• OPINION

  Semantics and Thailand's political divide

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 25/09/2015

  » Language can be about power as much as communication. It can tear societies apart or bring them together, depending on its design and application.

• OPINION

  Deja vu as charter court weighs MFP ban

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 12/01/2024

  » It is déjà vu in Thai politics this month as Thailand's biggest elected political party and its leader face Constitutional Court verdicts that could lead to a familiar dissolution and ban. At issue is the political future of Pita Limjaroenrat and the fate of the Move Forward Party (MFP), which he led to a stunning victory at the election last May. However the verdicts come out, they might be perceived by pundits as decided by the political winds of the day.

• OPINION

  Thailand's semi-democracy faces risks

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 15/12/2023

  » The government of Prime Minister and Finance Minister Srettha Thavisin has settled into an uneasy balance between the civilian-led majority forces that represent the Thai electorate and the royalist-conservative minority guardians of the established centres anchored around the monarchy, military, judiciary, and bureaucracy.

• OPINION

  Our custodial democracy on display

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 21/07/2023

  » After a watershed election and a clear message from voters for change, the integrity of Thailand's democratic system has come into question. It turns out that election results are only necessary but not sufficient to form a government and run this country.

• OPINION

  Thai elections without democracy

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 14/07/2023

  » Although it may come across as dramatic and unprecedented, Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat’s ordeal in trying to take office as prime minister after winning the May 14 election is par for the course in Thai politics over the past two decades.

• OPINION

  The post-election showdown explained

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/07/2023

  » Thai politics will finally reach its climax with a parliamentary vote for the next prime minister on July 13 and the emergence of a coalition government soon thereafter. How things pan out will depend on the extent of "what you see is what you get" or otherwise.

• OPINION

  Post-poll lull has a lot to answer for

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/05/2023

  » After a clear election victory, Thailand should already have a new government in office by now with Pita Limjaroenrat as prime minister, as his Move Forward Party (MFP) together with opposition ally Pheu Thai Party won a clear mandate of more than 58% of 500 lower house seats. Yet their coalition government in waiting among eight parties with 313 elected representatives is facing several critical roadblocks, including the military-appointed senate and the Election Commission (EC). Public pressure is now needed to be piled on these powerful but biased bodies that were appointed during the coup-dominated era in 2014–2019 to comply with the people's wishes, as expressed at the polls on May 14.

• OPINION

  Referee agencies and old political tricks

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 31/03/2023

  » Almost three decades ago, Thai politics reached a critical threshold when public demands resulted in the establishment of a clutch of independent agencies to ensure the transparency and accountability of the political system and the stability and effectiveness of government.

• OPINION

  How to stifle Thai political party system

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 25/02/2020

  » No compromise is in sight for Thailand's politics where the stakes are at their highest. It is a winner-takes-all reality. The quick demise of the Future Forward Party and the 10-year ban for its key leaders, who phenomenally captured a large swath of the electorate less than a year ago on an aggressive reform agenda, bear myriad and far-reaching implications.

• OPINION

  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.

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