Showing 1-10 of 16 results
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Referee agencies and old political tricks
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 31/03/2023
» Almost three decades ago, Thai politics reached a critical threshold when public demands resulted in the establishment of a clutch of independent agencies to ensure the transparency and accountability of the political system and the stability and effectiveness of government.
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US presidential poll and implications
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/11/2020
» It is surprisingly unsurprising. Contrary to most polls and pundits, incumbent United States President Donald J Trump did not lose by a landslide in the presidential election this week. The final results are so close that both candidates, Mr Trump and Democratic Party rival Joe Biden, have claimed victory. Despite ongoing rancour and acrimony until the next US president is sworn in next January, several outcomes and implications are already clear.
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America at war within can't lead world
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 18/10/2019
» The extraordinary country that once touted itself and was seen by many as the "leader of the free world" is no longer so great. America, the fabled "city upon a hill" and beacon of freedom and democracy for the world, is unwell from within, wracked by nasty divisions and visceral polarisation.
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New cabinet puts power grab on display
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 12/07/2019
» As if to remind the Thai public of what the past five years of military-authoritarian rule has been all about, the first post-election cabinet under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha now represents the full manifestation of what was no less than a power grab.
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Gen Prayut's uncommon dictatorship
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 08/02/2019
» When confronted with the contention that Thailand's upcoming election is rigged and manipulated, the insiders and advisers of the Thai government will say otherwise. They argue that this poll is no more rigged than its predecessors and the incumbents and power holders of the day will naturally and understandably arrange for constitutional laws and election rules to be written to suit their interests and boost their poll chances. Some of this rationalisation is true, but most of it is self-interested hogwash.
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Eastern Economic Corridor must continue
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/12/2018
» As the election looms, the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will likely leave behind a very mixed legacy. Far from being a clean-up crew against graft and a technocratic team for effective policy performance when it seized power more than four years ago, this outgoing government has had its fair share of unaccountable corruption allegations and policy directions that merely served its own vested interests of staying in power after the polls.
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Prime Minister Prayut is no President Xi
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 16/03/2018
» That the Chinese Communist Party-controlled legislature has removed the term limits of the country's president and vice president has already sent shockwaves worldwide. It means that President Xi Jinping can continue to be China's head of state into a third term beyond 2023. Even though China's presidency is less powerful than the Chinese Communist Party's General Secretary and head of the Central Military Commission, the abolition of presidential term limits sends unmistakable signals that President Xi intends to hold complete and absolute power. He is now seen as more powerful than any contemporary Chinese leader, unrivalled since the time of founding father Mao Zedong.
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Thailand counts down to final, fond October
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/10/2017
» For the past four decades, the month of October has carried certain meanings and implications associated with a left-leaning student-led civil society uprising that overthrew a military dictatorship and a right-wing military-led suppression that crushed mostly university students and chased them into the jungle to join the local communist party.
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Implications from a divided America
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 18/11/2016
» In the immediate aftermath of the presidential election outcome in the United States, many Americans are dazed and divided. As Donald Trump has beaten Hillary Clinton against the vast majority of pre-election polls that had forecast otherwise, his supporters are calling it fair and square with a convincing victory in the Electoral College that elects presidents based on the popular vote.
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Turkish, Thai democracy and dictatorship
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 22/07/2016
» For coup-prone Thailand, Turkey's failed putsch has generated huge but ephemeral interest. When elements of the Turkish military rolled out the tanks and tried to seize power in Ankara and Istanbul, spectators in Bangkok naturally coalesced into two broad camps along the Thai divide, either for or against the putsch.
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