On a Friday evening in early March, inside Bangkok’s Shenanigans Irish Sports Bar, a Thai band—The Bangkok Beatles—sang: “Hey Jude, don’t make it bad…” Everyone joined in; many danced.

At the same time, a war with global economic consequences was unfolding in West Asia. It began on February 28, 2026, with US–Israeli strikes on Iran, the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior officials, and Iran’s retaliation.

Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz—the narrow sea route that carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas. The Thai government responded with emergency energy-saving measures, asking civil servants (except frontline staff) to work from home.

When I asked an elderly Thai man humming along whether the conflict had affected him, he replied with one word: “plastics.” He was in the plastics business—a key link in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Plastics are made from petrochemicals shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. With the route disrupted, the impact had already begun.

Four weeks on, the conflict shows scant signs of easing. The Hormuz blockade has........

© Free Press Journal