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  • OPINION

    Thailand's tale told via 'The Nation'

    News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 28/06/2019

    » Nearly five decades ago, The Nation newspaper started out as a pro-democracy, anti-military news organisation. It was fiercely independent and invariably hard-hitting vis-à-vis the powers-that-be. An English-language newspaper owned by Thais from the outset, it prided itself for having neither fear nor favour. Its lamentable expiry as a print newspaper today -- an online version will continue -- provides multiple parallels for Thailand's contemporary political history, ongoing polarisation and the changing nature of the business of journalism worldwide.

  • OPINION

    Thailand's murky jab considerations

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 08/01/2021

    » Thailand is off to an unpromising start in 2021. As the global coronavirus pandemic rolls into its second year, much of the country is gripped by a new wave of Covid-19 infections after nearly nine months of minimal cases. As case numbers have more than doubled in recent days, the fresh wave has revealed the gross incompetence and corruption among Thai authorities. More alarmingly, while other countries are seeing light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel with expanding vaccination, Thai people's vaccine accessibility and affordability appear murky.

  • OPINION

    Reforms need broadening of the agenda

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 25/09/2020

    » Thailand's student-led protest movement for overdue political change and reforms has reached a crucial juncture. In the aftermath of its most recent demonstration on Sept 19 at Sanam Luang public ground and open field in front of the Grand Palace in Bangkok's old town, the protest agenda can be seen as either zooming in directly on monarchical reform or emanating more from the side and down below on broader institutional changes that include the monarchy.

  • OPINION

    Where to start Thai reform and change?

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 02/10/2020

    » In Thailand's new era under a new reign, reform and change can hardly be formulated and implemented fast enough because much of what ails the country has been suppressed and swept under the rug for years. The most consequential question now is not whether Thailand needs to change but where to start. Getting the starting point wrong will end up causing more grief and pain after so much suffering that has already transpired.

  • OPINION

    Thai education reform is top priority

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/10/2020

    » Of the myriad reforms that have been demanded by the ongoing student-led protests, Thailand's deficient and outdated education system is second to none. Education reform has become a self-contained and separate agenda for change. Thai students across the country, particularly in high schools, have been awakened and angry at the fact that they have been kept in the dark and cloistered in a state-imposed mind bubble for so long. Unless it is answered, this awakening and anger is likely to galvanise more protests and point to broader changes that have been pent up for decades.

  • OPINION

    Thai political order being contested

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 21/08/2020

    » It has happened every time in contemporary Thai politics since the 1970s. When genuine dissent takes place against the established political order, incumbent centres of power strike back with all the means at their disposal. Each time in the past, they prevailed. This time, as political storm clouds gather again, similar campaigns and tactics are in motion to suppress dissent. Yet the final outcome may be profoundly different compared to the past.

  • OPINION

    Why Thai student movement can't exist

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 28/08/2020

    » Thailand's new round of political confrontation in the 21st century -- the first under a new reign -- is showing signs of déjà vu with fundamentally different dynamics. Earlier rounds of the Thai drama from 2005 to 2014 went through three major acts, each beginning with an election, followed by a problematic government and street demonstrations, ending with military or judicial interventions. Even though its electoral allies lost in these three polls, the pro-establishment side won each time it went onto the streets citing the monarchy as legitimacy and moral authority.

  • OPINION

    Youth movement has staying power

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/08/2020

    » As Thailand's youth movement for political change gathers momentum, it has already shown unprecedented trends and patterns. Moving forward, the conservative forces who oppose change and reform will likely train their sights on these young demonstrators to deny and derail them through manipulation and coercion. But this youth movement is unlikely to stop without a fight. These young men and women of high school and university age are here to stay for the long haul because their collective future, not just the ideology and ideals they espouse, is at stake.

  • OPINION

    Give Thai youth movement a chance

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/07/2020

    » The coronavirus reprieve for the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is ironically over as Thailand's youth movement for political change has resumed in earnest.

  • OPINION

    Domestic drivers of superpower rivalry

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 10/07/2020

    » The coronavirus pandemic is fundamentally global but its impact is mainly local because of the international system of state sovereignty, borders and divergent national interests. What is needed to cope with, contain and overcome the pandemic is more international cooperation and coordination. But we are seeing less international efforts to fight the virus together and more self-help where every nation fends for itself. The upshot from this fractured and fragmented international system during Covid-19 is the primacy of domestic determinants of international outcomes. Nowhere is this reality clearer than the competition and confrontation between the United States and China.

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