• THAILAND

  Revenge of the kamnan

  News, Alan Dawson, Published on 22/01/2017

  » It had been 975 days since the military regime did anything to justify the coup d'etat that was needed specifically to bring happiness back to the people by national reconciliation. So the general prime minister named a 98-man, three tier committee of otherwise unemployed two-, three- and four-starred green shirts to draw daily allowances and proceed to bring about unity.

• OPINION

  Military firepower

  News, Alan Dawson, Published on 06/01/2019

  » There are certain people who have stayed quiet for four-plus years who now are emerging with little bravado.

• OPINION

  Signs of concern

  News, Alan Dawson, Published on 01/07/2018

  » The general prime minister said last week that he really doesn't even want to talk about an election before September. Also, there won't be an election until he's able to announce the success of his programme of national reconciliation.

• OPINION

  Long and winding roadmap

  News, Alan Dawson, Published on 01/04/2018

  » Question: Is it more scary, or less scary, that the junta doesn't have an actual plan slash conspiracy to keep itself in power? That it has extended its time and generous pay and perks without any design ever since the phantom 2015 election?

• THAILAND

  What, we worry?

  News, Alan Dawson, Published on 18/02/2018

  » Last week filled out the cast of the least-awaited drama in Thai TV news history, <i>The Untouchables: Bred Men Walking</i>, starring the Watchman, the FAT man and the Catman.

• OPINION

  Punishment and crime

  News, Alan Dawson, Published on 10/09/2017

  » A country without clear rule of law is a nation adrift. Citizens have pride, patriotism but little control or input to their own country's future.

• OPINION

  What he's thinking

  News, Alan Dawson, Published on 24/09/2017

  » The election campaign began rolling in earnest last week. Now if only the government had kept its promise and actually had an election. Minor detail, perhaps, but memories are so short when they operate on political bias that it's good to do history.

• THAILAND

  The more things change

  News, Alan Dawson, Published on 19/03/2017

  » A military regime is in power. It is driving Meechai Ruchupan's new constitution and passels of laws through its handpicked National Assembly to enable and ensure military hands on power even after it nominally returns to the barracks to allow elections the red shirts will probably win again. It has a new Computer Crime Act to intimidate and if necessary incarcerate infuriating pests complaining about lack of democracy. Oh, and almost forgot: it's not 2017.

• OPINION

  The big issue: A not-so-free press

  Alan Dawson, Published on 20/09/2015

  » The prime minister explained that reporters can be idjits, which is true, and the soon-to-be police chief said reporters are the reason he can’t catch the Yellow T-Shirt Guy, which is not. All in the game, as we shall see, but the most devastating blow in decades to freedom of the press in Thailand came from ... the press.

• OPINION

  About that reconciliation ...

  News, Alan Dawson, Published on 25/01/2015

  » The bad news could not have come faster or more unpleasantly on Friday afternoon.

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