Showing 1 - 10 of 15
Full medal jacket
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 10/03/2019
» After the failure of a brief moment of <i>Scum of the Earth</i> intimidation, the generals have gone running to court with their twin packs of green-shirt and government lawyers.
Easy choices made difficult
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 23/12/2018
» Lucius Edward William Plantagenet Cary, aka Lord Falkland, went to his death in the English Civil war, leaving little of note except a rule that could be the official motto of libertarians.
The death of vote-buying
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 25/11/2018
» The government announced a brand new and unexpected Big Welfare Aid Programme (BWAP). Cynics, sceptics, anti-regime critics and even honest people wondered if the sudden decision to help the least-advantaged Thais just possibly has something to do with that other government programme -- so tantalisingly unspecified -- of an election that for the fourth year in a row has been pencilled in for, in the highly familiar phrase used by the general prime minister, "next year".
Digital Tu
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 21/10/2018
» In the week the general prime minister saw Trump's Twitter bet and raised him by 400%, he did something even more political. He stopped the march to enactment of the Cybersecurity Act in its tracks.
Rule of law
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 25/03/2018
» When your main tool is a hammer, the cliche notes well, then after a while, every problem looks like a nail. The general prime minister has wielded a totally personal, custom-made, gold-plated hammer for the past four years, and even has given it a cute nickname.
Peak army
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 29/10/2017
» We have seen Thais come together so many times, but never like that.
The Intimidation Game
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 22/10/2017
» The military government has a propaganda unit. People know this, including reporter-people, which includes us, and editor-people. But they still call the chief manipulator of regime propaganda a "government spokesman". A two-star general whose sole task is to justify military actions without ever admitting an error was possible is also, on all front pages and news broadcasts, a military "spokesman".
The Big Issue: How horrid
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 09/10/2016
» Last month, taxpayers wrote a cheque for 3.3 billion baht when Russia delivered two VIP long-range Sukhoi Superjet 100s. The junta tried to claim they were "transport planes", because carrying important people and their aides is transport, right?
The big issue: One damp thing after another
Alan Dawson, Published on 14/06/2015
» MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra is building his way to a wondrously forgettable year, seemingly determined that if he is fated to fail, he’s going to make it a spectacular show.
The big issue: Sparing country [redacted]
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 14/12/2014
» In 2002, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorism and US military pushback, the CIA opened a secret facility in central Thailand. The agency brought two high-level al-Qaeda operatives, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, to the site and launched a new programme of "enhanced interrogation" techniques on them including physical assault and waterboarding, distressing many US officials.