Showing 21 - 30 of 83
Where to start Thai reform and change?
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 02/10/2020
» In Thailand's new era under a new reign, reform and change can hardly be formulated and implemented fast enough because much of what ails the country has been suppressed and swept under the rug for years. The most consequential question now is not whether Thailand needs to change but where to start. Getting the starting point wrong will end up causing more grief and pain after so much suffering that has already transpired.
Brit pensioners unite!
Oped, Postbag, Published on 22/07/2020
» It was good to read Paritta Wangkiat's piece on the need for pension reform for elderly Thais. (Opinion, July 20). All old people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
Mis-education of Hong Kong
News, Editorial, Published on 17/05/2020
» With schools set to reopen in Hong Kong later this month, plans for an educational overhaul are on the agenda.
Context is decisive in Thai high politics
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 28/02/2020
» In Thailand's high politics where governments survive or succumb, context is everything. After two decades of a political merry-go-round, marked by a series of elections, street protests, military coups, and judicial interventions only to end up with a problematic post-election rule under military domination, no deep expertise is needed to understand what has been happening in this land.
When English turkeys vote for Christmas
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 16/12/2019
» Down on the turkey farm, the Scottish and Irish birds noticed that the smiling man in the festive costume was holding a hatchet behind his back, and hid. The Welsh turkeys looked confused and huddled together squawking. But the English turkeys marched bravely up to the chopping block, confident that this would be a Christmas to remember.
What populists can learn from the Polish model
News, Published on 18/10/2019
» There is a tension at the heart of populist political parties that may ultimately lead most of them to electoral defeat. They depend heavily on the votes of the old, the poor and the poorly educated -- "I love the poorly educated", as Donald Trump once put it -- but they are also right-wing parties that do not like what they call "socialism". (Other people call it the welfare state).
Give parliamentary politics a chance
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/07/2019
» After a five-year hiatus, parliamentary politics returns this week with a constitutionally mandated policy statement by the coalition government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. With government and opposition back at work again, in contrast to the previous military-appointed rubber-stamp legislature under junta rule, Thailand has yet another small window of opportunity to regain and rebuild popular rule.
Rail deals must have accountability
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/05/2019
» Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's recent participation in the second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing was problematic on many levels. On what basis did Gen Prayut negotiate a rail deal between Thailand and China? What are the details and cost-benefit considerations of this deal? The lack of transparency and public accountability surrounding the Thailand and China rail plan is likely to pose future questions and problems for a huge infrastructure project Thailand can use, but according to whose terms its people must be the main beneficiary.
Why Thanathorn makes PPRP uneasy
News, Wasant Techawongtham, Published on 02/03/2019
» The fate of the Thai Raksa Chart Party (TRC) will be known when the Constitutional Court delivers its ruling on March 7.
Thailand's year of hunting normality
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 11/01/2019
» Three related events that will shape Thailand's path this year and beyond are evidently the coronation of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, the much-anticipated election, and the once-a-decade rotational chairmanship of Asean.