Showing 541 - 550 of 577
Suu Kyi gets it right
News, Editorial, Published on 28/06/2016
» The visit by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week was useful, instructive and certainly a success. Clearly, she considers Thailand a key to her own country's future. She took positive steps and proposed clear advice and policy regarding migrant workers and refugees. At the same time, she was extremely forthright in dealing with the military regime under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Ms Suu Kyi, for the three days she was in Thailand, was business-like and repeatedly got to the point.
Managing expectations
News, Editorial, Published on 23/06/2016
» Myanmar's democracy icon Aung Sang Suu Kyi returns to Thailand Thursday to meet several thousand of her countrymen and women working in Samut Sakhon province's Mahachai district. The last time she visited Myanmar workers in Thailand was in 2012.
Referendum is a mess
News, Editorial, Published on 20/06/2016
» Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has reversed an earlier pledge to stay clear of the debate on the national referendum on the draft constitution. After several weeks of insisting he would let the Election Commission handle the pre-vote phase, the prime minister has now stepped into the fray. His reason for raising the political stakes is the red shirts' attempts to open "fraud centres" that would monitor any attempt to cheat in the referendum. Gen Prayut said the centres would not be tolerated.
Time to face the music
News, Editorial, Published on 18/06/2016
» Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra has been most noticeable for his silence and invisibility as one allegation after another of irregularities rock City Hall.
Singing the voting blues
News, Editorial, Published on 11/06/2016
» The Election Commission (EC) should have done some homework and assessed how people feel about the charter referendum campaign song before insisting on using it.A quick look at an MV of the song, officially titled, Aug 7 referendum to unite hearts and to strengthen democracy, recently posted on YouTube, would give the EC some startling information. While the song was "liked" by 70 people, as many as 804 users "disliked" the song, as of yesterday.
Led into a false sense of stability
News, Editorial, Published on 29/05/2016
» From crisis comes opportunity, as the saying goes. And there is no greater way of seizing an opportunity than controlling the crisis. Savvy and cynical political operatives have learned not only how to exploit troubled times, but how to create them. The model example is arguably Gonzalo "Goni" Sanchez de Lozada's use of US consultancy firm Greenberg Carville Shrum in his 2002 campaign to return from the political wilderness to win a second term as Bolivian president. It was the subject of a documentary about the power of confecting chaos for political gain. "The theme for us is crisis. That's our brand," one of the strategists told the campaign team. "I really think there's a lot of opportunity there."
Signs of unity take root
News, Editorial, Published on 26/05/2016
» It wasn't very much, but it was a start. When the Election Commission invited more than 50 representatives of political parties to the Army Club last week to a forum on the law governing the Aug 7 referendum, the military government blinked.
Open charter up to debate
News, Editorial, Published on 18/05/2016
» The government has issued a public warning to its own officials not to try to convince anyone how to vote on the draft constitution in the Aug 7 referendum. This is prior to the start of a massive campaign by the military regime. Thousands of officials are about to conduct door-to-door, village-to-village explanations of the document. It's a brand new system of disseminating propaganda, and particularly strange in the era of the internet and 100% TV coverage.
China, Taiwan must co-exist
News, Editorial, Published on 17/05/2016
» Beijing officials say that if any crisis occurs between China and Taiwan in the coming weeks and years, it will be Taiwan's fault. That is a little pat, seeing as there is no current crisis at all. But China is either apprehensive or wants to seem worried by Tsai Ing-wen. Her inauguration as Taiwan's first female president will take place on Friday.
Duterte must not skirt law
News, Editorial, Published on 13/05/2016
» Congratulations to the people of the Philippines for turning out in full force to vote in yet another successful election -- a crucial part of their country's democratic process.Campaign attention centred on the controversial Rodrigo Duterte in the presidential race and the prospects of Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr for the vice-presidency. While both races are crucial, they are only part of a general election where Filipinos also chose members of their Senate and House of Representatives, as well as local government representatives. Monday's poll was the fifth since the People's Power Revolution, spearheaded by Corazon Aquino, toppled president Ferdinand Marcos after the controversial 1986 elections.