• OPINION

  Backstabbing mars test kits debate

  News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 23/08/2021

  » When the first two Delta variant cases were detected in Thailand from a Thai woman and her four-year old child returning from Pakistan in May, no one would have thought the fast-spreading Covid-19 strain would conquer Thailand in just three months.

• OPINION

  Mass jab hopes a crucial test for Prayut

  News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 31/05/2021

  » Despite reassurances from Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul that the mass Covid-19 vaccinations for people over 60 and those suffering from seven non-communicable underlying diseases across the country will proceed as scheduled on June 7, scepticism remains strong among many about whether this administration can still be trusted after repeated blunders in the handling of the pandemic.

• OPINION

  Ripe time to learn from Taiwan

  News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 18/05/2020

  » The name "Taiwan" seems to be a taboo in Thailand, particularly in officialdom. From the prime minister at the top down to the lowest ranking officials, scarcely any of them mention Taiwan or Taiwan's extraordinary success story in containing Covid-19 as early as March, without resorting to all the lockdown measures being adopted by most countries -- including Thailand -- as they struggle to prevent the spread of the contagion.

• OPINION

  Govt opts for coronavirus middle road

  News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 03/02/2020

  » Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has come under heavy criticism from critics for doing too little too slowly to handle the serious health threat posed by novel coronavirus 2019, now declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a global health emergency.

• OPINION

  Prospects of a bumpy year ahead

  News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 23/12/2019

  » New Year is a week from now. But it won't be a happy New Year for quite a few of us, especially grassroots people such as farmers and blue-collar workers.

• OPINION

  Military spend makes budget a hard sell

  News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 21/10/2019

  » The opposition's decision to abstain in the voting on the government's 3.2-trillion-baht budget bill for the 2020 fiscal year is a smart move that makes them look reasonable and not a "bad guy" who opposes everything associated with the government simply because they are in opposition.

• OPINION

  Treading a fine line over China

  News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 14/10/2019

  » The statement in Thai which was issued last Friday by the Chinese embassy in Thailand, reprimanding an unnamed Thai politician for allegedly meddling in Hong Kong protests is quite unprecedented and very rare.

• OPINION

  Stalling on chemical ban must end

  News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 07/10/2019

  » Huge banners declaring support for a total ban of herbicides paraquat and glyphosate and pesticide chlorpyrifos have recently been erected at many state-run provincial hospitals, in what appears to be an escalated campaign by the Ministry of Public Health to warn people of the danger posed by the three toxic substances widely used among Thai farmers to kill weeds and insects.

• OPINION

  Cabinet throwing up some odd ideas

  News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 26/08/2019

  » Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, a new face in the government, has been dealt a blow with his first proposal to the cabinet to waive visa application fees for tourists from China and India.

• OPINION

  Wobbly days ahead for the next govt

  News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 03/06/2019

  » Whether you like it or not, the incumbent premier and military regime leader Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha will most likely be elected the prime minister in parliament on Wednesday albeit with or without the full support of the Democrat Party because he has in his pocket 250 junta-appointed senators who are expected to vote for him. All he needs is a minimum of 376 votes from both the elected MPs and the senators.

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