Showing 1 - 10 of 223
Why investing in people matters
Oped, Published on 04/07/2025
» Asean is striving to enhance its competitiveness on the global stage and readiness for a transition under its Carbon Neutrality Strategy. However, Asean will not be well-positioned to become an important part of the global net-zero economy without a robust human capital development to produce skilled, educated, and healthy individuals to drive the energy transition. Human capital has been a central ingredient in economic development, as evidenced by the bloc's Human Capital Index -- which ranges from 0.5 to 0.8 -- which demonstrates a positive correlation with Gross Domestic Products (GDP) per capita.
Thai LNG hub ambitions need caution
Oped, Published on 25/06/2025
» Despite local and global headwinds, Thailand's energy demand, driven by economic activities, continues to grow. Such seemingly insatiable energy demand has been met primarily via natural gas, which, according to Thailand's Electricity Generation Authority (EGAT), is used to generate 60.85% of Thailand's electricity.
A new economic order needs a moral compass
Oped, Published on 24/06/2025
» Even before US President Donald Trump launched his assault on the global economy, it was facing not only a structural crisis but a collapse in the values that once justified and guided international cooperation. The retraction of multilateralism reflects not just weakened institutions and geopolitical tensions but also a loss of shared principles for international cooperation and a shift toward unilateralism, transactional diplomacy, and zero-sum nationalism.
Thailand should chart its own path on climate
News, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 14/06/2025
» In recent years, climate anxiety has taken over many Western governments and most international organisations. The result has been ruinous policies that help little but undermine future prosperity needed to deal with a host of other problems. Fortunately, Thailand can avoid repeating these mistakes.
Thailand's cleaner grid is within reach
Oped, Rapeepat Ingkasit, Published on 11/06/2025
» Thailand is approaching a pivotal moment in shaping its energy future. The draft Power Development Plan 2024 (PDP2024) -- currently awaiting finalisation -- outlines the country's power strategy for the next two decades. But as it stands, the draft leans heavily on legacy thermal infrastructure, including continued reliance on fossil fuels.
It's time to go geoengineering on climate issue
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 05/06/2025
» This is the second anniversary of the arrival of the emergency but practically nobody is mentioning it. Instead people are choosing to worry about more familiar problems like global trade wars, the rise of fascism and genocidal wars. It's kind of a global displacement activity: if we don't mention it, maybe it will go away.
Thai climate ambitions face trade heat
Oped, Published on 28/05/2025
» Early last month, the US announced plans to impose a reciprocal tariff rate of 36% on goods originating from Thailand due to a trade deficit. This set off alarm bells between Thai policymakers and export-oriented business sectors. So, efforts are underway to negotiate a deal that would safeguard Thailand's highly fruitful trade relationship with the US.
Middle powers in the US-China trade war
Oped, Published on 14/05/2025
» As US tariffs begin to reshape global trade flows, many countries are worried that a tsunami of discounted Chinese goods, originally destined for America, will hit their shores. To keep them out, especially as recessionary pressures mount, some may be inclined to impose their own tariffs on Chinese imports. In that case, China would be cut off entirely from international trade, delivering an unexpected victory for US President Donald Trump, who would undoubtedly claim credit for this new Great Wall.
Behaviour shift key to ending plastic use
News, Published on 12/05/2025
» Southeast Asia is no stranger to the plastic crisis. Despite growing awareness and countless"reduce, reuse, recycle" campaigns, single-use plastic consumption remains stubbornly high.
A perilous era of absolute advantage
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 25/04/2025
» If a date had to be pinpointed, the post-Second World War international system came to an unmistakable end on April 2 -- the so-called "Liberation Day" -- when US President Donald Trump announced comprehensive "reciprocal" tariffs to a bewildered global audience. The blatantly protectionist move was equivalent to the United States' abrogation and abandonment of the rules-based international order that it ironically and instrumentally constructed and upheld over nearly eight decades. What comes now is a dangerous era of absolute advantage in global trade, investment, and finance, bent on unilateralism over multilateralism, competition over cooperation, nationalism over interdependence, and the singular quest to dominate and reshape the global pecking order under the rubric of making America "great again".