Showing 1 - 10 of 58
Ground game
Oped, Postbag, Published on 12/02/2026
» Re: "BJT win bodes well for conservatives", (BP, Feb 11). Given the tallies of the nationwide party list vote, I don't understand the justification for the following assertions: "BJT's landslide victory reflects a surge of nationalist sentiment" (5.9M votes); the PP suffered from "lingering voter scepticism" and "eroded public confidence" (9.8M votes).
Another wasted year in Thai politics
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/12/2025
» As Thailand winds down 2025 with an early election looming on Feb 8, the most consequential issue to watch in the coming year will be whether recent topsy-turvy political patterns of polls, protests, and military and judicial interventions give way to a compromise between the old guard clinging on to vested interests and the new generation clamouring for reform and change.
Anutin's new cabinet is a mixed bag
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/09/2025
» The composition and size of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's 36-member cabinet suggest that he intends to stay in office for as long as possible, clinging to the terms of the government-enabling Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and calling an early election only if circumstances make it unavoidable.
China's offensives
Postbag, Published on 07/09/2025
» Re: "China's lessons from WWII endure", (Opinion, Sept 2).
Thai-Cambodian feud is Asean's worst
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 15/08/2025
» The border dispute and consequent military conflict between Cambodia and Thailand in recent weeks have become Asean's worst crisis in its 58 years of existence. Ironically, it was an intra-regional war between Indonesia and Malaysia that gave rise to Asean in 1967, but now an intra-Asean military clash is undermining the Southeast Asian organisation's core reason for being and its main claim to credibility and prominence. Unless Asean, under Malaysia as its rotational chair this year, moves fast to contain the bilateral dispute and reinforce a delicate ceasefire agreement, Southeast Asia will be looked upon increasingly as a region and less as an organisation of member states.
Uyghurs deportation a strategic risk
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/03/2025
» Regardless of official spin, the government's decision to deport 40 Uyghurs to China was a strategic mistake on multiple levels.
A digital disaster
Oped, Editorial, Published on 19/01/2024
» The government seems undaunted by the reservations about its flagship 10,000-baht digital wallet scheme expressed by a panel under the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the Council of State.
Prospects at home and abroad in 2024
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 05/01/2024
» Overlooked but deeply consequential, 2024 will be the first time in a decade that Thailand is ruled by a civilian-led government. Whatever frustration and disenchantment that arise this year, memories must not run short. Thailand suffered deeply under the coup-backed regime of Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. Seeing his back is politically good riddance, and having Srettha Thavisin as a thoroughly civilian and pro-business prime minister bodes well for the country. Yet Mr Srettha has his work cut out to boost the economy, address constitutional reform, restore Thailand's international standing, and stay in office into next year amid the global economic slowdown.
Cities can drive climate solutions
Oped, Michael R Bloomberg & Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Published on 06/12/2023
» Nation-states, presidents, and prime ministers are the players who garner the biggest headlines and the most media attention at each year's UN Climate Change Conference. Yet for the past decade, and with far less fanfare, cities, states, and regional governments (known as "subnationals") have been implementing the Paris climate agreement's guidance, even when their national governments have not. This has meant investing in clean-energy systems and other urban innovations to reduce emissions locally and sharing what works through networks like C40 and the Global Covenant of Mayors to accelerate progress on a larger scale.
Hamas hostage crisis bodes terror for the world
News, Andreas Kluth, Published on 28/10/2023
» Hostage-taking, like collective punishment, is among the most barbaric but also oldest tactics in human warfare. And yet something qualitative changed on Oct 7, when Hamas went on its murderous rampage in Israel and abducted more than 200 innocent people into the Gaza Strip. What Hamas, Israel and others do in the coming days and weeks will set new precedents that may open a 10th circle of hell in this and other conflicts to come.