Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Immigration Bureau faces new scrutiny
Oped, Editorial, Published on 23/09/2025
» The Police Immigration Bureau (IB) is fuming over a Reuters documentary-style interactive graphic report based on interviews with nine people who had allegedly been trafficked to scam centres in Myanmar between 2022 and 2025.
Patients lost in temple scandal
Editorial, Published on 14/09/2025
» For the patients at Wat Phra Bat Namphu, the scandal around its former abbot has revived an old fear: being abandoned all over again.
Laws pressure small cinemas
Editorial, Published on 12/01/2025
» It has been weeks since the Documentary Club, also known as the Doc Club & Pub, Bangkok's acclaimed micro cinema, suspended screenings at the site due to a licensing issue, without a practical solution in sight.
Trafficking battle yet to be won
News, Editorial, Published on 30/04/2023
» When Thailand's ranking in anti-human trafficking efforts improved last year in the US annual assessment, the government boldly declared that Thailand would make the top ranking by 2023.
Uproot graft to clip trafficking
News, Editorial, Published on 19/06/2022
» The news about 59 Rohingya "abandoned" near southernmost Satun province early this month reminds us that fighting the heinous crime of human trafficking will be a hard-won battle.
Respect the role of journalists
News, Editorial, Published on 04/04/2021
» The government has been raising eyebrows recently with its approach to journalists. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's supposedly comical spraying of sanitiser on reporters in an apparent attempt to avoid some tough questions last month was a memorable spectacle. This past week, he told a reporter to uncross her legs during a press conference at Government House. The reporter was barred from Government House -- allegedly not for her lack of good manners but her behaviour on social media. Feel a bit like school?
Toxic tea will not stamp out critics
News, Editorial, Published on 23/08/2020
» Early Thursday morning, a routine flight from Siberia to the Russian capital Moscow made an emergency landing in Omsk after a passenger, Alexei Navalny, a fierce anti-corruption campaigner and Kremlin critic, fell violently ill after drinking a cup of tea.
Abetting dictators
News, Editorial, Published on 12/12/2018
» The sudden government interest in apprehending political opponents of foreign governments is disappointing. It may be coincidence but in just a week, police have forcibly detained critics of the governments of Cambodia and Bahrain. The arrests and threats of deportation or extradition to these undemocratic countries go against normal human rights practices. They also violate decades of Thai policy that often welcomed and never threatened lives of foreigners pitted against their governments.
Government exploits Wild Boars
News, Editorial, Published on 30/07/2018
» The government's actions towards the rescued Chiang Rai football team makes it appear confused and cold, not to mention exploitative. This may seem ironic to some, since the government's stated aim was to protect the 12 Wild Boars and their families, along with coach Ekapol Chanthawong. In fact, almost everything ministers and senior officials have done in the days since the rescue succeeded on July 10 has been poorly planned and executed.
Unacceptable media move
Oped, Editorial, Published on 10/07/2018
» The constitution shepherded into place last year by the military regime seems at first glance to be clear about freedom of the press. Media "shall enjoy the liberty to report news or express opinion", it states in Section 35. That is even extended to every person, not just the media. It sounds good until you get well into Section 34, which contains that hugely limiting word "except".