Showing 1 - 4 of 4
Let Thai electorate be referendum winners
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 12/08/2016
» Amidst the wide-ranging fallout from Thailand's second-ever referendum results, one clear outcome that should not be downplayed and marginalised is that Thai voters have more or less collectively spoken yet again. Their preference this time is to approve a military-inspired constitution that codifies longer-term military supervision of Thai politics. This sobering reality from Thai voters is not music to pro-democracy ears but it must be heeded.
Language is way forward in deep South
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/07/2015
» In multi-ethnic and multi-cultural societies, language is about more than communication. It is about recognition and accommodation, power and power-sharing. When society fosters power-sharing and forges compromise and consensus to underpin societal cohesion and achieve relative peace at home, the role of official and national languages can be powerful and paramount.
Thailand risks becoming a train wreck
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 28/02/2014
» Most countries are unhappy in different ways but none is shooting itself in the foot more than Thailand. From Ukraine and Venezuela to Turkey, societies across continents are beset by social unrest and civil strife. What sets Thailand apart is that it has so much going for it, well endowed at home with immense goodwill from abroad. The Thai crisis is becoming a tragic train wreck and unfolding in destructive ways that few seem able to do much about, as both sides dig in for the long haul.
Bringing insurgency to an end will be a long, hard slog
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 01/03/2013
» The media hype in Bangkok surrounding Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's recent meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Putrajaya sounded as if peace was at hand in Thailand's restive southernmost border provinces where a deadly Malay-Muslim insurgency has festered for almost a decade.