• OPINION

  Thailand's tale told via 'The Nation'

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 28/06/2019

  » Nearly five decades ago, The Nation newspaper started out as a pro-democracy, anti-military news organisation. It was fiercely independent and invariably hard-hitting vis-à-vis the powers-that-be. An English-language newspaper owned by Thais from the outset, it prided itself for having neither fear nor favour. Its lamentable expiry as a print newspaper today -- an online version will continue -- provides multiple parallels for Thailand's contemporary political history, ongoing polarisation and the changing nature of the business of journalism worldwide.

• 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

  Thai police graft highlights bigger issues

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/04/2024

  » There is no bigger news on the current Thai political scene than corruption among the top echelons of the police force. At issue is the tussle between Thailand's two senior-most cops, Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn and Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol, both accusing each other of being on the take. Their high-stakes feud would normally be a run-of-the-mill story for the infamously shady Thai police but this case has become a mirror and microcosm of structural graft that is corroding the highest corridors of politics, economy, and society.

• OPINION

  Thailand between the US and China

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 29/03/2024

  » Amid what now has to be acknowledged as a direct non-military conflict and a geoeconomic war of sorts between the United States and China, Thailand is in a quandary. While characterising Thailand's geostrategic dilemma as a US-China binary can be exaggerated and misleading, it does have a point. As with many other developing countries in the region, Thailand will come under increasing pressure to choose between the two competing superpowers. The ability not to choose thus becomes an overarching geostrategic objective.

• OPINION

  Prospects at home and abroad in 2024

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 05/01/2024

  » Overlooked but deeply consequential, 2024 will be the first time in a decade that Thailand is ruled by a civilian-led government. Whatever frustration and disenchantment that arise this year, memories must not run short. Thailand suffered deeply under the coup-backed regime of Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. Seeing his back is politically good riddance, and having Srettha Thavisin as a thoroughly civilian and pro-business prime minister bodes well for the country. Yet Mr Srettha has his work cut out to boost the economy, address constitutional reform, restore Thailand's international standing, and stay in office into next year amid the global economic slowdown.

• OPINION

  What's next for post-Thaksin Thailand?

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 08/09/2023

  » The formation of a new coalition government under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has closed a two-decade chapter in Thai politics.

• OPINION

  Global, regional, local trends for 2023

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 23/12/2022

  » Although economic predictions are usually reserved for the foolhardy, as the future is always difficult to ascertain, there are certain trend lines and probabilities that can be discerned at the global and regional level as well as the local level here in Thailand. As a year-end exercise, we can tease out a few contours with a reasonably high degree of probability.

• OPINION

  Geopolitical takeaways from SEA meets

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 25/11/2022

  » Southeast Asia's summit season has come and gone with takeaways that concurrently eased geopolitical tensions and underlined risks that could lead to future global conflict. The three major summits -- the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Phnom Penh, the G20 in Bali, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) in Bangkok -- also demonstrated that the Covid-19 pandemic over 2020-21 has been practically overcome as in-person meetings are back in full force. Overall, the three hosts came away with mixed highlights.

• OPINION

  Apec's geopolitics and geoeconomics

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 11/11/2022

  » The upcoming leaders' meeting in Bangkok among the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) should be seen in conjunction with its preceding Asean-related summits in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and the G20 summit in Bali, the Indonesian island resort. This one-two-three combination in three Southeast Asian countries over a ten-day period is supposed to showcase Asean's central role in the promotion of peace, security and prosperity in the region and the wider world. But as Asean's summit season gets underway in Cambodia, excitement and promise have given way to anxieties and apprehensions. While these summit talks are an extraordinary opportunity to tone down geopolitical temperatures and geoeconomic competition, they are likely to yield mixed results.

• OPINION

  Chadchart's effect on Thai politics

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 27/05/2022

  » Among the myriad of implications over Chadchart Sittipunt's thumping triumph in Bangkok's gubernatorial election last Sunday is the restoration of Thailand's self-confidence and Thais' sense of belief that tomorrow will be better than today. After years of political decay and entrenching economic stagnation stemming from societal divisions, Mr Chadchart brings into office what has been described as a "rainbow" coalition made up of people from different walks of life and political party lines, transcending the progressive and conservative sides of the political divide.

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