Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Can you do a better job of running Thailand? Apply here
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 31/03/2012
» Are you a crony capitalist at heart, yet skilful at using disgruntled communists to instil discipline and fear in the service of amassing even more wealth? Are you charismatic and unconstrained in your hunger for power?
Be wary of American offers
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 15/11/2012
» The highlight of Barack Obama's Thailand visit will be the moment he meets His Majesty the King, an elder statesman who addressed US Congress and consulted with world leaders well before the current US president was even born. It's a new page in a long reign that accounts for one third of the 180 years of bilateral friendship. A sturdy alliance of such duration is a meaningful accomplishment; something to reflect on, savour and celebrate.
All crackdowns are not equal
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 27/02/2013
» When politicians stake out the high moral ground and announce a crackdown, it can be a smokescreen for business as usual, or it can mean they really mean business.
The sacrifices we make for the promise of wealth
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 05/06/2013
» There's a tragicomic story about the power of money to corrupt absolutely. A billionaire comes back home from exile to share the wealth and exact revenge. Purse strings are pulled even before the billionaire's triumphant return, to ensure the people suffer and languish until their once-scorned saviour returns.
Snowden has no island, nor Quasimodo, to help him
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 08/07/2013
» 'Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" is the pathetic cry of the title character, played by Charles Laughton in the1939 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, when he frees the heroine from the hangman's noose and whisks her into the safety of sanctuary inside the cathedral, just in the nick of time.
The year of living dangerously, Thai-style
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 13/07/2013
» Bangkok has just become the world's No.1 tourist destination, and it couldn't have come at a worse time - not because the capital and the country haven't earned the accolade, and not because it isn't a fun place to visit, but because Thai society is brimming with contradictions that could break into conflict at any time.
Democracy as we know it is being poisoned
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 28/11/2013
» Thai democracy is in crisis because it is producing undemocratic results and practices.
Thailand's doomsday clock moves closer to midnight
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 23/01/2014
» The state of emergency is bad news for Thailand, bad news for believers in peaceful struggle and bad news for newspapers.
Junta’s legacy hinges on applying the law equally
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 30/05/2014
» It is easy to imagine a coup d’etat being a terrible bloody affair in countries without a history of coups because the populace would panic, over-react, or misread the signals. But in Thailand there is, oddly enough, a sense of continuity with the interplay of familiar archetypes in such abrupt political change.
An unexpectedly successful protest
Oped, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 23/09/2020
» A new generation of Thai protesters has broken into the open, and while their defiant self-image as the generation that will finally fix things may be naive, they have already left their mark with the unexpectedly successful demonstration at Sanam Luang in the heart of old Bangkok on Sept 19-20.