Showing 1 - 6 of 6
Sinking reputation
Oped, Editorial, Published on 12/04/2024
» The outcome of the Royal Thai Navy's (RTN) internal investigation into the sinking of the HTMS Sukhothai may draw the final curtain on one of the country's worst maritime tragedies.
A time for tolerance
Oped, Editorial, Published on 21/07/2021
» The furore over a tweet by Foodpanda linking anti-government protests to "terrorism" is a reminder that tolerance is sorely needed when political and social rifts have become the "new normal" in the country.
Make local polls priority
News, Editorial, Published on 15/11/2019
» For a prime minister who came to power as a by-product of the March general election, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha seemed to find it difficult to resist the temptation of using that poll to justify his legitimacy to rule during his recent mobile cabinet meeting trip. But when it comes to setting dates for local polls, he has remained noncommittal and ruled out the need to accelerate the electoral process, which has been frozen for more than five years since he staged the 2014 coup.
Clues scarce in the South
News, Editorial, Published on 02/01/2019
» Police, the Royal Thai Armed Forces and various security agencies have brought a huge credibility gap to the new upsurge of violence in the deep South. As of now, depending on which official has taken the podium, the bombings including the severing of Songkhla's iconic mermaid are political and non-political, either the work of separatist bandits or not, and have either a national or local motive -- but not both. Over the weekend, the Fourth Army commander said it might be local politicians, which seems a head-shaker.
Religious abuse perils
News, Editorial, Published on 15/08/2018
» Friday is the third anniversary of the worst single terrorist attack in modern Thailand. The poorly investigated, badly prosecuted bombing of the Erawan shrine killed 20 people and injured more than 100. The hurried police work concluded it was the act of foreigners angry at the government's success against human trafficking. The "foreigners" turned out to be Chinese Uighurs, two of whom were arrested and are still undergoing trial. The only known Thai suspect is on bail and her trial is officially pending, unofficially unlikely.
Retract the 14 silly rules
News, Editorial, Published on 06/08/2018
» In just a few days, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has taken a tonne of ridicule about new regulations for media coverage. A 14-point set of so-called guidelines was issued to the press on Friday, especially for photographers. They order news snappers to get prior approval for every set of photos, try to completely ban certain pictures, and even decree that those behind cameras dress better than at present. Some of the orders are more unethical than the actions they seek to regulate.