;one year after initial Covid-19 lockdowns went into effect, a new <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-southeastasia-stateless/2021/06/377a9664-reboundreport.pdf">report</a> from Greenpeace Southeast Asia finds.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&ldquo;The rich get infected, the poor be damned&rdquo; describes the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak in Thailand, especially now that the disease, starting from the VVIP guests at luxury night clubs, has reached densely-populated communities in Bangkok.</p>

<p>The 16 October police crackdown has not deterred the people&rsquo;s will to express their anti-dictatorship ideas and criticisms of the monarchy. They turned from single protests to mobile leaderless ones.</p>

<p>Bangkok&rsquo;s Governor announced today (21 March) that malls, educational institutions and places of entertainment are to close for 22 days, while the number of COVID-19 cases in Thailand has risen to 411.</p>

<p>Bangkok : Thousands took to the streets in Bangkok&rsquo;s central shopping district on Saturday (14 December), a day after Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party (FFP), called a protest.</p>

<p>The hashtag&nbsp;#royalmotorcade&nbsp;has soared on Twitter despite legal restrictions on criticism of the royal family as concerned citizens reported traffic problems caused by a royal motorcade. A twitter user has faced threats over their comments and an activist received a threatening message claimed to be sent by the Palace, but an official at the Bureau of Royal Household&nbsp;said it was unlikely to be from there.&nbsp;</p>

<div>Just a day after the arrest of a suspect in the recent hospital bombing case, another minor blast wet off in Bangkok leaving one injured.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 16 June 2017, <a href="https://www.khaosod.co.th/breaking-news/news_400711">a bomb went off</a>&nbsp;on Sukhumvit Road between Sois 40 and 42 in front of the UNESCO office, injuring a female street cleaner. Police investigators found a bag at the scene containing an object wrapped in black tape.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The explosion occurred when the cleaner tried to open the bag. </div>

<div>Riot police have raided an apartment in Bangkok and arrested 10 suspects in the wake of warnings from a deputy police commander that car bomb attacks have been timed for late October.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div p> </div>

<p>Some years ago, I was in conversation with a retired government official who had been a high heidyin in the Bangkok governor’s office.&nbsp; Bangkok was just recovering from the latest inundation and he was scathing in his criticisms of the administration of the day.</p> <p>He noted, correctly, that flooding in the capital seemed to be both more frequent and more severe.&nbsp; I agreed, but mentioned climate change and other factors that were not directly under the BMA’s control.</p>