Showing 1 - 10 of 27
Trump's 'America First' in overdrive
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 23/01/2026
» President Donald Trump's extraterritorial capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife on cocaine-trafficking and terrorism-related charges earlier this month and repeated demand to take over Greenland at the World Economic Forum this week are part and parcel of a belligerent and transformative "America First" paradigm that dates back at least four decades.
Digesting Trump's trip through Asia
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/11/2025
» Storming through Asia last week, US President Donald Trump's first stop in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 26, before moving on to Japan and South Korea over the next four days, capped by his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping before returning to Washington, was the most consequential for Southeast Asian economies.
Thailand's costly political shenanigans
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 22/08/2025
» In a country of 70 million where a handful of men can remove an elected government time and again, there can be no stability and progress, only tension and regression. This is how Thailand can be characterised over the past two decades. It is now going through yet another cycle of heightened political instability with the potential collapse of the government under suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in the footsteps of previous leaders who were similarly ousted by the Constitutional Court.
Trump tariffs sow divisions in Asean
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 02/05/2025
» President Donald Trump's unilateral imposition of tariffs across the United States' economic chessboard poses a critical test for Asean. As the regional organisation of Southeast Asia, Asean has weathered many geopolitical and geoeconomic storms in its 58-year existence, but no adversity like the Trump tariffs. Unless Asean reorganises and regroups, the ten-member body risks further divisions and increasing irrelevance.
Thailand's era of economic stagnation
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 05/07/2024
» After two decades of political instability and turmoil, it was a matter of time before the Thai economy would exhibit signs of distress and desperation. For decades, the Thai economy has proved resilient with an uncanny knack for bouncing back. But Teflon Thailand may have become a thing of the past. Headlines on the Thai economy have been heading south precipitously. Unless fundamental political reforms take place, Thailand will likely enter a period of low and plateaued growth with risks of grinding stagnation.
Thailand's central bank dependence
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 23/02/2024
» To proponents of central bank independence, the ongoing friction between Prime Minister and Finance Minister Srettha Thavisin and Bank of Thailand Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput appears straightforward. The prime minister is putting unwarranted and unfair pressure on the central bank governor to spur the economy by loosening monetary policy and cutting interest rates. Yet, on closer scrutiny, the entrenched politicisation of central banking in Thailand may suggest otherwise. There is more than meets the eye in the politics of interest rate cuts.
Digital wallet should be implemented
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 16/02/2024
» The big debate in Thailand's current economic policy planning is whether the economy is facing a crisis or not. The government of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who doubles as finance minister, has contended that there is an economic crisis in dire need of both monetary policy loosening and fiscal stimulus, particularly the 500-billion-baht digital wallet scheme. The Bank of Thailand, supported by a clique of economists apparently critical of the government's "populist" policy measures, asserts otherwise that an economic recovery is in progress without the need to lower the benchmark repurchase rate.
Japan's dilemmas need bold answers
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/11/2023
» Among the big countries vying for power and influence in the fluid and contentious geostrategic arena, Japan faces the most daunting challenges. Most of the recognised major powers in Asia, from China and India to Indonesia and South Korea, are rising and aspiring for bigger roles and grander objectives, while Japan's place in the global pecking order has been in decline. The last time Japan had to confront such an existential threat to its place in the world may have been in the 1860s when the Western powers shook up and threatened to take over the isolated and inward-looking martial society.
No exit from our democratic future
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 05/05/2023
» As Thailand's much-anticipated poll on May 14 heads into its homestretch, several clear trends and patterns are emerging to suggest that democratisation is making an inexorable comeback in this country, with positive implications for Southeast Asia and beyond. The immediate road ahead in Thai politics will likely still be bumpy, potentially marked by more judicial interventions and electoral manipulation, or even another military takeover, to thwart the people's choices at the poll. But eventually, pro-democracy forces backed by the Thai people's demand for change will come back time and again until there is a rebalanced, representative and reworked constitutional order in place.
Next poll brings highest stakes, risks
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/12/2022
» In the face of the myriad of questions and issues that beset Thai politics in the lead-up to the general election, which must be held by May 7, the biggest facts and dilemmas are not being raised. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is now headed to complete nine years in office, the first five of which were under a military government after he and his cohorts seized power by force in May 2014, and the last four under an elected coalition government enabled by the 2017 constitution crafted by a committee the ruling generals had set up. Moving forward, Thailand risks settling into a prolonged period of economic stagnation and political decay unless there is a qualitative change of government after the poll.