Showing 1 - 10 of 13
No-confidence and poll date in flux
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 14/11/2025
» Amid the drumbeats of military conflict with Cambodia, Thailand's political environment is evidently unruly and unsettled. The minority government of Anutin Charnvirakul, the third prime minister from the third largest-winning party since the latest national election in May 2023, is hard-pressed to stay in office beyond the four-month "Memorandum of Agreement" between his Bhumjaithai Party (BJT) and the People's Party (PP), the largest camp in the national assembly.
'Scam-gate' deserves full accounting
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/10/2025
» The explosive revelations and allegations of regional cybercrimes and scam networks have hit Thailand head-on and placed the government of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in an awkward and defensive position. As more facts surrounding what looks like a labyrinthine cross-border multibillion-dollar transnational criminal ring come to light, more questions have surfaced with no clear answers. The Anutin government needs to come clean and avoid a "scam-gate" of cover-ups and lies at the expense of countless scammed victims across many countries.
Smart geopolitics starts on home front
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 21/02/2025
» According to a longstanding axiom, all politics is local. If so, then smart and crafty geopolitics must start at home with sufficient domestic political stability and consensus about how the country should navigate what is increasingly a turbulent geostrategic chessboard. Put this way, few countries can appreciate the intersection of geopolitics and domestic politics more than Thailand. Its rocky and volatile home front over the past two decades continues to impede and constrain its geostrategic projection.
Thai political legitimacy in question
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 28/07/2023
» The ongoing distortion of election results and systematic subversion of the popular will in Thai politics raise questions of political legitimacy at home and abroad. By all accounts, the combined victory of the opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) and Pheu Thai appears unlikely to lead to their formation of a government. While many voters feel shortchanged by the power plays behind the scenes, what is happening to the MFP should behove the international community to draw a red line across which the eventual government outcome cannot be deemed democratically legitimate and credible in reflection of voter preferences.
Our custodial democracy on display
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 21/07/2023
» After a watershed election and a clear message from voters for change, the integrity of Thailand's democratic system has come into question. It turns out that election results are only necessary but not sufficient to form a government and run this country.
Capital poll portends Thailand's rule
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 20/05/2022
» Never has Bangkok's gubernatorial contest been so much about Thailand. The poll this Sunday is not just about how Bangkok will be run but how Thailand will be ruled. Beyond the usual grievances and issues that traditionally hang over Bangkokians' lives and livelihoods are larger forces at work. Whoever comes out on top will have much to say about the bigger national election that has to be held by this time next year.
Myanmar military fails sovereignty test
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 04/02/2022
» After seizing power from an elected civilian government on Feb 1 last year, Myanmar's military junta under the State Administration Council (SAC) has fallen short of the four categories that constitute the definition of a sovereign state.
Is there a jab cover-up in Thailand?
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/07/2021
» It has become common knowledge that Thailand's national vaccine plan is inadequate, full of loopholes, flip-flopping and even worse, and might not be enough to deal with the fluid threat and devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic effectively. But vaccine mismanagement no longer appears to be the root cause of Thailand's Covid-19 trials and tribulations.
Thai political order being contested
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 21/08/2020
» It has happened every time in contemporary Thai politics since the 1970s. When genuine dissent takes place against the established political order, incumbent centres of power strike back with all the means at their disposal. Each time in the past, they prevailed. This time, as political storm clouds gather again, similar campaigns and tactics are in motion to suppress dissent. Yet the final outcome may be profoundly different compared to the past.
Thai justice system overhaul overdue
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 31/07/2020
» Thailand's current talk of the country is undoubtedly the scandal centring on Red Bull scion Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya for the 2012 hit-and-run resulting in the gruesome death of a policeman on a motorcycle.