The Monocle Minute

When it comes to overseas travel, leaders in Southeast Asia are often damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Ferdinand Marcos Jr of the Philippines is labelled a jetsetter, while Indonesia’s outgoing president, Joko Widodo, is criticised for preferring the feel of his own bedsheets. Thailand’s prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, finds himself in the former camp. The ex-businessman is facing criticism at home for having spent almost a third of his time as leader outside the country. He’s in France this week to meet Emmanuel Macron and Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, which is a major investor in Bangkok. Rival politicians are right to scrutinise his international itinerary but Thavisin should also feel hard done by. Clocking up official trips to the US, China and Japan during his first six months should fall in the plus column.

Airports are something of an obsession for Thavisin. When he is at home, it almost seems as though hardly a day goes by without him promising to build a new terminal or stretch of tarmac. His strategy makes sense. Airports are an essential part of Thailand’s tourist-driven economy and their snaking immigration queues must be some of the most universally dreaded sights to holidaymakers around the world. Last month, Thavisin even turned up unannounced at Bangkok’s main airport, Suvarnabhumi, to conduct a surprise inspection and give officials a ticking off.

Unpredictable lines and long waits are delaying his vision of turning Bangkok into a regional aviation hub. I commend his efforts to get out in the field but I would suggest that he goes one step further. Spend the night at Suvarnabhumi while connecting between flights and post a review of the experience. Thailand is so full of warmth, texture and textiles but, for some unfathomable reason, the transport infrastructure built in this century is as cold as ice. If the frequent-flying Thai prime minister can sort out Suvarnabhumi, I’ll join the happy voters lining up at the departure gate to wave him off.

James Chambers is Monocle’s Asia editor, based in Bangkok. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Relations between India and China have deteriorated further. Narendra Modi has rejected Beijing’s objections to his recent visit to the Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh. While the state is governed by India, China considers the region to be its own territory.

Ahead of India’s general election in April, Modi journeyed to the contested territory to inaugurate a tunnel intended to give troops easier access to areas near the disputed border with China. “Modi’s visit is not constructive economically,” Ali Borhani, managing director of 3Sixty Strategic Advisors, tells The Monocle Minute. “Both China and India need to enhance the inflow of foreign direct investment.”

New York’s Governors Island is set to become an innovation hub where scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs will be able to test-run their latest inventions. The island, which is just a short ferry ride from the city’s financial district in Lower Manhattan, announced the launch this week of six new fossil-fuel-free, water-related urbanism projects.

The site will provide valuable opportunities to engage with the public and examine ways in which the city’s water supply can be managed. The plan also calls for the removal of waterborne contamination through a 12-month non-profit pilot programme that aims to lure marine life back to the shores of New York’s harbour area. Investment in the 70-hectare site, which welcomes more than one million visitors a year, should further enhance the city’s global reputation as an innovation base.

We head to the Spanish capital for a special edition of the programme from Arco Madrid. As well as being a major contemporary art-market platform, the fair has a strong curatorial core and deep connections with the Latin American scene. We meet the fair’s director and one of its leading curators. Plus: we find out about a major merger in Spain and hear from the artist representing the country at this year’s Venice Biennale.