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  • News & article

    Thai global standing at all-time low

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 17/02/2023

    » Although it will not lead to a no-confidence vote, the general debate in Thailand's parliament this week has further weakened the coalition government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, undermining its chances of re-election as the next general election looms. Among the many bombshell allegations of corruption, cronyism and sheer incompetence tabled by opposition parties, Thailand's international credibility and reputation have come into focus. Compared to its past role and performance, it appears that Thailand's global standing is at an all-time low.

  • News & article

    Reversing Myanmar's internal strife

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 10/02/2023

    » This month marks two anniversaries of ongoing conflicts in Europe and Southeast Asia, namely 12 months after Russia invaded Ukraine and two years since Myanmar's military seized power by toppling a democratically elected and civilian-led government under Aung San Suu Kyi.

  • News & article

    Thailand's bankrupt Myanmar policy

    Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 17/06/2022

    » Few signboards foretell the global issues of our time better than what is addressed at the annual meetings of the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) in Singapore. After a pandemic-induced two-year hiatus, the most recent SLD covered the gamut on the main stage, from the United States-China geostrategic competition and military modernisation to security cooperation and climate change. The only anomalous single- and small-country focus in a special session was Myanmar.

  • News & article

    Seeing Asean straight as Thailand chairs

    News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 21/06/2019

    » When Asean organises big meetings, the tendency for the host is to talk up a brouhaha. So it goes with the 34th Asean summit under Thailand's rotating chairmanship this year. By year's end, several hundred Asean-related meetings will have taken place, highlighted by the final annual summitry in October-November that will include top leaders from China, India, Japan, Russia, the United States, among others.

  • News & article

    Elections, corruption and Thai democracy

    News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 16/02/2018

    » People at home and abroad are calling for elections in Thailand on the premise of returning democracy to a country that has been under nearly four years of military government. But elections cannot bring genuine democracy if blatant corruption rears its head in open daylight with utter impunity. No doubt elections will be needed to get rid of the current set of military rulers but democracy in Thailand requires the strengthening of its democratic institutions that are so shoddy and woeful.

  • News & article

    Reality sets in three years after the coup

    News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/05/2017

    » Three years after it seized power in Thailand's 13th successful coup in 85 years, the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha appears embattled. Growing popular grievances have focused on Thailand's economic doldrums, persistent corruption, intractable polarisation, and a problematic roadmap to return to democratic rule. In addition, a string of mysterious bomb blasts in Bangkok with murky implications has recently undermined the political stability and social calm that the National Council for Peace and Order was supposed to be good at achieving.

  • News & article

    Thai-US relations back on the move again?

    News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/06/2017

    » Soon after the Asean Summit in April, United States President Donald J Trump placed phone calls to three Southeast Asian leaders and invited them to the White House.

  • News & article

    Post-Obama America's 'rebalance' to Asia

    News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/06/2016

    » As the United States' presidential election kicks into higher gear with the upcoming nominations of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as the Democratic and Republican party candidates vying for top office, Asian countries, and Asean in particular, are concerned about what will happen to outgoing President Barack Obama's "rebalance" (also known as the "pivot") strategy to Asia. The "rebalance" is likely to be a lasting legacy of President Obama's foreign policy accomplishments. It has provided Asian countries from Myanmar and Vietnam to the Philippines with a counterbalance to China's increasing regional footprints. But the future of the rebalance hangs in the balance.

  • News & article

    Mekong mainland coalesces after Asean rift

    News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 29/07/2016

    » Although it was established 49 years ago, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as we know it has been around only since 1999 when Cambodia joined Southeast Asia's premier regional organisation as its 10th member state after Laos and Myanmar had entered two years earlier. Asean was originally set up on different rationales and for different purposes than what it has become today as a loosely structured grouping of a diplomatic community with ambitious regionalisation plans that require a central strategic role in Asia.

  • News & article

    TIP shows a Thai-US alliance under strain

    News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 31/07/2015

    » That Thailand has remained on the United States' Tier 3 in Trafficking in Persons list is unsurprising. Even the government of Gen Prayut Chan-ocha has accepted the Tier 3 designation with resignation in the hope of an upgrade in future. What is more interesting is the trend in Thai-US relations over the past decade.

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