Showing 1 - 10 of 145
What do Indian women want from poll?
Oped, Published on 25/05/2024
» Since April 19, the day general elections began in India, voters have queued up outside polling booths, braving a muggy, scorching heatwave. The mood appears mostly upbeat. Voters talk to TV news reporters. They articulate wishes for change or belief in the incumbent leader.
Sam Yan shows need to save history
Oped, Published on 23/05/2024
» What distinguishes Thailand from many other countries is our rich diversity in culture and history. Yet slowly but surely, the distinctive heritage of our local communities is disappearing. Often property developers destroy historic buildings in pursuit of profit. But why do their rights always seem to come first? Why do we have to beg to protect our cultural assets?
Protect migrant kids
Oped, Editorial, Published on 30/03/2024
» A temple raid in Lop Buri has sparked concern over forced deportations after a group of 19 stateless children enrolled in a monkhood ordination programme were ejected from their class and transferred to the border province of Chiang Rai.
Saffron swindlers
Oped, Editorial, Published on 22/03/2024
» The news of the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct this week handing a 480-year-plus jail term to a former abbot for embezzling temple donations is shocking enough. But the story gets even more convoluted.
Buddhism is always oddly political
Oped, Published on 16/03/2024
» This year, His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua is turning 72. Following the sexagenary cycle, the Thai government organised a month-long royal procession of the Buddha's relics from Feb 24 to this coming Monday including tours of four major Thai cities -- Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani and Krabi.
Important to invest in cultural assets
Oped, Published on 15/02/2024
» Thailand's vast architectural and cultural heritage is more than just a source of enjoyment and public pride. It is probably the nation's most important resource besides its people. And heritage empowers the people. It supports social and economic welfare in lots of ways. It's worth taking care of.
Journo arrests hike tensions
Oped, Editorial, Published on 14/02/2024
» As fears grow that the furore over royal motorcades and the fierce reaction from royalist groups might become the catalyst for further polarisation in Thai society, our policemen's storm-in-a-tea cup arrest of two journalists over their coverage of the campaign for reform of the monarchy has only heightened tensions.
Populism's great replacement of economics
Oped, Published on 07/02/2024
» In 1944, as World War II neared its end, the exiled Hungarian economic sociologist Karl Polanyi published The Great Transformation, a treatise that focused on the dangers of trying to separate economic systems from the societies they inhabit. Eighty years on, Polanyi's warnings about a market economy unleashed from human needs and relations may prove prescient. In fact, the future that he foretells bears a strong resemblance to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, in which the doctor's creature runs amok and eventually turns on its creator.
Border talks a test for PM
Oped, Editorial, Published on 06/02/2024
» The arrest of two Cambodian activists and a political prisoner who had been granted refugee status last week does not bode well for a Thai government determined to improve its human rights standing as it once again competes for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Thai-Cambodian ties enter a new era
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 30/01/2024
» Exactly 37 days before Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet was due to fly to Bangkok on Feb 7 for a one-day official visit, Cambodia extended Thai border pass access to Siem Reap, where Angkor Wat is located. This was an act of goodwill as the proposal has been on the table for discussions since Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's visit to Phnom Penh in September -- his first official foreign destination after being elected Thai leader.