Showing 1 - 10 of 157
Kicking learning issues down the road
Oped, Published on 31/05/2024
» As Thailand and the Education Ministry are trying to improve education -- such as promoting the use of AI, handing out laptops and increasing funds for research, issues that could and should be addressed at primary and secondary schools in Thailand are being avoided, delayed, and increasingly ending up in the lap of tertiary education. This causes problems for lecturers, students and other stakeholders.
Myanmar as interim 'non-state' state
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 01/03/2024
» Myanmar, also known as Burma, has become a de facto state that is dominated by non-state entities. Contrary to facile claims, Myanmar is not a failed state like some that beset parts of Africa and the Middle East. The ethnically diverse country of 55 million still functions despite widespread violence in an ongoing civil war. Unless and until Myanmar is understood and re-conceptualised as an interim state comprising non-state entities, it will be difficult to move forward to remake and reconstitute a new country after the civil war and the passing of the military junta that seized power on Feb 1, 2021, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Teaching firms about public health
Oped, Published on 21/02/2024
» Corporations are increasingly moving into the public health domain. Companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are being "pulled" by market opportunities for non-traditional actors to "disrupt" health care. Others are being "pushed" by the imperative -- highlighted by events like the Covid-19 pandemic -- to act as responsible community stakeholders, such as by helping to address health inequities.
The silver lining of Widodo's big economic miss
News, Daniel Moss, Published on 15/02/2024
» By his own standards, Joko Widodo has fallen well short of a major economic goal during his decade leading Indonesia. Growth has been laudable in a neighbourhood where the pace of expansion is undergoing a long-term slowdown, but nowhere close to the outgoing president's lofty ambitions. That's a pity, because part of Mr Widodo's attraction as a candidate in 2014 was his image as a self-made businessman, an outsider who could nudge the country towards achieving its much-promoted potential.
Time to ease Thai bond market rules
Oped, Published on 14/02/2024
» The Thai bond market, with massive valuations surpassing 16.7 trillion baht as of the end of the third quarter of 2023 and continuous prospective growth, is a crucial mechanism in the capital market and the Thai economy. Net market value could rise by over 386 million baht per year if legal restrictions on bond trading are unlocked.
Financial crisis looms over Thailand
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 25/01/2024
» The definition of an "economic crisis" is much debated in Thailand. This is because one of the requirements for enacting the emergency fiscal borrowing decree is that the economy must be in crisis.
Does the latest Gallup poll tell all?
Oped, Published on 15/12/2023
» A survey of opinion in Cambodia published by Gallup in August shows the impossibility of trying to gauge the views of the public under a dictatorship determined to stamp out any trace of dissent.
Addressing the great debt conundrum
Oped, Published on 30/09/2023
» The exponential growth of international capital flows, predominantly in the form of debt, has been one of the great development successes of the past 50 years. But while foreign lending has played a pivotal role for developing economies, loans are a two-edged sword. When used judiciously, they can generate high returns, boost GDP growth, and improve the well-being of borrower countries. But if debts accumulate and the debt-servicing burden increases without a commensurate increase in repayment capacity, the consequences can be severe and even disastrous.
The Beijing Consensus offers cautionary tale
Oped, Published on 19/09/2023
» For four decades, "Made in China" has been a defining feature of global capitalism. But a wave of disappointing economic news from China has given rise to increasingly gloomy forecasts, with some going so far as to argue that decline is imminent. There has been much speculation about this reversal's implications for the global economy, but what does it mean for development theory?
Asean, Thailand, Myanmar turn page
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 01/08/2023
» The Suu Kyi-Don meeting in Nay Pyi Taw on July 9 has given hope of "a fresh opening" to the political peace process for Myanmar as well as the implementation of the Asean Five-Point Consensus (5PC). At the upcoming Asean-related summits in early September, the 5PC will be reviewed in full with all the updates and outcomes of a myriad of efforts by the Asean chair and other Asean members to recalibrate the Asean 5PC.