Politics

PATHUM THANI — Wat Dhammakaya is arguably the most controversial and largest Buddhist temple in Thailand. Some consider it a cult which has deviated from the core teaching of Buddhism, which stresses donations as the path to heaven.

BANGKOK — The Russian Federation had a headline-grabbing year, from military operations in Syria to accusations it sought to influence the U.S. election. But as it projects an image of strength onto the world stage, its oil-dependent economy remains wrecked by a double blow of historically low oil prices and crippling Western sanctions.

BANGKOK — Five new cabinet members were introduced Friday as the military government rotated its positions for the fourth time since seizing power in 2014.

BANGKOK — Prosecutors on Friday indicted 19 senior members of the anti-coup Red Shirt movement for violating a ban on political activities when they sought to open an office to monitor last August's referendum on a new constitution.

BANGKOK — Despite strong opposition from the public and private sector, junta-appointed legislators on Friday passed a controversial revision of the Computer Crime Act.

Convenience stores, telecoms, brewers, movie theaters and more are dominated by just one or two players in Thailand despite a 17-year-old antitrust law. A toothless law that, by design or defect, left critical portions unfinished and unenforceable.

BANGKOK — Police say a rubber farmer has been shot dead in the southern Thai province of Sonkhla, in the latest attack in a region that has been in the grip of an ethnic Malay Muslim insurgency for over a decade.

BANGKOK — An Australian mining company said Wednesday it was shutting down its gold mines in Thailand, laying off more than 1,000 workers and focusing on projects in Chile. It said and will not come back unless it gets an "ironclad guarantee" from the government that it will be allowed to operate without interruptions.

BANGKOK — Confirming the fears of digital rights activists who said a plan to bring the internet under direct government control never went away, a member of the junta said Wednesday that a single internet gateway was still necessary.

PATHUM THANI — As police gathered around the Dhammakaya Temple headquarters in Pathum Thani on Tuesday to execute a search warrant, the temple filed a motion for judicial relief.