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  • Longtime partner

    German government seeks to strengthen its relations to Thailand in the power struggle against China. The relations date back to the 19th century and flourished particularly during the Nazi era.

    BANGKOK/BERLIN (Own report) – In the power struggle against China, the German government is seeking to strengthen its relations with several Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand. According to the new German ambassador to Bangkok, Ernst Reichel, diplomatic relations between the two countries are not close enough and need to be strengthened. Last week, Petra Sigmund, head of the Asia-Pacific Department at the German Foreign Ministry, visited Bangkok to intensify bilateral relations based on “close economic and political ties”. Berlin sees Thailand as an alternative location for German industry now based in China. Relations between Germany and Thailand date back more than one and a half centuries. They were intensified during the German Empire, gained in strength during the second half of the 1920s, when the government in Bangkok turned against the influence of the Chinese minority, and especially flourished during the Nazi era. Already in the 1950s, the Federal Republic of Germany managed to restore its old contacts with Thailand – now on the side of the United States, in the context of the confrontation of the systems. Read more

  • After us the Deluge

    Countries in southern Asia and other developing and emerging countries face a serious energy crisis, as Europe buys up the liquefied natural gas in its power struggle against Russia.

    BERLIN/ISLAMABAD (Own report) – The European scramble for liquified natural gas (LNG) threatens to cause a breakdown in the energy supplies of numerous countries in southern Asia and other regions of the world, according to reports from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand and various other countries. Pakistan, for example, can no longer purchase LNG from the spot market, because “every single molecule that was available in our region” has been purchased by Europe, Pakistan’s Petroleum Minister, Musadik Malik said. His government has long since been forced to ration electricity, reduce business hours and, at times, even curtail supplies to some of its industries. The export industry, which had recently been expanding, is now facing serious setbacks. The same holds true for Bangladesh, where – due to LNG shortage – its population must cope with power cuts and its industry with painful production losses. Similar reports are coming out of Thailand and other countries. This is caused by the fact that European states – seeking to deprive Moscow of the revenues from its gas sales – are buying up LNG at the expense of poorer nations. Read more