Showing 21 - 30 of 39
Five-star salaries too fat
News, Editorial, Published on 17/11/2018
» In a move that has perplexed many, the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA) yesterday approved in principle a bill that aims to "legalise" the fat pay cheques of generals, admirals and air chief marshals who have been awarded the "special" five-star rank in the military.
Defending the indefensible
News, Editorial, Published on 19/09/2018
» The conversion of Aung San Suu Kyi from human rights champion to defender of military violence has been painful to watch. The Myanmar leader capped her change last week. At a UN-sponsored conference in Hanoi, she sloughed off questions about the brutal expulsion of 700,000 Rohingya, who now are refugees. Shockingly, she defended the imprisonment of two Myanmar reporters by praising a law written by colonialists to intimidate and punish her own country's citizens.
Police stifle free speech
News, Editorial, Published on 13/09/2018
» It has happened again. the Thai police have forced the cancellation of a public forum by citing concerns over security, which is a broad and dubious term.
Stop press intimidation
News, Editorial, Published on 02/01/2018
» The Thai Journalists Association wound up the year by issuing a depressing statement. It rated 2017 as yet another year where the free press was regulated and intimidated by the military government. The TJA said the regime hinders the media by restricting freedom of expression. And it says this causes public harm by not allowing examination and by barring criticism of the junta, collectively and individually.
Time to listen in South
News, Editorial, Published on 28/11/2017
» The new-look government under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has travelled to the deep South for a mobile cabinet meeting which is scheduled to take place today in Songkhla, the first time in recent memory that the entire cabinet will be in the southernmost region.
Food safety must get top priority
News, Editorial, Published on 26/11/2017
» News reports that over 60% of samples of popular vegetable and fruits taken at shopping malls and markets are contaminated with pesticides -- some are highly toxic farm chemicals banned in several countries -- are too hard to swallow. It merely shows a failure of the state, despite an ambition to become the kitchen of the world, to come up with and implement measures to ensure food safety, and the dilemma for customers who have limited options to live healthy lifestyles.
Protect the gaur
News, Editorial, Published on 15/11/2017
» The killings of three rare, wild gaur in Nakhon Ratchasima raise two concerns that should command swift and high-level action. Local police in Wang Nam Khieo district immediately began investigating the shootings. Provincial governor Wichian Chantharanothai actively entered the picture, a distinct step in the right direction. Important issues are at stake, apart from the obvious killing of protected animals.
Come clean on Yingluck
News, Editorial, Published on 12/09/2017
» The official version of the "great escape" by ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra is coming apart. More importantly, the public is rapidly losing confidence in the government's ability to reconstruct what occurred -- or concoct a credible account.
Don't rush Thai-Sino rail
News, Editorial, Published on 15/06/2017
» The Prayut Chan-o-cha government is set to use Section 44 to speed up the Thai-Sino railway project which is behind schedule due to legal and technical reasons.
Myanmar abuses rights
News, Editorial, Published on 15/11/2016
» The Myanmar government in recent weeks and days has either lost the plot or lost control. There seems no possible third explanation. The two most egregious events have been a vicious and murderous military offensive in western Rakhine state and a media crackdown of a type not seen since the dreadful days of Slorc rule. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has gone missing on the political front, while neighbours and friends are losing faith in her government.