Showing 21 - 30 of 332
Leadership changes in the Indo-Pacific
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 07/06/2022
» New leaders in the Indo-Pacific region -- Australia, South Korea and the Philippines -- will significantly impact the future trajectory of US-China relations. Their policy shifts, even nuances, could either moderate or harden the two powers' strategic rivalries.
Election-related agencies need overhaul
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/06/2022
» In any respectable democratic system, a winning poll candidate who secured an overall majority of electoral support would take office with the earliest effect. Not in Thailand. When Chadchart Sittipunt trounced 29 rivals by gathering 1.38 million or 51% of the votes cast in Bangkok's gubernatorial election on May 22, the capital's electorate had to hold their breath in suspense to see whether and when the Election Commission (EC) would validate his runaway victory.
Blast from the past Thaksin eyes power
Oped, Chairith Yonpiam, Published on 12/03/2022
» As Thai politics is about to take another turn, with the next election on the horizon, fugitive ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is making a stir by vowing to stage a comeback.
Thai politics' murky tunnel to nowhere
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/01/2022
» Starting out a new year should engender a sense of hope and optimism that tomorrow can be better than yesterday. But the reality in Thailand suggests otherwise. A sense of prolonged malaise and discontent pervades the scene, where politics will likely prove murky with an economy persistently in the doldrums, underpinned by continuing societal divisions and broad-based unhappiness. Unless drastic changes and reforms take place very soon, this year is likely to further solidify the onset of a decade of decay and stagnation.
Censure debate is govt's toughest test yet
Oped, Chairith Yonpiam, Published on 28/08/2021
» The forthcoming no-confidence debate is set to be the toughest challenge posed by the opposition bloc against the Prayut Chan-o-cha government.
Meritocracy in govt required
Oped, Editorial, Published on 21/08/2021
» The appointment of Boonchob Sutthamanassawong, chief inspector-general at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE), to the top position at the Labour Ministry has raised eyebrows. Some observers believe that this appointment is another political manoeuvre to enable the Prayut Chan-o-cha government to maintain the upper hand in the next elections.
Anti-govt protesters must avoid violence
Oped, Chairith Yonpiam, Published on 14/08/2021
» Thailand has witnessed a rise of violence in a series of clashes over the past weeks between anti-Prayut Chan-o-cha government protesters and riot control police that have resulted in injuries on both sides.
'Penguin' dares to dream of better things
Oped, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 03/05/2021
» I have met political activist Parit "Penguin" Chiwarak twice in my career as a journalist. The first was five years ago when Parit was a precocious high school student at Triam Udom Suksa, a well-known high school in Bangkok. At that time, he had launched a campaign against the Thai education system that teaches students to be submissive.
In our politics, time really can stand still
Oped, Chairith Yonpiam, Published on 13/02/2021
» A number of political developments, ie the waning pro-reform movement and the major loss of the Move Forward Party in local elections, may have given the Prayut Chan-o-cha government and the Palang Pracharath Party such a false sense of confidence that they feel they can now move to delay the process of rewriting the constitution.
New charter may not be democratic
News, Chairith Yonpiam, Published on 10/12/2020
» Today marks Thailand's Constitution Day, arguably one of the most forgotten political dates in national history.