# Japan Thailand Elections Reshape Asia Business Strategy

**Podcast:** Nikkei Asia News Roundup with Jada and Brian
**Published:** 2026-02-13

## Transcript

Nikkei Asia News Roundup with Jada and Brian.
Welcome to the Nikkei Asia News Roundup with your hosts Jada and Brian.
Bringing you the latest updates and insights on the dynamic world of Asia and more.
Now let's delve into the headlines.
This program is brought to you by Nikkei.
Who is also his younger brother warned stock exchange bosses it was imperative to restore trust and confidence after a warning from global index provider MSCI triggered an equity market rout last week.
Kiding Holdings will sell its Four Roses Bourbon brand to ENJ Gala Winery of the U.S.
in a deal that could reach up to $775 million as part of the Japanese beer and beverage group's efforts to streamline its portfolio and focus investment on its health science segment, which includes health foods.
Citing a challenging rate environment amid rate cuts by the U.S.
Federal Reserve.
Now moving on to the next segment.
The credibility of one of the limited lucrative foreign exchange income channels for the country.
The operators of Mountain Rescue Service, Nepal Charter Service, and Everest Experience are accused of fabricating or exaggerating medical emergencies to justify unnecessary helicopter evacuations and inflating hospital bills in Kathmandu.
Police say at least 317 rescues were staged between 2022 and 2025.
The arrests follow an anti-corruption crackdown by an interim government installed after the political upheaval of last September.
Investigators found that companies forged passenger and cargo manifests, manipulated invoices, and submitted insurance claims for flights that never took place, according to a spokesperson for Nepal's Police Central Investigation Bureau.
Claims were allegedly submitted to major international travel insurers, including Alian's partners, AXA Assistants, World Nomads, and Travel Guard, which operate in Europe, North America, and Australia.
The Cuban government is rushing to diversify and enhance ties in Asia as U.S.
President Donald Trump cranks up pressure on the Caribbean island nation following his raid on Venezuela.
While China is a traditional ally and leading source of direct investment, Havana is courting Japan and others, hoping to bring in desperately needed foreign capital by streamlining regulations and procedures.
Cuba, under a U.S.
embargo for decades, is a single party communist state with a reputation for tight government control and repression.
The watchdog Freedom House lists it as not free, with a score of just 10 out of the possible 100, putting it between Iran and China.
But desperate times have prompted some groundbreaking measures from the Cuban government's perspective.
Feasibility studies are no longer necessary, and submission of business plans can substitute for investment applications.
Two big elections on the same day.
Yes, yes.
So those were in Japan and in Thailand.
Yes.
And um we had a blog running for both both of the elections, so that was read well.
Um a lot of people came in to read uh the latest developments for the both uh, you know, two of the most important things.
Those blogs are still, yeah.
They they've they've they've closed down for updates, but they're still up there if people want to see the developments of how they're it's really interesting to follow.
Yeah, how everything unfolds.
Um which should we start with, Thailand or Japan?
Let's let's get well, we're in Japan right now, so let's do that.
Okay, so uh just to kind of um briefly talk about what the election was about.
It was sort of a a how Takai Chi Prime Minister Sanaitaka is or how how what her support is.
How are people viewing her so far?
Yeah, because the big deal was she's been prime minister for about four months now.
Yes, since October.
In January she she dissolved the lower house and just declared a snap election, which is very soon.
I mean, I think the terms for the lower house had still had a few years to go.
But you know, of course prime ministers can call elections and she did it.
Yeah.
And it was a test to see, you know, if her policies and her popularity would uh hold up.
And the result is they held up very well.
Yes, more than people are sort of expecting, right?
Um because her ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, the LDP has gained a supermajority in the lower house now.
If and I believe it was um it's the largest number of seats for them ever in an election.
Yeah, post-war election.
Yeah.
Um so that means she, you know, her she did uh even more so well than the ABE administration.
So who is uh she's pretty much a ment he she considers him a mentor or a model to follow.
Yes.
They're both sort of about about physical uh spending and expansion and fueling growth.
So she's sort of um taken or continued um that policy from Abe.
But um so now a lot of uh the focus is on, you know, well w what is she gonna actually do um now that she has this strong lower house.
Um one one interesting thing I uh one of her stories pointed out is you know, will she become a sort of Trump ally?
Because they do seem to be, you know, getting along so far.
So that was great.
And that was something that kind of I would say it stirred controversy, but there's been a lot of stuff in the news uh the past couple of weeks.
Um Trump tweeted or wrote on his social media an endorsement.
Which is very rare because usually you stay out of that kind of thing when it comes to endorsing other members of other countries.
That's the other it's crossing country lines like that.
But he he did that, but um but that popularity is seems to be the driving force that she was not necessarily detailing policies, but saying I'm gonna do stuff.
I'm gonna get stuff done.
Yeah, one what one is a uh cut or consumption uh consumption tax cut.
Yeah, particularly on like food and perishables, right here.
So so um th there's an eight percent consumption tax, but she's saying, you know, uh we'll pause it for two years.
Um also she's vowing to invest in um AI and semiconductors and energy defense is also a big big topic.
Defense is a big 'cause the big controversy or thing that's dominated a lot of headlines is the comments about Taiwan and how that relates to China.
Yeah, yeah.
So yeah, that's also yeah, China's a big topic, you know.
Well, Takai Chi has gained more power now, but there's still the issue with China, because I I think uh one of the uh you know key persons from China also reacted to the election but was saying this doesn't really um negate what she said about Taiwan and and angering them.
But another thing is she's trying to revise the constitution.
That's something that's that was one of Abe's things he liked to talk about and other members around him, that rewriting the constitution, which very brief history lesson, it was written in post-war by the American occupation government.
And you know, approved by lawyers and politicians in Japan.
Um and it hasn't been changed since and so a lot of people have talked about changing, particularly when it comes to defense-related matters.
There's a peace clause, so uh that you know that's a big topic.
But that actually relates to Thailand, right?
Because Thailand in its um election also took uh uh a a vote from from citizens about you know what to do with its constitution as well.
Um but in Thailand, so there was an election and again similar to to how it panned out in Japan, but the Conservative Party, ruling party, um won the the election, the uh Bunjatai Party.
So that's the current Prime Minister Anutin party.
Slightly surprising if I the um opinion polls or surveys had sort of said the more progressive um uh party uh was doing well and was widening it its lead against the Bunja Tai um but yeah, it it it in our analysis it points out that um it seems like Bunjabtai playing up the nationalistic sentiment did really well for them.
There's elements with the border dispute of Cambodia and the the the current prime minister, the one who won is hasn't been in power that long, just a few months as well.
No, no.
Because he and he dissolved also in December.
I think he came into power in the summer, maybe September.
Yeah, and part of the deal of him g coming into power was that he had to declare an election at some point.
Yes.
And so now it's happened.
But in that time, in the three months that he was in power, he implemented some um I I'm forgetting the details, but it's like uh economic ha not handouts, but like boost.
Um it was a shopping subsidy.
Yeah, that's what that was was.
And he campaigned heavily on that.
He'd run around marketplaces, you know, on the stump and saying, We're gonna keep that going, we're gonna we're gonna go boost it.
And all that these three ministers you all like, they're gonna stay in their jobs if you vote for us.
And apparently that that helped um like spread the word that people were okay with that, 'cause the impression is that in the three months that he's been in power, he's actually done stuff.
Oh, yeah.
And so they're wondering if we give him more power, maybe he'll follow through on other things.
We'll see.
And that brings us to the close of today's episode.
We look forward to having you join up again for the next edition of the Nikkei Asia News Roundup.
Stay informed, stay curious.
Until next time, I'm Jada.
And I'm Brian.
See you again and take care.
This program is brought to you by Nikkei.