Showing 51 - 60 of 91
Flood response needs overhaul
News, Editorial, Published on 13/10/2019
» Nearly two months after storm-induced floods hit Ubon Ratchathani and other northeastern provinces, the state has sluggishly offered help to those who have suffered from a disaster said to be the most serious in almost two decades.
Keep the central bank politics-free
News, Editorial, Published on 11/08/2019
» A clash of ideas between the government and the central bank which inevitably leads to a blame game often paints a picture of the critical economic situation. This time is no different.
Please, please mind the gap
News, Editorial, Published on 07/05/2019
» In a bid to strengthen the economy, the regime led by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha issued a 21.9-billion-baht economic stimulus package late last month that contains measures covering various sectors.
Liberalisation voices grow
News, Editorial, Published on 29/04/2019
» The marijuana expo that took place last weekend in Buri Ram proves that there is a rising demand for liberalisation of cannabis in Thailand.
Tackling the 'lone wolves'
News, Editorial, Published on 18/03/2019
» The worst massacre of innocents in eight years occurred in peaceful Christchurch on Friday. In a 36-minute orgy in two separate mosques, 50 people were shot dead. A definitely demented but functioning man created an unwatchable Facebook video as he killed from close range. Heroes emerged from the mosque mats and in police ranks, but the worst of the killer's work was done.
Patients deserve better
News, Editorial, Published on 28/12/2018
» The government's plan to put medical supplies and medical service charges on the state price control list in order to deal with price gouging is a long-overdue effort that should be completed in no time.
Inequality exposed
News, Editorial, Published on 10/12/2018
» The economy expert Banyong Pongpanich was studying recent statistics last week when he made an interesting discovery. Based on figures reported in the latest annual Global Wealth Databook by Credit Suisse (CS), the inequality gap in Thailand has become the worst in the world. The figure represents national assets held and controlled by a nation's richest 1%, compared with the other 99%. In Thailand, that 1% is about 500,000, compared with the 50 million Thais of working ages.
End bans on free speech
News, Editorial, Published on 21/11/2018
» Three months away from a possible election, the ban on political activities and basic freedoms is truly a mystery. There seems no logical reason to continue the bans. They were imposed by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) in the wake of the May 22, 2014, coup. They were regularised by formal edict early in 2015. The army-controlled junta continues to state it will not lift the bans "yet" and refuses to state an ending date.
Net freedom on the wane
Oped, Editorial, Published on 07/11/2018
» The future of the internet just 20 years ago could not have been rosier. When Thailand logged on, the technology promised and delivered instant communications. Beyond that, the gains are diminishing. The freedom to use the undoubted power of the technological revolution is diminishing. Huge companies and Big Government have inflicted new controls and censorship that were unthinkable in the days of "old media". And the new controls and barriers to internet freedom are multiplying faster than basic access to the internet.
Time to lift rights bans
News, Editorial, Published on 17/09/2018
» The best thing that can be said about last week's action by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) is that the all-male group understands it has created a problem. It has returned to the public a tiny bit of the civil and human rights it removed 52 months ago. On Friday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha used his extraordinary powers under Section 44 to give some small but important freedoms to political parties. While the order restores the right to organise party affairs, it falls lamentably short of restoring basic and constitutional rights to all Thais.