Showing 1 - 8 of 8
A trade war that is about more than trade
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/08/2018
» The most dangerous risk from the ongoing "trade war" between the United States and China is that it is not fundamentally about trade. With each tit-for-tat escalation and retaliation from both sides, what the world is witnessing is a larger struggle between two grand competitors of the 21st century, underpinned by opposing systems of socioeconomic organisation, values and ideas about global order.
What the rescue of the trapped boys means
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 13/07/2018
» Global news cycles over the past two weeks have been saturated by Thailand's gripping story of 12 boys from a local youth football team and their 25-year-old coach trapped in a labyrinthine and partially submerged cave complex in the Chiang Rai hills in the north of the country. Even after their successful rescue, the story continues.
Thais, their late King and the last goodbye
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 20/10/2017
» Context will be hard to come by this coming week as Thais bid farewell to their late monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and his 70-year reign whose light gave out on Oct 13 last year. There is a mismatch of seeing Thailand today with all of its modernity and cosmopolitanism compared to how the country was shaped and formed in earlier decades. To understand the spectacle and outpouring of grief and respect this week leading to the cremation of King Bhumibol next Thursday, it is instructive to look back at the distance Thailand has travelled from where it began rather than its direction and destination, which are important but for another time.
Implications from a divided America
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 18/11/2016
» In the immediate aftermath of the presidential election outcome in the United States, many Americans are dazed and divided. As Donald Trump has beaten Hillary Clinton against the vast majority of pre-election polls that had forecast otherwise, his supporters are calling it fair and square with a convincing victory in the Electoral College that elects presidents based on the popular vote.
Why the Thai people cry for His Majesty
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 21/10/2016
» While the vast majority of Thais at home and abroad are in a mourning mood, yearning for a bygone past with an emerging angst for what is to come after King Bhumibol Adulyadej's spectacular seven-decade reign, this grief is not universally shared. Not all Thais feel this way. A small minority are relatively indifferent in their reaction to the end of the reign. A smaller fraction may even challenge and oppose what looks like wide and deep grief and sorrow wherever in the world the Thai sphere reaches. This minority should be allowed to hold their beliefs and sentiments without persecution and harassment but they should also pay due respect to others who want to mourn.
17,410,742 Britons versus the world
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 01/07/2016
» Thailand's recent habit of rejecting voter results through denial, manipulation and contrivance is apparently a global phenomenon. When it comes to the United Kingdom's spectacular referendum decision to leave the European Union, popularly known as "Brexit", the court of world public opinion does not like what it sees. Global critics have lamented and opined widely against Brexit voters, who numbered 17,410,742, representing a 51.89% overall majority from nearly a 72% turnout. But in many ways, Brexit may just be the wake-up call that the EU sorely needs. Making the best of Brexit should now be the task at hand rather than its reversal.
Punishment, crime and justice in Thailand
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 04/03/2016
» Thailand's political polarisation knows no bounds. The raging controversy over media personality Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda's criminal conviction is merely the latest manifestation of a morality war being waged in Thai politics over the past decade between the rightful and the righteous for the country's future power and soul. While it does not seem that way on the surface in Sorrayuth's case, closer scrutiny indicates otherwise. The case also instructs us that such polarisation is no good for Thailand, that middle and third ways are still the only pathway out of the country's holding position.
Global disarray as institutions falter
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 17/08/2015
» The international system as we know it is unravelling. Rules and institutions that were set up seven decades ago no longer hold the same weight and authority as they used to. As we grapple with an exacerbating global disorder, established powers and players and old rules and institutions need to be revamped and reinvented to accommodate new realities. Otherwise global tensions will mount, most probably accompanied by confrontation and conflict.