Here are a few stories from around Asia you may have missed this week.
Stations became crowded as trains were suspended following a four-day strike by the Railway Workers Union, Seoul, South Korea, September 14, 2023. /CFP
About 13,000 rail workers in South Korea launched a four-day strike on Thursday. It will see passenger and freight train services being cut by up to 60 percent, and is the first such action by unions in four years.
The Korean Railway Workers' Union is seeking improved pay and working conditions and an expansion of the KTX bullet train services. The union's requests include the expansion of railroads and the implementation of a shift schedule, which has been delayed for more than four years.
Chinese tourists dipping lotus bulbs in a water bowl at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, September 10, 2023. /CFP
Thailand will waive visa requirements for travelers from China and Kazakhstan in the busy holiday season. It is hoped that this will help prop up Thailand's revenues as it faces high household debt and lackluster economic growth.
Chinese and Kazakhstani tourists will be able to enter Thailand without a visa between September 25 and February 29, 2024, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The measure is part of the country plans to bring tourism revenue back to pre-COVID levels, with a target of $87 billion next year.
Wooden houses are pictured as smoke covers trees due to forest fires near Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan province, Indonesia, September 9, 2023. /Reuters
Several Indonesian provinces have been covered with haze from forest fires that have continued to burn since August. The fires have caused health problems, including shortness of breath for many people in the provinces of Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Indonesian authorities are deploying water bombing, ground patrols and cloud seeding to stop the fires, Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, told The Straits Times.
Yoko Kamikawa walks into the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo, Japan, September 13, 2023. /CFP
Japan has a new foreign minister, Yoko Kamikawa. She is Japan's first female foreign minister in 20 years and previously served as justice minister.
At her inaugural press conference on Thursday, she said that Japan would continue seeking dialogue with China to resolve common issues together. The Japan Times described her as a "Harvard-educated veteran with experience working for a U.S. senator" who has "reiterated the importance of the bilateral alliance with the United States and the necessity of exerting Japan's leadership on the international stage."
Indonesian President Joko Widodo stands near a high-speed railway ahead of a test ride at Halim station in Jakarta, Indonesia, September 13, 2023. /CFP
Indonesia's first high-speed railway between the capital Jakarta and Bandung city will begin running in October. Bandung is 150 kilometers from Jakarta.
President Joao Widodo took a trial run on Wednesday. He said: "We hope people (will) shift from using private cars to using high-speed rail, so traffic jams, pollution can be reduced." Commercial operations will start in October with eight trips a month, with the frequency rising to 68 trips by January. The project is part of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and makes Indonesia the first Southeast Asian nation to have a high-speed railway.
(Cover: Electronic boards at Seoul railway station show the suspension of train operations due to a nationwide strike by rail workers, Seoul, South Korea, September 14, 2023. /CFP)