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  • News & article

    Global disarray as institutions falter

    News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 17/08/2015

    » The international system as we know it is unravelling. Rules and institutions that were set up seven decades ago no longer hold the same weight and authority as they used to. As we grapple with an exacerbating global disorder, established powers and players and old rules and institutions need to be revamped and reinvented to accommodate new realities. Otherwise global tensions will mount, most probably accompanied by confrontation and conflict.

  • News & article

    Geoeconomics of the US-China tech war

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 16/09/2022

    » Chinese President Xi Jinping's arrival in Central Asia this week in his first overseas travel in nearly three years is perhaps the most consequential irony of the coronavirus pandemic. As the place where the deadly pandemic began in early 2020, China was the first to swiftly and successfully suppress and contain Covid-19 within weeks, while its counterparts in North America and Europe languished for months under mounting death tolls and hospitalisations.

  • News & article

    The UK moves into a tougher new world

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/09/2021

    » The United Kingdom is on the move. From the "Brexit" referendum result more than five years ago to the recent launch of the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (Aukus) trilateral security partnership, it is unmistakeable that the post-World War II rules-based liberal international order is coming under increasing strain. As the global order unravels, the UK is facing a brave new world that requires calling up its inner strength in ways not seen since its finest battle against tyranny and aggression some 80 years ago. And there are reasons to think the UK will do better than its critics and detractors suggest.

  • News & article

    Asean lags behind Myanmar curve

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/08/2021

    » The more it tries to catch up on Myanmar's post-coup crisis, the more Asean falls behind. Since Myanmar's military takeover on Feb 1, Asean has spent nearly the first three months getting its act together for a "special summit" and a "five-point consensus" on April 24 and then more than another three months to meekly implement the agreement. In the event, the appointment of Brunei's Second Foreign Minister Erywan bin Mohd Yusof as the Asean envoy to promote dialogue and humanitarian assistance in Myanmar is likely to prove too little, too late for what has been desperately needed on the ground.

  • News & article

    Govt must take vaccine responsibility

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 23/07/2021

    » After more than six months of virus policy bungles, vaccine shortages and repeated denials, senior public health officials at last have admitted their mistakes and apologised to the public. But these apologies came with attachments and excuses that fall short of owning up squarely to the pandemic calamity that is besetting Thailand. Worse, the ultimate decision-makers in charge, from Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, have been nowhere to be seen. The Prayut government has yet to take full responsibility for Thailand’s pandemic mismanagement that is claiming hundreds of lives with many thousands more infected and untold hardship across the country.

  • News & article

    Correcting the pandemic policy tack

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 30/07/2021

    » That Thailand's coronavirus pandemic has been grossly mismanaged is self-evident. Infection rates have soared to new highs this month while vaccine availability and access remain shoddy and abysmal. The overstretched healthcare system is creaking under growing demand, while several scenes so far of Covid-afflicted people being left to die on the streets have shaken the country's collective morale and elicited soul-searching questions about how Thailand has managed to reach this dire juncture.

  • News & article

    Govt ducks Asean Myanmar challenge

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 23/04/2021

    » Asean's highly anticipated "special" summit tomorrow in Jakarta on Myanmar's crisis can be declared moot on arrival. What goes into it is likely more telling that what will come out of it. Nearly three months and more than 730 civilian deaths after Myanmar's military coup on Feb 1, Asean is still unable to address its rogue member state's atrocities against its own people. The summit attendance foretells trends and dynamics of what might come next in Myanmar's fast-moving and deadly events on the ground and how they will shape regional responses and global concerns.

  • News & article

    The global politics of virus vaccines

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 11/09/2020

    » It is clear now that Thailand's de facto strategy for handling the coronavirus pandemic is to minimise local infections and wait for a safe and effective vaccine. The recent discovery of just one Thai in a Bangkok suburb who tested positive sent the country into near-panic mode after 100 days of zero local transmissions, similar to the case of an Egyptian military official who visited Rayong province in July and tested positive thereafter.

  • News & article

    Covid success coming at a heavy price

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 17/07/2020

    » It was a matter of time before the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha became a victim of its own misguided success in handling the coronavirus pandemic. By presiding over a public mindset of "zero" local virus infections, the government raised unrealistic expectations at a high price. The fiasco that transpired in Rayong last week, when an infected Egyptian air force official was allowed to roam in a shopping mall and thereby fuelled fears of "second wave" infections, should serve as a wake-up call for an overdue change in virus-fighting strategy.

  • News & article

    Geoeconomic implications of Covid-19

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/06/2020

    » The longer the coronavirus pandemic wends its way around the world, the more it takes on permanent features. As case infections still persist virulently, especially in the US, Brazil, Russia and India, states, societies and individuals are being forced to make adjustments. There will be winners and losers in the geoeconomic competition for market shares and supply chains. Those with more effective public health systems will stand in good stead with opportunities to re-emerge less scathed and better positioned to carry on, whereas others with less adequate health infrastructure will face more risks and disadvantages. For the first time in generations, health security has become the main determinant in the fate of nations and peoples.

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