Showing 51 - 60 of 72
What to look for in Thai election results
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 22/03/2019
» Elections are often a referendum on incumbencies. Voters are asked whether they like what they have seen from government and whether they want continuity or change in view of competing alternatives. In the same vein, Thailand's momentous election on March 24, after a nearly eight-year hiatus that includes almost five years under military-authoritarian rule, is an opportunity to see what the governed prefer to have as their government. Here are some of early telltale signs that portend the political directions ahead.
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.
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.
Policy ideas absent from poll campaign
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 01/03/2019
» As the election campaign season moves into full swing after a nearly eight-year hiatus, many will see it as the same old tired routine of politicians smearing each other, slinging mud and squabbling all the way to the poll and beyond.
Thailand's year of hunting normality
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 11/01/2019
» Three related events that will shape Thailand's path this year and beyond are evidently the coronation of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, the much-anticipated election, and the once-a-decade rotational chairmanship of Asean.
Election Commission must assert itself
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 25/01/2019
» Thailand is supposed to have an independent Election Commission (EC) that oversees all electoral contests from local polls to national referendums. But as Thailand heads towards a general election on March 24, the seven-member EC has appeared less than eager and enthusiastic and too beholden to government preferences in staging what will be Thailand's first election in nearly nine years.
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.
An ex-cop who has no fear of the generals
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 14/12/2018
» Over the past four and a half years of military government, the Thai people have been physically cowed. Sure, there are many, possibly a silent majority, who may be waiting for the poll to have their say in opposition to the military junta that seized power in May 2014, led by then-army chief Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the incumbent prime minister. But few have been able and willing to stand up and stare down the ruling generals who routinely resort to intimidation and coercion, armed with guns and the law, which they sometimes interpret as they see fit. Just about everyone in Thailand is physically afraid of the junta in one way or another. Otherwise, there would have been more anti-junta demonstrations in public view.
Global turmoil and Thailand's political reset
News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 21/12/2018
» As the world moves into 2019, there is a consensus that the roughly seven-decade-old rules-based liberal international order no longer works. Either it has to be fundamentally revamped to suit new realities and the international distribution of power and wealth, or it will be increasingly violated and marginalised. In a remarkable parallel, Thailand's hitherto political order that lasted about seven decades also requires adjustment and recalibration.
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.