• OPINION

  The continuing crisis of Thai democracy

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 11/08/2023

  » The prolonged volatility and instability in Thai politics attest to a continuing crisis of democracy since the military coup in September 2006. It is characterised by the nature, direction and duration of government after an election. Unless the poll-topping political party is backed by the conservative military-authoritarian regime, it is either not allowed to take power or gets overthrown while in office before completing its term. This crisis of Thai democracy has now persisted since the May 14 poll, as the formation of the next government remains stuck in a stalemate.

• OPINION

  Thai charter court deserves scrutiny

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 04/08/2023

  » Amid the volatility and confusion during the interim since the May 14 election, Thailand's Constitutional Court has further thickened the plot by accepting a petition to rule on whether a parliamentary vote using the meeting rules to deny the renomination of Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat's premiership was unconstitutional.

• 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

  Trump gamesmanship risks Asean ties

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 15/11/2019

  » Apart from India's withdrawal from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the other memorable outcome of the recent Asean Summit and 14th East Asia Summit was the second consecutive absence of US President Donald Trump.

• OPINION

  Is the Indo-Pacific eclipsing Asia-Pacific?

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 02/08/2019

  » Thailand and the smaller states in its neighbourhood will miss the Asia-Pacific era. It is not as if the Asia-Pacific has gone away or disappeared in any sense. But its role as a cradle of prosperity linking larger and small economies around the Pacific Rim may have passed its peak. In its place is the Indo-Pacific, which thus far lacks a trade-liberalisation and economic growth component so integral to the Asia-Pacific.

• OPINION

  Thais, their late King and the last goodbye

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 20/10/2017

  » Context will be hard to come by this coming week as Thais bid farewell to their late monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and his 70-year reign whose light gave out on Oct 13 last year. There is a mismatch of seeing Thailand today with all of its modernity and cosmopolitanism compared to how the country was shaped and formed in earlier decades. To understand the spectacle and outpouring of grief and respect this week leading to the cremation of King Bhumibol next Thursday, it is instructive to look back at the distance Thailand has travelled from where it began rather than its direction and destination, which are important but for another time.

• OPINION

  Thailand counts down to final, fond October

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/10/2017

  » For the past four decades, the month of October has carried certain meanings and implications associated with a left-leaning student-led civil society uprising that overthrew a military dictatorship and a right-wing military-led suppression that crushed mostly university students and chased them into the jungle to join the local communist party.

• OPINION

  Is the Thai-Chinese railway a raw deal?

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 23/06/2017

  » Despite repeated assurances to the contrary from the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the planned Thai-Chinese high-speed rail continues to attract scepticism. The government's explanation does not add up. Instead, it exposes the weaknesses and ill-effects of using unchecked power under Section 44 of the coup-sanctioned interim constitution, which is somehow allowed under the 2017 charter. In the longer term, the Thai-Chinese railway may end up being a raw deal for Thailand, and many Thais may not look back favourably toward China for it.

• OPINION

  Aftermath of Thailand's failed UNSC bid

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 08/07/2016

  » Thais generally want Thailand to do well anywhere. When it comes to sports, for example, we have even learned the rules of volleyball to support our women's national team, which has shot up from nowhere to be in the global top 10. But when it comes to diplomacy, where Thailand used to be world class, local cheering recently has not led to international results.

• OPINION

  Mitigating intractable 'boat people' crisis

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 29/05/2015

  » Beyond a few obvious facts, working out what to do with the many thousands of "boat people" who have been stuck in the vast sea straddling South and Southeast Asia in pursuit of jobs and better livelihoods is difficult to come by.

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