Showing 1 - 10 of 383
News, Editorial, Published on 05/09/2024
» With a Shinawatra returning to Government House, seeing the lavishing upgrade in the 30-baht universal healthcare coverage (UHC) is unsurprising. Nicknamed "the Gold Card" public healthcare system, it was conceived in 2002 under a Thai Rak Thai-led government with Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister.
Oped, Postbag, Published on 23/07/2024
» Re: “Govt seeks source of alien fish influx”, (BP, July 21). It was with incredulity that I read, “Govt seeks source of alien fish influx”. The source will never be found of course, since a predatory bird could have dropped a pregnant tilapia from high in the air — any newly formed body of freshwater in Thailand will soon be populated with fish in just this manner.
Oped, Published on 20/06/2024
» Finally, Thailand has made history by being the first Asean country to legalise same-sex marriage, after the Senate, a very conservative Upper House, appointed by the 2014 Thai coup-maker, approved the marriage equality bill.
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 03/06/2024
» Sex and money scandals among rogue monks are old news, barely raising an eyebrow any more. What's grabbing headlines now? Monks involved in wildlife poaching.
Roger Crutchley, Published on 26/05/2024
» A recent Thai news story concerned a man nabbed in an online fortune-telling scam. He would inform customers suffering from misfortune that their situation would dramatically improve if for a small fee he made a few prayers on his "direct line" to the deities in heaven.
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 17/05/2024
» Thailand's quest for membership of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), Geneva, for the period 2025-2027, is rightly gaining interest among the general public. With a new foreign minister today, it is intriguing to prospect whether there will be more (or less) momentum in the competition towards the winning post -- with elections for the HRC due in New York in October.
Oped, Published on 09/04/2024
» Thailand has an incredible reputation for being LGBTQ-friendly, but its national laws and policies don't quite match the open-minded brand that its government projects. This dissonance -- what the UN called "tolerance but not inclusion" in a 2019 report -- is what the Thai parliament is on the brink of changing in a seismic decision to legalise same-sex marriage that will have a positive far-reaching impact on Thailand's economy for years to come (and hint: it's much more than the millions of dollars to be generated by the weddings themselves).
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 30/03/2024
» Thailand's most recent report on women's rights -- available on the United Nations' website -- is part of the eighth cycle of reporting under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), to which the country became a party in 1985.
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 11/03/2024
» A timely issue raised by a recent forum of key businesses, political leaders and civil society was the potential for more inclusion of LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) people in the workplace. This is complementary to the other critically important issue of the day: the role of women in business and employment.
Oped, Editorial, Published on 09/03/2024
» Despite police denials, the recent street brawls between Thai and Filipina transsexuals on Sukhumvit exposed the existence of an underground sex business in this bustling nightlife spot of Bangkok.