Showing 1 - 9 of 9
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.
Thai-Cambodian feud is Asean's worst
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 15/08/2025
» The border dispute and consequent military conflict between Cambodia and Thailand in recent weeks have become Asean's worst crisis in its 58 years of existence. Ironically, it was an intra-regional war between Indonesia and Malaysia that gave rise to Asean in 1967, but now an intra-Asean military clash is undermining the Southeast Asian organisation's core reason for being and its main claim to credibility and prominence. Unless Asean, under Malaysia as its rotational chair this year, moves fast to contain the bilateral dispute and reinforce a delicate ceasefire agreement, Southeast Asia will be looked upon increasingly as a region and less as an organisation of member states.
Signs and symptoms of Thai stagnation
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 18/07/2025
» That Thailand is faring poorly in the world is no longer in dispute. Not so long ago, many were in denial and adamant that Thailand could still bring a good game to engage abroad, that "Teflon" Thailand could bounce back. Now, just about all indicators are pointing south. The causes of this country's decline and stagnation are not singular but multifaceted over a two-decade period. As Thailand's situation is likely to worsen before hopes for a better future can arise, it is instructive to start counting the costs.
Asean's Myanmar crisis out of control
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/03/2021
» Myanmar's spiralling post-coup violence and bloodshed has become Asean's existential crisis. It is customary to pin hopes on an Asean way of fudging and nudging the main protagonists into some workable, face-saving compromise to save the day but this time the situation is dire and dark. Unless the 10-member regional organisation can make a difference in halting Myanmar's descent into uncontrollable violence and potential civil war, Asean is at risk of undermining and perhaps ending its success story.
Thailand needs firmer Covid-19 action
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 20/03/2020
» While being on the right track, the government's latest response to the new coronavirus (Covid-19) by closing schools and entertainment venues, as well as putting off the Songkran break, is likely to prove too little, too late, once again. As other countries have shown, the sooner firm and hard measures are put in place, the better and likelier efforts to contain and remedy Covid-19 will be successful. An early global lesson from the fast-spreading virus is to be pre-emptive and pro-active, "front-loading" the pain of social adjustments and economic damages rather than playing catch-up and ultimately paying a higher price.
Concentric Mideast wars and prospects
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 10/01/2020
» Nothing captures attention in an age of media saturation like the talk of war. The recent decision by US President Donald Trump to assassinate a top Iranian official, Quds Force Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani, has conjured up the spectre of a wider conflict encompassing not just the Middle East but the broader world, as Iran's top leaders deemed it "an act of war" and vowed "severe revenge". Although Iran's military and its proxy militias and client states in the Middle East and elsewhere are poised to exact retribution for their loss, we are unlikely to see a world war in the immediate aftermath of this killing.
America at war within can't lead world
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 18/10/2019
» The extraordinary country that once touted itself and was seen by many as the "leader of the free world" is no longer so great. America, the fabled "city upon a hill" and beacon of freedom and democracy for the world, is unwell from within, wracked by nasty divisions and visceral polarisation.
Thailand's year of hunting normality
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 11/01/2019
» Three related events that will shape Thailand's path this year and beyond are evidently the coronation of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, the much-anticipated election, and the once-a-decade rotational chairmanship of Asean.
Facing up to Thailand's role as Asean chair
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/11/2018
» As Thailand gears up to chair Asean next year, a sense of deja vu is setting in. The last time Thailand held its rotational turn at Asean's helm from July 2008 to December 2009, it was undermined by domestic street protests that ended up disrupting top-level meetings and abruptly sending Asia-Pacific leaders home prematurely. Owning up to what transpired, it has to be said that the Thai hosting of Asean-centred summits back then was an utter fiasco.