Thais stage rare Israel protest; Singapore ministers get pay rise: 7 Asia highlights

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.1. ‘Not for sale’: Thais take to streets in rare protest against IsraelHundreds of Thais, led by a veteran political activist, rallied outside the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok in a rare public protest against a group of foreign nationals.2. Singapore ministers set for pay rise with entry-level pay up to US$1.4 millionSingapore’s ministers will receive gradual pay increases following a 60 per cent jump in their baseline salary benchmarks, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has announced.3. India-Pakistan water row deepens after Hague court rulingPeople gather on the Indus River near Hyderabad, Sindh province, Pakistan, in May 2025. The Indus River system sustains roughly 300 million people across South Asia. Photo: EPAFor 65 years, even as India and Pakistan fought wars, severed diplomatic ties and traded nuclear threats, one agreement held: the Indus Waters Treaty, which governs the river system sustaining roughly 300 million people across the subcontinent. That was until April last year, when New Delhi suspended the pact in the aftermath of a deadly militant attack on tourists in Kashmir that it blamed on Islamabad.4. Up in smoke: why Southeast Asia failed to halt the hazeA woman covers her face as she rides on a road amid the thick haze from forest fires in Mempawah, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, on Thursday. Photo: APDr Asma Zafirah doesn’t need satellite images to know when Kalimantan is burning. She sees it in the watery eyes and laboured breaths of the patients at her clinic in Sarawak, and the children who are kept home from school to protect them from the toxic air.5. Thai PM Anutin’s US$90,000 amulet back in spotlight after disgraced monk’s arrestThai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul showing the Nuea Duang amulet to journalists in October 2023. Photo: HandoutThai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has come under intense social media scrutiny after photos resurfaced showing him wearing a high-value amulet created by a senior monk now at the centre of a fraud and sex scandal.6. Philippines bets big on rail, but can it fix a broken transport network?A two-hour commute for a 14km (8.7-mile) journey. For Julius Dalay and millions of other Filipinos, this is just how public transport works in Manila: a mishmash of jeepneys, trains and buses that commuters are left to figure out for themselves.7. Malaysian woman who stabbed boyfriend to death over sex demand gets 12 yearsA Malaysian court has nearly doubled jail time for a woman who stabbed her boyfriend to death for demanding sex after ruling that the sentencing court had been “over-sympathetic” towards the accused.Further Reading