Showing 71 - 80 of 105
Thailand amid Asean economic integration
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 11/08/2017
» The first year and a half of the Asean Community has transpired not with a bang but a whimper. Thailand's role in it has been correspondingly uneventful. The first 18 months of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), one of three pillars together with the Asean Political-Security Community and Asean Socio-Cultural Community, witnessed no fundamental or qualitative differences from trade and investment patterns prior to its introduction. If the AEC is to work out as intended, it has to be reshaped and reoriented from traditional lenses to new realities based on intra-regional investments in tandem with global value chains.
Asean regionalism amid authoritarianism
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 05/08/2017
» If three Asean members -- Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines -- have led the way in shedding their authoritarian past, three others -- Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia --have gone the other way. After 50 years of ups and downs in domestic politics and governance, Asean has seen a resurgence of authoritarian practices. How this trend is manifested, and whether it intensifies or reverts to more democratic characteristics, will determine how Asean's regionalism takes shape over the next few decades.
Asean test ground for democracy, dictators
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 04/08/2017
» Much is being discussed in Southeast Asia this month as Asean, the region's premier organisation, reaches its golden jubilee. One salient issue is the domestic politics and governance within individual Asean states and across them. Asean comprises a mix of regimes that span the spectrum from absolute monarchy in Brunei to newly emergent democracy in Myanmar and socialist-community rule in Laos and Vietnam, with many shades in between. How Asean's regime types evolve and behave will be consequential and potentially decisive for the organisation's coherence and effectiveness in broader Asian regionalism.
Thailand's challenges, lessons from '97 crisis
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 30/06/2017
» It is hard to believe today but Thailand appeared on the verge of economic doom 20 years ago. The culmination of financial sector convulsions, compounded by a currency crisis and reinforced by corruption and cronyism, induced a forced devaluation of the baht on July 2, 1997. Back then, the Thai economy was in dire straits but politics looked promising. It is the opposite today, as macroeconomic conditions have become sound but the political system has reverted to a military dictatorship with doubtful prospects for popular rule.
Reality sets in three years after the coup
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/05/2017
» Three years after it seized power in Thailand's 13th successful coup in 85 years, the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha appears embattled. Growing popular grievances have focused on Thailand's economic doldrums, persistent corruption, intractable polarisation, and a problematic roadmap to return to democratic rule. In addition, a string of mysterious bomb blasts in Bangkok with murky implications has recently undermined the political stability and social calm that the National Council for Peace and Order was supposed to be good at achieving.
The submarine deal that won't go away
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 12/05/2017
» Despite widespread public opposition, the Thai navy inked a 13.5-billion-baht contract last week for the first of what will be three Chinese submarines in an 11-year deal worth 36 billion baht. Myriad criticisms have been expressed in as many media platforms by both experts and observers alike. Yet there are four broader implications which argue against the submarine deal and warrant a mention on record.
Dire airport, culture hub belie 'Thailand 4.0'
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 17/02/2017
» Thailand is prone to policy faddism. Several years ago, the AEC (Asean Economic Community) was all the rage until it officially came into being with a whimper at the end of 2015. Back then, hardly a day went by without some kind of a workshop or conference in Thailand about the AEC. But it all did not add up to much, as Asean today is hardly more economically integrated than it was more than a decade ago when the AEC was conceived. In fact, Asean is more internally divided and beset with more geopolitical tensions and troubles than we have seen in many years. Yet Thailand went head over heels for it until a new fad arrived.
Post-Obama America's 'rebalance' to Asia
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/06/2016
» As the United States' presidential election kicks into higher gear with the upcoming nominations of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as the Democratic and Republican party candidates vying for top office, Asian countries, and Asean in particular, are concerned about what will happen to outgoing President Barack Obama's "rebalance" (also known as the "pivot") strategy to Asia. The "rebalance" is likely to be a lasting legacy of President Obama's foreign policy accomplishments. It has provided Asian countries from Myanmar and Vietnam to the Philippines with a counterbalance to China's increasing regional footprints. But the future of the rebalance hangs in the balance.
Asean's 'centrality' faces growing threat
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 17/06/2016
» The debacle earlier this week when Asean foreign ministers opted for a watered-down joint statement after issuing a firmer version following their meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is yet another testament to the challenges facing the 10-member group's "centrality" in building Asia's regional order. That China has been calling in its chips with smaller pliant Asean states and effectively driving a wedge through the organisation over the South China Sea will exacerbate regional tensions and lead to security dilemmas and a dangerous tit-for-tat guessing game in this neighbourhood. To avoid future conflict, a rules-based region under mutual accommodation is the only way forward.
Asean, Southeast Asia are growing apart
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/06/2016
» Nearly five decades after the formation of its regional organisation known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Southeast Asia as a region faces issues and challenges that hark back to its geographic and conceptual coalescence in the post-colonial period after World War II. So rich in diversity and thus so difficult to cultivate and harness a common identity and organisational coherence and thrust, Southeast Asia is an unnatural region.