Sarah Chew covers Southeast Asia’s technology, fintech, digital policy, and AI adoption landscape for RECATOOLS. Her work focuses on how regulation, platform shifts, and emerging technologies affect businesses, consumers, and digital markets across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

169
Articles
ASEAN Tech
Primary beat
May 2026
Writing since
~1124 min
Total reading
All 169 ASEAN Tech 97 Finance 65 Business 4 AI & ML 3

Articles · ASEAN Tech Showing 21–30 of 97

A city skyline in the Philippines beyond low-rise neighbourhoods
ASEAN Tech

The Philippines Blocked Discord for a Day, Without a Court Order

The block followed a 24-hour ultimatum over child safety and ended after the platform promised new measures. The legal basis was never tested.

30 Sep 2026 · 4 min read
A passport resting on the handle of a blue suitcase
ASEAN Tech

Thailand's THIM Immigration App Reads Your Passport Chip and Scans Your Face

THIM launched formally on 25 September with the digital arrival card on board. The bureau plans to add visa extensions and 90-day reporting.

28 Sep 2026 · 4 min read
A large satellite ground-station dish at dusk
ASEAN Tech

Amazon's Vietnam Satellite Licence Covers Testing Dishes, Not Selling Internet

Hanoi granted Amazon Kuiper a nationwide private network on 23 September to test terminals made in the country. Starlink still holds the consumer pilot.

27 Sep 2026 · 4 min read
An electricity transmission pylon and power lines against a blue sky
ASEAN Tech

Ho Chi Minh City Utility Warns Data Centres It May Cut Power in Tariff Dispute

The dispute is over which electricity rate applies, and 11.35 billion dong is owed. The same week, a US-funded study began on a 300 MW AI campus planned for the same city.

27 Sep 2026 · 6 min read
A telecommunications tower carrying panel antennas and microwave dishes against a cloudy sky
ASEAN Tech

Singapore's Second and Third Mobile Operators Confirm Talks

StarHub and Keppel told the exchange on 23 September that they are discussing M1, while stating there is no certainty whatsoever. Nothing has been agreed, and a previous sale collapsed in May.

26 Sep 2026 · 5 min read
A hand holding a smartphone displaying a QR payment code
ASEAN Tech

UnionPay Says Its QR Network Reaches Every ASEAN Country

The figure was disclosed at a trade fair in Nanning, not audited. A 90 per cent fall in fraud at pilot banks arrives with no methodology attached.

25 Sep 2026 · 4 min read
Coloured optical fibre strands gathered together, light showing at their tips
ASEAN Tech

An Investor Paid Above Market for Enablence's Vietnamese Chip Capacity

Enablence sold 3,226,000 shares at C$7.75 to a single buyer for about C$25 million. A Foxconn unit has been building its optical chips in Vietnam since August.

22 Sep 2026 · 5 min read
A near-empty airport terminal with a polished reflective floor
ASEAN Tech

LionsBot Said Profitability Was a Year Away. The Loss Grew.

Revenue rose 19.3 per cent in 2025 while the net loss widened to S$21.25 million, against a stated ambition to break even that year.

21 Sep 2026 · 4 min read
Ethernet cables plugged into the back of a white home broadband router
ASEAN Tech

Two ASEAN countries tie your broadband to the speed you were sold, and only one checks

Malaysia requires 90% of your subscribed fibre speed and collects the results quarterly. Thailand sets 70% of the advertised speed and then exempts that indicator from measurement. Singapore requires a typical speed to be published without saying how to compute it; Indonesia has no fixed-broadband speed standard at all.

20 Sep 2026 · 11 min read
A red and black full-face motorcycle helmet resting on a parked bike in a street
ASEAN Tech

A helmet can meet the standard Philippine law names and still be illegal there

The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia all build their helmet rules on the same UN regulation, but only Malaysia accepts the European mark as legally sufficient. A Philippine rider needs a domestic PS or ICC sticker on top — and a helmet brought in from abroad needs clearance before it is worn.

20 Sep 2026 · 10 min read
Editorial Policy →
Advertisement