Showing 1 - 10 of 23
An Ithaca idyll with Surin Pitsuwan
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 04/12/2017
» During Surin Pitsuwan's visit to Ithaca, New York, this past September, a barbecue party was arranged by long-time family friends who live on the edge of town where the still lush and green rural surroundings could at a glance be mistaken for rural Thailand. Chickens cackled in a nearby coop and birdsong was everywhere in the air.
Time running out on Tokyo Olympics
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 19/02/2020
» Japan needs to rethink the Olympics. The most pressing reason to postpone or cancel the 2020 Tokyo summer games, which are due to start in late July, is a raging public health crisis of unknown dimensions.
Ajarn Ben's Southeast Asian analyses still enlighten
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 15/12/2015
» When I studied with Benedict Anderson at Cornell University in 1974, he seemed the quintessential absent-minded professor; at once erudite and bookish, idealistic and dreamy-eyed. The fact he had just been kicked out of Indonesia only added to his aura. Giving lectures about coups and counter-coups and revolutionary martyrs, he'd pace the front of the classroom in clunky boots and mismatched outfits, captivating class attention with his soft but mellifluous Irish-accented voice.
The unbearable bleakness of government TV news
Oped, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 17/10/2020
» The outpouring of popular dissent on Wednesday proved to be a flash in the pan; by dawn the next morning, the sit-in at Government House had been disbanded, rank and file protesters were sent packing and the protest leaders were put under arrest.
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.
Saiyud proves military and democracy compatible
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 17/03/2016
» At this very moment, we need no further proof to realise that military men and democracy are always on the opposite side. Yet every rule has an exception.
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.
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.
Might and right: The power of one man
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 17/02/2014
» Chess maestro Garry Kasparov has made a small but meaningful contribution to free speech in journalistic circles by challenging the widely-held taboo about invoking Hitler's name as a cautionary warning.
Suthep has mastered the art of hard-to-heart talk
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 03/03/2014
» To borrow a formulation often used to describe democracy, a peaceful overthrow of a rotten regime is the worst possible option, except for all the others.