Showing 1 - 10 of 21
Government stability tests performance
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/04/2026
» Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has gone from strength to strength, leveraging a stopgap minority government late last year into solid majority rule after the Feb 8 election.
Thailand's political trajectory in 2026
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/01/2026
» What happens in Thai politics this year and the immediate horizon will be determined by the upcoming election on Feb 8. While contesting political parties are in full campaign mode, the contemporary history of Thai polls so far in the 21st century is not encouraging. Only once in the past 25 years have voting results went the way they were meant to, in accordance with the popular will. Whether the vote in four weeks will follow the same pattern will depend on whether the conservative establishment gets its preferred outcome.
A backdrop to Trump's stunning win
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 08/11/2024
» Analysts often face the tough task of assessing an outcome the way it is rather than how they would like it to be. Nowhere is this challenge more daunting than analysing the stunning election results in the United States this week. Against the odds, former President Donald J Trump of the Republican Party has resoundingly won a second term over Vice President Kamala D Harris of the Democratic Party both in the popular vote and the Electoral College. The Republican Party also captured the Senate and the House of Representatives. While the implications for Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia are wide-ranging and far-reaching, it is first and foremost necessary to understand the nature of the Trump victory.
Two issues at stake in US president race
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 01/11/2024
» As the quadrennial presidential contest in the United States reaches its conclusion next week, the two fundamental and entwined issues at stake are how America sees itself at home and how its consequent role abroad ought to be. This is not the first time these soul-searching questions are determining who gets to rule the country, but they are a recent phenomenon. Beyond them, the rest are merely theatre, money, and manoeuvres that underpin any major election spectacle.
Cambodia and Laos in the regional mix
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 30/09/2022
» As geopolitical tensions from Russian aggression in Ukraine and the ongoing United States-China rivalry intensify, Southeast Asia will be hard-pressed to maintain peace and security. Despite their relatively small size, Cambodia and Laos are two countries whose political trajectories will shape regional outcomes. While Cambodia has consolidated domestic political power with dynamic economic expansion, Laos is looking like a regional laggard facing a deep debt crisis. As Cambodia moves forward, Laos is at risk of being left behind.
US shoots itself in foot over Taiwan
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 05/08/2022
» Even pro-democracy critics of China’s authoritarian ways would have to call United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan an undue provocation that ended up as a lose-lose outcome for all concerned, including the 82-year-old congresswoman. Everything about it was misguided and self-indulgent, designed for domestic consumption in the US rather than regional peace and security in Asia. The US, by way of Mrs Pelosi, has unnecessarily shot itself in the foot big time, leaving regional states and societies to deal with the consequences.
Japan's post-Covid regional dilemma
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 21/01/2022
» Among the major powers that are moving forward with an eye on the post-pandemic era, when Covid-19 will eventually become an endemic with flu-like manageability, Japan is second to none. The visit last week by its minister of economy, trade, and industry (METI), Koichi Hagiuda, made front-page news in Bangkok, following similarly notable media coverage in Jakarta and Singapore. But while it has played a critical role in Asean's economic development and regional security, Japan's Indo-Pacific geostrategic environment has become adverse with more downside risks.
Asean lags behind Myanmar curve
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/08/2021
» The more it tries to catch up on Myanmar's post-coup crisis, the more Asean falls behind. Since Myanmar's military takeover on Feb 1, Asean has spent nearly the first three months getting its act together for a "special summit" and a "five-point consensus" on April 24 and then more than another three months to meekly implement the agreement. In the event, the appointment of Brunei's Second Foreign Minister Erywan bin Mohd Yusof as the Asean envoy to promote dialogue and humanitarian assistance in Myanmar is likely to prove too little, too late for what has been desperately needed on the ground.
Correcting the pandemic policy tack
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 30/07/2021
» That Thailand's coronavirus pandemic has been grossly mismanaged is self-evident. Infection rates have soared to new highs this month while vaccine availability and access remain shoddy and abysmal. The overstretched healthcare system is creaking under growing demand, while several scenes so far of Covid-afflicted people being left to die on the streets have shaken the country's collective morale and elicited soul-searching questions about how Thailand has managed to reach this dire juncture.
No duopoly in Thai jab procurement
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 28/05/2021
» Just as Thailand's murky vaccine plan has gone from bad to worse, the plot keeps thickening. The latest development centres on the May 25 publication in the Royal Gazette of the Chulabhorn Royal Academy's authority to procure Covid-19 vaccines within the country and from abroad as needed for public health benefits. As has been promptly noted elsewhere, this vaccine bombshell could be perceived as a snub to the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, particularly Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Thailand's effectively dual-track vaccine strategy is now likely to engender major repercussions.