Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Getting soft power right
Life, Published on 08/01/2024
» After three months in office, the Srettha Thavisin government has raved on about populist policies in the guise of digital wallets and soft power projects that will create income to boost our declining economy. With optimism, we learned that Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Pheu Thai party leader and head of the National Soft Power Strategy Committee (NSPSC), has drafted a budget of 5.1 billion baht to boost festivals and creative industries. It is welcoming news to hear this government is priortising art, music, literature, design, fashion, film, food, games, sports and festivals as essential sources for the creative economy. Where this enormous chunk of budget will come from, like digital wallets, remains to be seen.
And we're off again
Oped, Postbag, Published on 06/12/2023
» Re: "Festival wins Unesco recognition", (BP, Dec 2).
Democratic justice
News, Postbag, Published on 13/04/2019
» I wish to thank the 12 diplomats and their respective democratic countries for finally supporting the Thai people. Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai's comment, "It's an intervention in our justice system" is a joke. Without a truly democratically elected government there is no justice.
Update the computer law
News, Editorial, Published on 18/04/2018
» If events over the past two weeks do not convince the government to write an actual law covering computer fraud, maybe nothing will. The first unfortunate event was to threaten a Chiang Mai magazine editor with a computer crime charge over something that had nothing to do with computers (or crime, come to that). The second was the reluctant admission by the country's second mobile phone company of security misbehaviour, putting tens of thousands of customers at risk. That is not a crime.
The Pheu Thai circus
News, Postbag, Published on 05/08/2017
» How many times have Pheu Thai politicians shot themselves in the foot. I've lost count. This time they just shot themselves in the mouth, blaming the government for the floods in the Northeast (BP, July 31). Have they forgotten what they did in 2011?
An amazing guidebook
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 30/03/2015
» Go to any bookshop here and you will find a shelf full of guides to Thailand, many penned by farangs, several with lovely scenic photos. They cover much the same ground. The Thai people are nice in every respect, yet they have quaint practices you are expected to heed. But what can you expect? It's a foreign land, a third-world country, that needs catching up. Give it another century or so.
The mysterious men in black
Voranai Vanijaka, Published on 11/04/2013
» When analysing politics we should connect the dots as far as the dots (or our intellect) go, rather than stop at whichever dot satisfies our moral righteousness and ignore the rest. And we should be mindful of imaginary dots
TRC report blames red shirts, army
Terry Fredrickson, Published on 18/09/2012
» The Truth for Reconciliation Commission officially presented the results of its two-year investigation into the 2010 anti-government protests yesterday.
Banharn backs amnesty
Online Reporters, Published on 13/04/2012
» Amnesty is the key to national reconciliation, veteran politician Banharn Silpa-archa said on Friday.
July homecoming for Thaksin?
Terry Fredrickson, Published on 13/04/2012
» Exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra celebrates his "best Songkran ever" with supporters in Laos as plans emerge for a possible July homecoming.