Showing 1-10 of 11 results
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A Thai view on the Hamas-Israel war
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 20/10/2023
» The Palestinians' longstanding and legitimate grievances have been irrevocably subverted by Hamas' brazen attack against Israel on Oct 7. Unlike previous rounds of conflicts and clashes between Israel and the Palestinians on the one hand and neighbouring Arab states on the other, Thailand has become a direct casualty like never before, as 30 Thai workers have been killed to date, with at least 16 injured and 17 taken hostage. As a militant political movement motivated by Islamic fundamentalism using methods of terrorism to achieve its objectives, Hamas has made a bad name for the Palestinian cause, eliciting condemnation and opposition all the way over here in Thailand.
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Concentric Mideast wars and prospects
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 10/01/2020
» Nothing captures attention in an age of media saturation like the talk of war. The recent decision by US President Donald Trump to assassinate a top Iranian official, Quds Force Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani, has conjured up the spectre of a wider conflict encompassing not just the Middle East but the broader world, as Iran's top leaders deemed it "an act of war" and vowed "severe revenge". Although Iran's military and its proxy militias and client states in the Middle East and elsewhere are poised to exact retribution for their loss, we are unlikely to see a world war in the immediate aftermath of this killing.
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Are Thais getting the dictators they deserve?
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 28/04/2017
» For a society that has overthrown two military dictatorships over the past two generations, what has been happening in Thailand is astonishing.
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Turkish, Thai democracy and dictatorship
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 22/07/2016
» For coup-prone Thailand, Turkey's failed putsch has generated huge but ephemeral interest. When elements of the Turkish military rolled out the tanks and tried to seize power in Ankara and Istanbul, spectators in Bangkok naturally coalesced into two broad camps along the Thai divide, either for or against the putsch.
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Shrine saga throws up bluster, but few facts
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 28/08/2015
» The fog of Thai crisis management can be thick and heavy. Almost a fortnight after a powerful bomb explosion rocked the landmark Erawan shrine area in central Bangkok and claimed 20 lives with scores of injuries, Thai authorities have made just about zero progress.
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Thailand risks becoming a train wreck
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 28/02/2014
» Most countries are unhappy in different ways but none is shooting itself in the foot more than Thailand. From Ukraine and Venezuela to Turkey, societies across continents are beset by social unrest and civil strife. What sets Thailand apart is that it has so much going for it, well endowed at home with immense goodwill from abroad. The Thai crisis is becoming a tragic train wreck and unfolding in destructive ways that few seem able to do much about, as both sides dig in for the long haul.
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Social media has polarising effect on political debate
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/01/2014
» From Thailand to Ukraine to Turkey and other places beset with contentious politics between electoral majorities and minorities, the sources of prolonged and visceral polarisation appear to stem increasingly from social media.
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Time for new political social contract
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/12/2013
» From Thailand to Turkey to the Ukraine, the relationship between ruling majorities and electoral minorities has become combustible _ and is threatening to erode the legitimacy of democracy itself.
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Syria crisis poses enormous risks for global order
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 13/09/2013
» The brewing brinkmanship over the Syrian government's apparent chemical weapons use against its own population has the ring of reality internet show about it that marks a new era in foreign policy formulation and the maintenance of international order. If the fluid international manoeuvrings turn out farcically, what is left of what we know as order in the international system will be further undermined and leave us with growing turbulence and inchoate anarchy as this new century progresses.
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Recalibrating majority rule, minority rights
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 14/06/2013
» From Turkey to Thailand and elsewhere where political legitimacy derives from electoral democracy, the relationship between majority rule and minority rights has become problematic and in need of recalibration. If a more effective majoring-minority moving balance is not found, electoral democracy is likely to be discredited and undermined to the detriment of societies it was cultivated and designed to govern.
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