Showing 51 - 60 of 99
5 years backwards under military rule
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/05/2019
» Now that five years have elapsed since Thailand's last military coup, it is an opportune juncture to take stock of where the country is heading. When it seized power in May 2014, the military junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order, initially had legitimacy from royal ascent and broad approval from its restoration of stability and order after more than half a year of street protests in Bangkok by the People's Democratic Reform Committee that was intent on overthrowing the Pheu Thai government.
Rail deals must have accountability
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/05/2019
» Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's recent participation in the second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing was problematic on many levels. On what basis did Gen Prayut negotiate a rail deal between Thailand and China? What are the details and cost-benefit considerations of this deal? The lack of transparency and public accountability surrounding the Thailand and China rail plan is likely to pose future questions and problems for a huge infrastructure project Thailand can use, but according to whose terms its people must be the main beneficiary.
Royal command sets a new balance
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 11/02/2019
» Thailand's political earthquake last Friday has caught observers at home and abroad off guard. Within half a day, Thai politics went through an unprecedented political roller coaster. It all ended with a press release from the royal palace at night, effectively reversing what had taken place in the morning.
All quiet on the Thai-Cambodian front
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 18/01/2019
» The Hun Sen government's decision last week to annul Cambodian passports issued to foreigners, reportedly including self-exiled former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, has brought Thai-Cambodian relations into focus once again. As has been reported in international and local media, Yingluck apparently used a Cambodian passport to register as the sole director of a Hong Kong company. The Cambodian authorities' continuing cooperation with Thailand's military government demonstrates a workable new pattern in the bilateral relationship that is a break from the past.
Asean chairmanship has many limitations
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 16/11/2018
» Just as all politics is ultimately local, all regionalism is mostly domestic. Such is the case with Asean. Whichever of the 10 member states chairs Asean, its role and performance tends to be domestically rooted. To envision and drive Asean forward requires deft leadership, bold ideas and smart diplomacy that must extend beyond and transcend parochial domestic concerns. No Asean member has shown this sort of farsighted regionalist ambition in recent years. Thailand appears on course to be no different when it chairs Asia's most durable organisation next year.
China's Belt & Road impact on Thailand
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 28/09/2018
» As China's ambitious Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and Maritime Silk Road (MSR) -- popularly known as the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI -- continues to make ripples and waves in international affairs, its likely impact on mainland Southeast Asia warrants attention. Unlike many of the countries on the Eurasian landmass and along waterways from the South China Sea through the Indian Ocean to eastern Africa, Thailand and its immediate neighbours are not directly on the BRI path.
Thailand's new military and new politics
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 05/10/2018
» Most likely not in accordance with his preference, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is finding out that the military high command he seized power with during the May 2014 coup will be fundamentally different when he leaves office.
Thailand's global standing at a low point
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 04/05/2018
» When the fourth anniversary of Thailand's coup comes to pass later this month, Thailand's foreign relations will be one of the many costs to be counted from the military government. While the Thai administration of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha insists otherwise, Thailand's international standing has sunk to its lowest point. One of the immediate tasks facing the elected government after the poll will be to rectify and restore Thailand's international reputation.
Graft gobbling up our dream of democracy
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 20/04/2018
» Corruption lurks everywhere where power intersects interest. No country is immune to it. At issue is what happens when corruption happens. News headlines against corruption in major Asian countries this week suggest that Thailand is lagging behind in the anti-corruption struggle. Countries can stay behind in all manner of well-being indicators from growth and education to infrastructure and healthcare, but being left behind by the scourge of corruption is ultimately the worst of all.
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.