sending a message. korea's biggest social messaging service plans to merge with a rival. there are bigger plans too including going public. plus, rising sales of salmon and china's middle class has a hunger to succeed. and then i on the future. we will meet basketball star yao ming for his plans for the future. all that on this monday edition of "asia edge." >> in the next hour, the leader of thailand's military junta is set to give an endorsement as the head of government. there is growing anger on the streets. new developments only moments ago. >> breaking news now, that is the protest leader as well as the ex prime minister released from thai military custody according to local news reports as well as the spokesman for

yingluvck. it is not clear what happens next. it is unclear what charges yingluck faces but they have been into tension for several days. ck turnay, yinglu herself in after she was summoned by the junta. in just about 30 minutes time, take a look, the commanding general, prayuth chan-ocha will report to the royal command in bangkok to present his pick for interim prime minister. out, heorrectly pointed will then receive the king's endorsement. these are fast-moving developments in the thai capital this morning. a constitution expected to be drafted and a new legislative council according to the military will be appointed tomorrow. of them --e release

the next step for the military, what could that involve? >> it has to be setting up a constitution. political reform. setting up a legislative council, some sort of legislative body. remember, that legislative body and the constitution will reflect the military's will. that just reading according to sources in bangkok and the military, the thai junta is boosting the military court's power. the military court will now have authority to rule in cases involving certain sections of the thai criminal law. without going into too much detail, this is the most important law in thailand. it deals with offenses related to the monarchy and the military now will assume authority from the ordinary courts on this issue. that is a pivotal development as

we continue to follow this developing story. >> clearly what is also important is the impact on the economy. thailand is extremely reliant on tourism. >> you have soldiers in the streets. a coup, even if it has been a bloodless coup has had an impact on tourism. for the past month, this has been going on for six months. this latest flareup of protesting has had an impact. first quarter tourism down seven percent. the tourism council says they lost $700 million alone. chinese tourists didn't travel to thailand. hong kong maintains a black travel writing, which means don't go there. other governments around the world have warned the same. this has impacted not just tourism. thailand has a big economy, big

export economy. many foreign companies manufacturing their have been hit by this. economy saw 0.6% contraction. my guess is that number will go up. >> trading is underway in thailand. over to david for the opening numbers. >> we are watching how the index is doing right now. picture, we open marginally lower. we are now down by about 0.5%. i think what is interesting to watch here, we are seeing some weakness today. closed below 1400 on friday. i guess what is happening right now in the currency -- if you look back longer-term, we have -- last week

foreign investors pulled out 400 million. if you look year-to-date, we are still up 13.5%. despite the fact that you had $850 million of net foreign outflow, what does that tell you? fact that you have a lot of foreign investors pulling money out, local players are keeping that market supported. still one of the best-performing markets in asia. we are seeing a little bit of weakness today but the overall theme, foreign investors have pulled out but local institutional investors are buying in and supporting. back to you. have beentics in fact at the forefront of our discussions today on bloomberg television. first, the evidence in thailand. says eddie in bangkok

twitter and facebook are helping the protesters publicize their views. >> while facebook is the dominant platform, i think twitter is more important and it is the most important platform coming out. it is instant, immediate. more often than not, you hear channels, asws reported on twitter. it is very important. when you see these large protest groups gathering, not only do you get 200, 300 people in the street, you can get tens of thousands of people following it live on social media. it literally makes the protest 10 times bigger than it really is. >> meanwhile, resolving political unrest in ukraine will be the challenge for petro poroshenko who is widely seen as

winning sunday's presidential election. and goldsmith specializes in international relations at sydney. he welcomes poroshenko's victory. i think it is quite a good thing. i think relations with russia will now moderate. i think putin is a pragmatic leader, although he would like to have more and he would like to gain as much influence over ukraine as possible. the unity shown by ukrainian considerable barrier putin'sn's -- creating greater instability in ukraine. >> narendra modi will be sworn in as indian prime minister later today, aiming to revive the economy and rein in inflation. he is expected to name his finance minister. mark mcfarland says it is a

vital decision. they really need a strong finance minister. there is a couple candidates out there. it is not clear who he will choose yet. he wants to see someone who will speed up the commissioning and rolling out of infrastructure products. the rolling back of the subsidies program and also reducing red tape in terms of setting up businesses and closing down businesses. a finance minister delivers those kinds of policies along with modi's strong leadership. political changes in europe too. eu elections underlining the growing anti-european mood following the debt crisis. chancellor merkel blocked one in germany but far right groups did well in the u.k.. the anti-euro national front won and france, the first time that

it has taken a nationwide election. in other news, there is growing speculation that the drug industry's biggest ever deal may stall. today is the deadline for pfizer's bid for astrazeneca. the $117 billion offer may be abandoned for now. the astrazeneca board has rejected the bid and pfizer has declined to say if it will try again. the chinese carmaker byd is plunging in hong kong today. shares were halted last week after it said it would sell more than half $1 billion worth of new stock to help fund investment. byd partially owned by warren buffett. allcan get more on that and the days top stories, plus watch us live wherever you are. all you have to do is head to the bloomberg app and download it to your mobile device. >> china's decision to relax

rules on consoles gives sony and microsoft a new battleground for their global fight that has been described as a game changer. changer because china is an enormous market. >> you can't ignore china. a month after microsoft expressed interest in setting up their products in china, sony also following suit. not really a surprise. all this follows after the beijing government essentially allowed for game consoles to be distributed within the chinese economy. 2000 and banned and that was lifted this past january. console makers are eager to get into this market. they could focus on growing sales and to broaden their market share. according to an estimate from price waterhouse cooper, $10 billion in sales is the estimate

in terms of the figure at the end of 2015. right now, pc games, those that , thatayed on the computer is about two thirds of the market share. this could be the big game changer. sony also doing what microsoft did which is partnering with a local partner. they will be completing two ventures with shanghai oriental pearl to start making as well as selling. unclear on how much it is going to cost, what specific console will be distributed, and also the actual timing. again, both of these competitors perhaps sometime in the fall is what we are hearing. >> many thanks indeed. >> looking ahead, we are going to take a look at the growing influence and affluence of china's middle class and what this means for sales of all the finer things in life.

next, india will have a new prime minister this evening. we are going to be live in mumbai to look at the challenges facing narendra modi. this is "asia edge." ♪

modi will be sworn in as india's new prime minister today, facing the challenge of reviving the economy and improving relations with neighboring countries. let's close over to mumbai. >> that swearing in will happen at its :00 p.m. this evening at a ceremony which is likely to be the first in terms of all the attendingtate including pakistan, afghanistan, nepal, all attending.

modi is likely to have bilateral talks with most of them tomorrow. he is clearly not waiting and not wasting any time. he has managed to keep his cards largely toward his chest. here is what we are watching out for. it is likely to be a smaller cabinet than previous governments with modi emphasizing that he will focus more on governance. activities of various ministries will be converged. the one that everyone is watching out for his finance minister. a politician has had a stint at the world bank previously. the role will require him to manage the deficit in india as well as revive growth urgently. the ministry has already drawn

up a list of to-do's for him including the stock exchanges and a new monetary policy framework. we are also likely to see good news from india inc. >> thank you so much for that. the end of the road for the first car to the made in india. they have suspended production of the iconic ambassador. based on -- the ambassador has barely changed since 1957. once the car of choice for politicians, they only sold about 2000 models last year. up next, getting to grips with grapes. we are going to meet the global marketing director of new zealand's winegrowers when "asia edge" returns. ♪

>> something to clink glasses about. before manchester united manager has sold part of his wine collection in hong kong. raised $3.8 million as wine lovers and football fans put up prices. many of the bottles. --ature -- bottles there

bear his signature. >> a lot of people interested in what ferguson had to say and sell. china's burgeoning middle class is eating more western food, drinking more imported wine than ever before. >> mia saini has today's global outlook. class,he chinese middle they continually get richer, their pockets are getting deeper, their desire for the finer things in life is intensifying. china already has the world's largest middle class. that is from the world bank which means that they consume between $10 and $100 per day. 11% of china's population fall into this category. when china's urban middle class about 75%t to grow to of their population by 2020. what was it back in 2000? just 4%.

2022, what is going to happen is chinese consumers are expected to earn between $9,600 and 37,000 u.s. dollars. this growing affluence is spurring more imports of western brands to china, which is the world's biggest buyer of luxury goods in 2012. imports of certain items including salmon, wine and flowers. finland's biggest airline could double shipments of salmon to china and japan by 2020. that is from 300 tons currently. the fish are trucked in from norway to finland. they don't have a direct flight so they go to finland. our is also focusing on growth in china. they are also focused on places in europe and latin america. china is also increasing imports of flowers.

the country imported over 6500 tons of cut flowers last year. that is a 17% increase according to data from the international trade center. it looks like china is gravitating towards the finer things. >> speaking of the finer things in life, let's get an extra set of that and take a look at the wine market in new zealand. it is a growing business. >> over $1 billion of wine last year. joining us for more is chris yorke. englishman living in auckland. >> i moved 12 years ago and stayed. >> you are a key we then? >> i am a key we now. -- kiwi now. how much did wind factor into your decision to say? >> i was on holiday in hawkes

bay, a big producer of good red wines. i thought, what can i bring to new zealand? i managed to get into the industry. the last 10 years have been fantastic. we have quadrupled our exports overall. it is about over one billion glasses every year. >> it is really exponential. >> china, hong kong, singapore, japan. >> asia is a major focus for us. the bulk ofake up our asian exports. they have tripled in the last five years. our largest market now is australia. second is the u.s. and third is the u.k. export,ooking to now targeting $2 billion by 2020. before, a guest guillame deglise, the space is

more than it was before. wineries andt 20 . new zealand wine is quite unique. we have two main islands. we are about a 12 hour flight out of hong kong. all of our wineries are close to the sea. you have quite a warm day but a cool night. our growing season is much longer than many other countries. that gives us quite elegant and complex wines. >> what is really interesting is the diversity of grapes. everything from merlot to cabernet and all tempered by that maritime brees that flows through. how do you think that story plays through to people's pallets? do they get it? >> i think they get it once they try it. those beautiful long days and cool nights.

seven young blanche is our number one export varietal. it is a special wine made in a special place. pinot noir, we have regions that grow pinot noir. >> how does that compare with the more established wineries and france? everyone talks about new world wines. >> new zealand, we really look to france. a lot of our winemakers have done vintages up there. actually, france and new zealand normally are the two most expensive categories. our wines are priced at a higher premium. we only produce 1% of the world line. actually are taking 10%

or 20% market share of the more premium sector. >> that sounds all the latest. looking to see all the varietals vinexpo this year. >> looking forward to business in tokyo. we get the latest on japan's reopening after this break. ♪

>> democracy interrupted. growing anger as thailand's military coup gains royal approval. democracy in action. narendra modi will be named india's prime minister today. an eye on the future. yao ming has big plans for the nba. >> as the company gears up for its listing in south korea, kakao looks to be beefing up. to be confused with what is

required to make coffee. >> it is not something you farm out of the ground. corp., the company that operates the most popular mobile -- let's see who is going to be on the other end. we can find friends hereby if they are shaking as well. no one is doing it. that is good, they are working. they have agreed on this merger with daum communications. that is a net portal operator. things like e-mail, messaging service, shopping, news. the specifics of the deal while you are shaking that and trying to find a friend, if you are a kakao shareholder, you will receive about 1.5 shares in the merged company for everyone that you hold. if you are a shareholder of daum

, it is about one to one. if you don't like the deal, you will receive about 110 u.s. dollars for every kakao share you hold. youru are holding daum, payout will be 71 u.s. dollars. these companies are looking to perhaps complete this merger this week by september of this year. >> what does each one get out of this? >> kakao we have seen a lot of these mergers. facebook and whatsapp. rakuten is in there as well. for them, it gives them another platform. , that benefitsm them more at least on paper. it will be a good boost. they have been having trouble competing with a larger competitor. dropping on this news in south korea. more importantly, if you do the

math -- we are waiting for kakao -- it works out to a value of 2.2 billion u.s. dollars. that is on your screen, the second one right there. and, it isare tame -- entertainment, it is seeing a boost of 12%. will have to see whether or not this merger actually complies with rules on backdoor listings. will be, both companies holding a joint press conference to talk about this further, why they chose to do this. >> david, many thanks indeed. >> now to thailand. it is 10:30 a.m. in bangkok where military leader's rx acted to name an interim prime minister.

will it quell rising tensions in the streets? zeb eckert is watching this unfold for us. >> unlikely to quell rising tensions if the new leader of the country doesn't reflect the will of the people in the country. that is the key issue here. this has been fought over for months in thailand. we do have general prayuth chan-ocha heading to the royal command to present his choice for prime minister. this of course needs the blessing of the monarchy in thailand. at the same time, the military commander is expected to be confirmed by the king, and forced in a move that formalizes his status as head of government. a press conference will be held later. to haveprayuth likely and out plans for a legislative counsel as well as a constitution. there are important developments that have happened in the last hour or so. we had the protest leader who

has been leading the charge for the past six months, he was detained over the weekend along with more than 100 others by the military. he has been released today. he was summoned by prosecutors on treason charges. the former prime minister yingluck shinawatra has also been released. it is unclear whether she will effectively be under house arrest, monitored by military police. report, you have the junta, the military leaders saying the thai military court will now have authority to rule in several key provisions of thailand's criminal law, the criminal law that covers freedom of speech as well as violation and speech that offends the monarchy. this is a highly sensitive topic. bottom line, it gives the military increased power to rule above and beyond the court in the country on issues of

majesty. it is a very tricky issue and one that we are going to watch closely. >> let's talk about political reform here. what is the next step for the military government as the situation grows increasingly volatile? >> it is volatile because of the way this coup has unfolded and also the rising stakes here. group ofan emboldened citizens from the countryside who before did not have a voice in the thai capital. have allthose who along had a voice in the halls of power, the bangkok elite as some would say. the royalists, those loyal to the monarchy. they are pitted against one another. we see both sides deeply entrenched. you need to see reform from all sides according to scholars who looked into this issue. both sides of the political equation as well as the military complex.

complex is the only word that can be used to describe this volatile situation. it is likely to get more complex before it gets any easier. zeb eckert, thanks. >> a look at the top stories. what effect will this have on earnings? we are going to find out on tuesday. a jump in jaguar sales. can india's biggest automaker do it again this quarter? analysts forecast an increase in profits. tata reports on thursday. abe is toime minister deliver an address to defense officials from the asia-pacific and the u.s. rising tensions in the south china sea are said to be on the agenda.

japan will also be in the news on friday when they get consumer prices. the data will reflect the impact of the sales tax rise that came into effect at the beginning of april. economists are expecting prices to gain more than 3% on the year. the spotlight is on pfizer. the deadline for their offer set today. how will the u.s. market react? bloomberg's su keenan takes a look at what to expect this week. >> the week ahead on wall street is going to be a holiday shortened week due to the fact markets are closed on monday to observe memorial day. thebig question, can three-day rally that drove the s&p to a new closing high on friday continue? freshl continue to get earnings and a new round of economic data including the latest read on gdp. economists predict the u.s.

economy probably shrank in the last quarter for the first time in three weeks. we also get the latest data on rising home prices. the pace ofdict rising prices has possibly cooled. a showdown in the deal space will take place later in the week. pfizer faces a deadline for its $117 billion bid, its final offer for british pharmaceutical company astrazeneca. analysts say it is unlikely astrazeneca will extend the deadline. astrazeneca's biggest shareholder, black rock, has urged the company to talk to the drugmaker. on friday we will get the latest read on consumer confidence. economists predict it is little changed. we will find out the latest on u.s. personal spending which economists forecast slightly rose. su keenan, bloomberg. >> coming up, the growing anger

on the streets of thailand. the army has won the king's approval. criticism is building. we will look at that and the other leading stories of the day when "asia edge" returns. ♪

>> will come back. joining me and john r andrew davis, zeb and our guest. about thailand and all of the rumblings that are going on this weekend. you are not allowed to convene more than five people and yet we saw more than five people hit the streets. let's start with the latest breaking. what are you hearing out of our bangkok office? >> there had been talk that the military achieved was going to name a prime minister today.

now we are hearing that may not happen. the speech may not even happen. there is a chance we will get a press conference after the meeting with the king. everything else seems to be up in the air. i assume he is not ready. >> he is not ready or he is he starting to feel the pressure? said, youly, like you weren't allowed to have more than five people gather. we saw hundreds if not more than 1000 gather. in the early days of this coup, things are pretty tense. >> the interesting thing is the words being used. not aggressive, but certainly strong in language. >> it is an army to. >> unlike other army coups, this one has been more --

>> i think it is striking that this time the monarchy is being challenged. it sounds to me like it is a good old-fashioned power struggle. is not against the king but certainly against prayuth. this is what i find quite a paradigm shift to what we have seen before. these coups happened and they were taken, not laying down, but at least peace returned in some form or another. this time it looks to be a long hot summer. >> you have the situation where there appears to be the possibility of division within the royal family itself every get -- itself. prince seems to be more sympathetic to the redshirts. we are going to have to see how that plays out. prince with his

lifestyle, etc. >> that has been long-running. if you look at the news that just came out, the military has said it is going to assume control of the adjudication and the doling out of penalties for sections 107 to 112 under thai criminal law. the laws that govern violations of speech against the monarchy. incorporating that from the civilian court tells you what is at stake here. the mindset of all of thailand, whichever side you are on, the king is so revered that anytime he speaks, it really is huge. but he is 84. he is in firm, he is not well.

even to speak of that is a little nerve-racking for people. >> it is pretty frightening to think of the military tribunal. >> that is exactly what is going to happen. the military courts will now handle this issue. it is an extremely sensitive issue, so sensitive that you can be held liable in another country. we have to be sensitive. >> i would just add onto that that i am not so sure there is such a thing as the military anymore either. i think there is going to be a read-yellow split. prayuth is fighting not only the outside protesters, the redshirts, but also within his military. i am not so sure. it is again this paradigm shift that i find -- we have the luxury of looking at it in a fascinating fashion. it is pretty deadly down there.

is the feeling to just pull out investment in thailand? >> this is pullout time. there are so many other markets around, opportunities around. fund managers do have a fiduciary responsibility. they can't just punt around in these markets. in my mind, you are going to find what we had in india last year, people pulling massive money out. >> where are you going to go? look at europe, they just had elections. let's just say the eurosceptics seem to rule the day here. >> yes, that is good. andrew was the madrid and rome bureau chief. you missed the story. >> i miss it in the sense i'm not there. italy, the anti-european forces did not do well it appears. it is very surprising because

they have been on the march in national polls. that was a real surprise to me. i thought they would do better. u.k., france, germany, some real anti-european forces coming in. the european parliament doesn't have a lot of executive power. it is probably going to prove embarrassing for the europeans. it is not good news for them. >> do you think that changes strategy for you? >> you mean in terms of home? the fund manager? at europe andok the eurosceptics are now firmly in charge, is there going to be a european union if this momentum, this political will of the people, continues? of statusee a fissure quo? >> no, because i think they all want the money.

they want the common agricultural policy. .hey want germany's dole out world war ii guilt still going on to this day in my mind. i think the war is over with. germans have apologized. nothing justifies -- it is over with, it is done. >> you still think the germans are trying to save europe because of that? >> there is a huge guilt complex still. contrary to the japanese, who have not even gone one little step of apologizing, the germans hog in doingle this. i want to add just one point. i think what needs shaking up separately is brussels. i don't know whether this rightist swing is going to cause brussels to get a shakeup. that is all cloaked in the

history of corruption there. >> i think there will be a lot more pressure on brussels. we saw last year when they were coming up with the budget that the u.k. skeptics have a lot of sway. they have become more accountable and more transparent. i think we are going to see that process continue. they need to address this discontent. the man on the street really feels it and looks at europe and sees it coming from brussels and berlin. it is creating a lot of ill sentiment. whether it is justified or not, it is pretty negative. >> all right, andrew davis. and you too, john. thank you, everybody. right, still a lot to come on the show. >> we are going to find out why basketball player yao ming may go back to the nba. stay with "asia edge."

♪

>> retired basketball star gal manning may be heading -- yao m ing may be heading back to the nba. he told ouring -- china correspondent that anything is possible. >> how does the china clipper's sound? there was a pan am service by that name, but as for yao ming possibly buying the l.a. clippers, the former nba star all-star says there is nothing substantial to the rumors but he added that in this globalized sporting world, anything is possible. that is true too for these beijing kids who completed the first-ever semester at yao school that teaches not only

dribbling my and jump shots but also teamwork to what some say is a more self-centered generation of kids known as little emperors. including myself, an only child of the family surrounded by parents, grandparent -- >> don't take offense, but why are you doing this? why haven't you just taken your riches and gone off like so many others in society? why are you doing this? >> that's a boring life you just talked about. i learned so much from basketball. i learned how to talk to people, how to approach people and how to be honest with other people. that is the key.

>> he takes kids on a one-on-one basis. you see him get down on his knees. you have to when they are very young. he chats with them and really wants to leave a mark. >> as does the nba in china. china's ceo announcing the nba is now a shoemaker. unveiling saturday a new nba branded sneaker just for china. >> china is just basketball crazy. the greatest challenge for us, keeping up with demand. >> china is a big part of the nba business. justin merchandise and television rights. >> the nba has also partnered with china's domestic league to run a more elite training center. teams -- teens pay $6,000 a year for the boarding school. >> it is going to be beneficial for the nba if we can get

another chinese player or more into the nba. it certainly won't be this middle-aged american with a crooked shot. >> can you make my jump shot better? i have what is called a crooked j. nba and yaor the ming's possible bid to own the clippers may be long shots. wait for it. i will say it again. so was the nba, a long shot when it first entered china 30 years ago. stephen engle, bloomberg. >> that was pretty impressive. >> that was take 20. [laughter] that was stephen engle doing some pretty impressive moves. >> pretty impressive.

>> did you ever play? i played defense in high school. i could never do that half-court shot. all right, let's take a look at the markets in this region. we have got hong kong under pressure right now. we are seeing some pick up here. they are in for some fine tuning of the chinese economy. >> pressure on the prime minister to come out with the third arrow. his words were to implement swiftly. overall, we are seeing a pickup in asian markets. 200, 0.25% down. new zealand as well. across the region, a mixed picture. broadly speaking, asian stocks are rising. >> volumes are quite low.

thailand, those up 0.8%. >> kicking off a new trading week after two straight weeks of gains. >> have a good day. ♪

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