Showing 1 - 10 of 38
Will poll be breakout or more of same?
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/02/2026
» As Thais go to the polls this Sunday, the most consequential question is whether Thailand will finally break out of its debilitating cycle of political instability and economic underperformance that has marked the past two decades. The signs and signals suggest otherwise -- at least not yet.
Domestic drivers of bilateral conflict
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 19/12/2025
» The latest flare-up and intensification of the armed conflict between Thailand and Cambodia should be understood less as a new crisis and more as a resumption of a bilateral clash that erupted in late July.
Anutin's new cabinet is a mixed bag
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/09/2025
» The composition and size of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's 36-member cabinet suggest that he intends to stay in office for as long as possible, clinging to the terms of the government-enabling Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and calling an early election only if circumstances make it unavoidable.
Singapore turns 60 with much to show
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 08/08/2025
» No country turns 60 like Singapore. In a neighbourhood of political dynasties and varying shades of autocracies and flawed democracies, the little island state of six million got lucky with its strongman rule. When he died in 2015, Singapore's patriarchal founder Lee Kuan Yew left a great country behind. This weekend, Singaporeans can take stock of what's gone by and rightly celebrate its milestone with much to show for.
Thai political crisis from border dispute
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 20/06/2025
» The Thai-Cambodian border dispute has turned into a full-blown political crisis in Thailand. Cambodia's former prime minister and Senate President Hun Sen dropped a bombshell in Thai politics by revealing a taped private conversation that is irrevocably compromising to Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and her Pheu Thai party-led coalition government and deeply damaging to Thailand's national interest.
Remembering a journo like no other
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 04/04/2025
» Gwen Robinson was a quintessential journalist who probed for the best scoop and pried for the juiciest gossip, an old-style old hand the likes of which we are unlikely to see again. In the new contentious era of geopolitical conflict and geoeconomic tension underpinned by American economic nationalism, Robinson's journalist craft over more than four decades explaining and linking Asia and the West will be sorely missed.
Indonesia leads Asean into Brics+
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 17/01/2025
» As the new year gets underway with the looming re-inauguration of United States President Donald J Trump, countries and entire regions are having to manoeuvre and realign in view of an accelerated breakdown of the post-Second World War rules-based liberal international order.
Trump's tariff blackmail boosts Brics
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/12/2024
» Even before officially taking office, United States President-elect Donald J Trump is shaking up the international system with drama and fanfare unlike any other major leader in recent memory. His most recent outburst to slap 100% tariffs on the "Brics" countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, as well as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates -- is a case in point. While it will coerce developing economies to think twice about the cost of going their own way, this tariff blackmail and others like it also risk pushing smaller countries away from the US to other rival big powers, particularly China.
Thailand needs middle power ambition
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 18/10/2024
» Having participated in the recent Asean-related summit meetings in Vientiane, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and her team must now work out Thailand's foreign policy priorities and posture. Foreign policy projection peaked around 20 years ago when Thailand was recognised as an emerging regional leader with the potential of a middle power. Since then, foreign policy has been patchy and hostage to polarisation and domestic political volatility. It is time to chart a way forward for Thailand's international standing and role despite ongoing political conflict at home.
Remembering a Southeast Asianist
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/07/2024
» It is not often these days to find scholars of Southeast Asia with exceptional breadth and depth, prescience, and commitment who stick to their creed until the end. In the pantheon of such rare scholars, Benedict O'Gorman Anderson, who died in 2015, would have led the way. James C Scott would be right beside him in a distinctly different fashion.