Showing 11 - 20 of 29
Thailand's murky, muddled road ahead
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 31/03/2017
» In a new era of transformative technologies and tectonic geopolitical shifts, standing still is tantamount to falling behind. This is what Thailand is doing. Its recent news flow indicates the country is mired in a regressive holding pattern.
Thailand's changing political narrative
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/09/2016
» So far in the 21st century, the main narrative of Thai politics has centred on a colour-coded class divide, characterised by an urban-rural chasm along the lines of elites versus the masses.
Vote prospects in Thailand's long transition
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 05/08/2016
» Thailand's second-ever referendum on its second consecutive military-inspired constitution in 10 years should be a foregone conclusion. The government of Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha that seized power in May 2014 has deployed all instruments and organs of the state from village headmen and upcountry teachers to the entire bureaucratic apparatus and official media propaganda to ensure the charter's passage. The Referendum Act, a law that effectively prohibits open and inclusive debate and public discussion, has been enacted for good measure to keep the draft constitution on course. Yet what appears like a one-way state-sponsored campaign for referendum approval may boomerang into a rejection owing to several factors.
Thailand's rocky road for 2016 and beyond
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 08/01/2016
» No country in Southeast Asia has been shooting itself in the foot more than Thailand. With so much going for it, the second-largest economy in the region manages to underperform spectacularly. Its growth trajectory is in the 2-3% range while it has the potential to track twice as high.
A saga and sideshow with much at stake
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/01/2015
» The impeachment case against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra this month for dereliction of duty while in office over the rice-pledging budgetary losses is both a saga and a sideshow.
On the political front, it's curiously quiet
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/11/2014
» Nearly six months after its latest military coup, Thailand's political landscape looks pitiful and puzzling at the same time.
Coup reorients relations with Cambodia
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 11/07/2014
» Thailand’s military coup has reoriented Thai-Cambodian relations with surprising effects. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s overt enmity and confrontation towards Thailand over the past several years have become conciliatory and accommodating for the time being. Whether this new pattern of bilateral ties is solidified depends on how post-coup Thailand plays out.
There’s no cure-all for political quagmire
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 16/05/2014
» As its political environment remains murky in the wake of the Constitutional Court’s ouster of Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand now stands at a dire crossroads with deepening rifts and growing risks of turmoil and mayhem.
Going to polls remains the only solution
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 08/05/2014
» At issue in the immediate aftermath of the Constitutional Court’s ouster of caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is whether her successor will be allowed to steer the caretaker government without debilitating street protests and whether the landmark verdict will be sufficient for Thailand to return to the electoral system as a way out of its political quagmire. Thailand is still in the thick of the woods as prospects on both counts remain murky. The only way out and the ultimate way forward in this flawed electoral democracy is still to stick to the popular mandate as the least problematic of all options. An unelected outcome is likely to bring more tumult and turmoil.
Thailand’s potential grand realignment
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 21/02/2014
» As caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra comes under mounting pressure from the gathering forces arrayed against her self-exiled and convicted brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, something will soon have to give. Thailand’s prolonged political standoff has crippled Bangkok’s central business district and placed Thailand in an economic free fall. At issue going forward is how much longer Ms Yingluck will last, how she is dislodged, what comes after, and whether a grand realignment takes place to marginalise Thaksin and move Thailand beyond him.