• OPINION

  Misguided myopia of asking the rich

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/04/2020

  » Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's initiative to seek more cooperation and assistance from Thailand's 20 wealthiest billionaires is understandable. Thailand needs all the help it can get to handle and manage the social and economic ravages of the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis. But making an appeal in writing from the top to the country's richest is short-sighted and misguided on many levels. It displays a government at the end of its tether and a leader who is being forced to own up to mismanaging the country for the past six years.

• OPINION

  Where have the media reformers gone?

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 18/02/2022

  » After two decades marked by two military coups in 2006 and 2014, Thailand is supposed to be a "reformed" country by now. While all kinds of reforms were promised with each military takeover -- from political parties, parliament and constitution to the bureaucracy, military and police -- none has taken place. In fact, pledged reforms have gone in the opposite direction in the past. Nowhere is this reaction and restoration of old power and interests more evident than in Thailand's media industry.

• OPINION

  Prayut govt stuck in self-made trap

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 02/07/2021

  » Thailand's multi-layered crises from persistent virus infections and vaccine shortages to economic damage are building up into a potential political upheaval. The ravaging Covid-19 crisis is worse than the infamous Tom Yum Kung economic crisis in 1997-98. This time, the military-predominant government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is stuck in multiple traps of its own making. Getting out of this predicament means the pandemic situation is likely to get a lot worse before any hope of recovery and way forward can be found.

• OPINION

  Coronavirus blues and clues in Thailand

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 17/04/2020

  » It is unanimous that the novel coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. A common refrain everywhere in the world is "I have never seen anything like it". Its immediate consequences and longer-term transformational repercussions will be felt for years to come. Covid-19 challenges individuals, societies and state institutions to their very core. For Thailand, re-emerging from this devastating pandemic will be tough and tricky, with trade-offs and hard choices.

• OPINION

  RCEP without India poses new hurdles

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 08/11/2019

  » On the face of it, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is an Indo-Pacific trade pact that would shore up the stalled world trade liberalisation and stem the rising tide of protectionism in the global economy. India's withdrawal from the RCEP -- whose other 15 members comprise the 10 Asean economies along with China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand -- is a major setback, posing new challenges for the Asean-centred trade bloc. Asean should persuade India to return to the RCEP fold, while preparing for a much less promising RCEP15 as second-best outcome.

• OPINION

  Poll results point to clear way forward

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/04/2019

  » Despite the controversy and confusion over Thailand's March 24 election outcome, its immediate and far-reaching implications are indisputable.

• OPINION

  Prospects after Cambodia's fabricated poll

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 27/07/2018

  » While Thailand has a seemingly indefinite military government with no clear poll date, Cambodia is holding an election on July 29 with a foregone conclusion. After methodically taken apart oppositional forces, the incumbent government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, under the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), is set to win a landslide. At issue now will be what happens after the election. At least three dynamics are in play. How they intersect and enmesh will determine Cambodia's political future.

• OPINION

  'New normal' after South China Sea ruling

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 15/07/2016

  » However the Philippines-China verdict is viewed and whatever its immediate consequences, the landmark ruling by the dispute-settling Arbitral Tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will bring about a "new normal" in Southeast Asia that portends more regional tensions and potential conflict in the longer term. This "new normal" means that the status quo ex ante prior to Philippines' recourse to the Tribunal in January 2013 will not be restored.

• OPINION

  Discipline key to avoiding financial crisis

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/07/2015

  » Without exception, financial blow-ups require commensurate bailouts. The stories across global financial crises are fundamentally similar, and the ensuing blame game the same, from Greece's ongoing turmoil to Thailand's implosion almost two decades ago. Notwithstanding countless post-mortems so far and those on the way, the inescapable and essential lessons from the Greek debacle are simple: Beware of indebtedness, and incur debt with discipline.

• OPINION

  Time to go all the way in corruption fight

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 12/12/2014

  » There has never been a better time to step up and solidify anti-corruption efforts in Thailand.

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