Showing 1 - 10 of 50
Real barriers to temple reform
Editorial, Published on 01/02/2026
» After a year of temple scandals, Thailand's top monks have promised a great clean-up. The orders sound bold. The question is whether a feudal system built on censorship, obedience and patronage can truly reform itself.
Parties silent on temple corruption
Editorial, Published on 18/01/2026
» The monk scandals that shocked Thailand in 2025 are not the result of moral lapses among clerics. They are the outcome of decades of governance failure. Addressing them requires political solutions. As the country prepares to form a new government in the coming months, there is hope for policy, not religious excuses.
AI double-edged sword in floods
Editorial, Published on 14/12/2025
» The flooding in Hat Yai has exposed not only how inadequate the Thai bureaucracy is in managing a major disaster, especially one involving complex weather data and a high-density urban area, but also how innovative technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a profound double-edged sword.
Serious on cybercrime
Oped, Editorial, Published on 18/10/2025
» Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has made the correct, but long overdue, move in forming the National Committee for the Prevention and Suppression of Technology-Related Crimes.
Honest monks hung out to dry
Editorial, Published on 28/09/2025
» A series of monk scandals and temple corruption cases in recent months has prompted the Ecclesiastical Council to order all temples to make their accounts transparent. But good intentions are not enough. Without systemic support, the order may prove hollow.
The baht's troubling rise
Oped, Editorial, Published on 22/09/2025
» The Thai baht, since the beginning this year, has appreciated nearly 8% against the US dollar. Such an escalation makes baht the strongest among Asian currencies. While a rapid currency appreciation should have been taken a signal of economic strength, the underlying realities paints a far more complex and worrying situation.
Donors must still beware
Oped, Editorial, Published on 21/08/2025
» The Revenue Department's decision to require Buddhist temples to adopt an e-donation system, beginning in January, is a welcome development -- if long overdue.
Reform clergy with your wallet
Editorial, Published on 03/08/2025
» The recent sex scandal involving high-ranking monks has shaken public faith to the core. But the responses from the clergy, the state, and the public all miss the point. This crisis in Thai Buddhism is not about monks and sex -- it's about monks and money. Address the problem incorrectly, and the sex scandals and temple corruption will never end.
Clergy in need of control, not reform
Editorial, Published on 20/07/2025
» After a long silence during Thailand's biggest sex scandal in the clergy, the Ecclesiastical Council and the National Office of Buddhism (NOB) have finally spoken out. Their big idea? A new law to imprison the offending monks and women involved in the scandal.
Export hopes run thin
Oped, Editorial, Published on 09/07/2025
» A letter issued by US President Donald Trump on Monday regarding trade tariffs has been a rude awakening for Thailand.