Showing 1 - 10 of 26
After balloon saga, can China and US re-engage?
News, Published on 14/02/2023
» When US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this month called off his trip to Beijing, he chose his words carefully. China's launch of a spy balloon on a high-altitude journey over the United States was unacceptable and irresponsible, he said, but he was postponing -- not cancelling -- his visit.
US-Thai ties warming up
News, Editorial, Published on 03/07/2017
» The official visit to Washington by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is rapidly gaining in importance. The original political analysis had it that President Donald Trump was talking off the top of his head in April when he invited the premier during a phone call. It now is clear something quite different is in the works. The White House and the US State Department are switching off the Barack Obama administration's hostility to the coup regime.
Speaking out on Myanmar
News, Editorial, Published on 06/12/2016
» The unacceptable and growing violence along with the political fallout in western Myanmar has finally attracted important, outside attention. The United States has lifted more of the sanctions it imposed during the dictatorship years, but issued a strong warning about the Rakhine problem. Inside Asean, Malaysia has also gone fully public on Myanmar's problem. Prime Minister Najib Razak has led public protests against the Myanmar government's policies.
Thai diplomacy caught between two lovers
News, Published on 07/01/2016
» The past year was a tale of diplomatic angst and ambiguity for Thailand. On the one hand the kingdom's relationship with the United States, and Western nations in general, reached a nadir because of the military government's slow pace of reform and delayed timetable for elections. On the other hand, Thailand was wooed intensively by China, eager to forge closer strategic ties using sizeable infrastructure investments as sweeteners.
Workers' woes
News, Postbag, Published on 19/12/2015
» I read all the “hopes, woes and concerns” expressed by US envoy Daniel Russel (BP, Dec 17), and I am quite sure that government officials also did and are, in fact, seeking to right all that can be seen to be wrong. There is a threat here, that failure to act will mean that "provisos" will be enacted until we agree with what our Yankee "friends" tell us to do.
America's estrangement from Thailand
News, Nicholas Borroz, Published on 18/09/2015
» The American public increasingly thinks of Thailand as unstable, a perception fueled by official criticism of Thailand's politics. Although this criticism is partially driven by developments in Thailand, it is also a result of uncoordinated and reactionary foreign policy.
US scorn for coup gives opening for China
News, Published on 10/03/2015
» Throughout US global wars against communism, drugs and terrorism, Thailand has been an indispensable strategic partner. But a sharp deterioration in ties became evident in January when Thailand's Foreign Ministry summoned the top US diplomat in Bangkok to register its displeasure over the State Department's critical comments about the country's military rule.
The big issue: Swaying bamboo
Alan Dawson, Published on 01/03/2015
» Pisan Manawapat has one general job and one specific job in his new role as Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the United States of America. Both could serve as plots for Mission Impossible, although a Hollywood happy ending is not assured.
Are US-Thai relations losing their warmth?
News, Published on 28/02/2015
» US-Thai relations have been frosty since the May 22, 2014 ousting of the Yingluck Shinawatra government and that chill deepened after the January visit of Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel.
Thailand should steadfastly reject 'the China model'
News, Songkran Grachangnetara, Published on 25/02/2015
» Thailand is now becoming increasingly isolated by the West. We have effectively been subjected to a "democracy downgrade", which has pushed us ever closer into the sinister embrace of Asia's only superpower, China. Thailand continues to do what we do best, play one side off against the other. But recent overtures to China by the junta and the unrestrained lauding of what is termed "the China model" as a suitable system of government for Thailand, have made me sick to my stomach.