Showing 1 - 10 of 60
Implications of conservative triumph
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 13/02/2026
» The incumbent and conservative Bhumjaithai (BJT) Party has surprisingly swept Thailand's Feb 8 election with a commanding win. With the previously poll-leading and progressive People's Party (PP) coming in a distant second, Thailand appears headed for a conservative coalition government revolving around BJT and like-minded junior partners. Known for its conservative stance and being pro-status quo, it would not be surprising if the BJT-led coalition government, led by Prime Minister-elect Anutin Charnvirakul, were not challenged by the Constitutional Court, the Election Commission, and other supervisory agencies, which have derailed and dissolved reform-minded winning parties in the past.
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.
Flawed Asean needs to regain footing
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 10/10/2025
» Nearly six decades after its founding, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) finds itself back where it began -- divided, uncertain, and vulnerable to the influence of major powers. Once hailed as a model for regional cooperation in the developing world, Asean now faces a crisis of purpose. Unless it can rediscover the unity and collective way forward that defined its early decades, Southeast Asia's flagship institution risks slipping into irrelevance.
Southeast Asia amid the US-China rift
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/10/2025
» The rivalry between the United States and China has become the defining contest of the 21st century. Barely two decades ago, Washington and Beijing were partners in prosperity. America's support for China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 epitomised the high-water mark of engagement, reflecting the belief that economic integration would lead to greater political cooperation. Today, that partnership has morphed into suspicion and confrontation. Relations between the United States and China have deteriorated so swiftly that many observers now describe them as locked in a "new Cold War". The more pressing question, however, is not whether this analogy holds, but whether confrontation can be managed short of outright conflict.
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.
Thaksin's return and 2025 prospects
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/01/2025
» Thailand's political environment last year was marked by machinations to keep the biggest election winner, the Move Forward Party, from power and to ensure the runner-up, the Pheu Thai Party, leads a coalition government the old guard can put up with. These manoeuvres after the May 2023 poll, initially forced Move Forward into the opposition and ultimately dissolved the party while bringing Thaksin Shinawatra back from self-exile in August 2023 for a perfunctory jail sentence and installing Srettha Thavisin as prime minister over the same period.
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.
New government is new wine in old bottle
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 13/09/2024
» On the face of it, the new government under Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra appears to be a generational shift and gender breakthrough. Ms Paetongtarn is the youngest prime minister ever at 38 and only the second female government leader after her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra in 2011-14. The Paetongtarn cabinet features a record eight women among 36 with more ministers in their 30s-50s and fewer above 60. Yet on closer scrutiny, the new and younger faces are largely family legacies and proxies, surrounded by old-style politicians, while the new government's policy directions sound dated not well-suited for the times ahead.