Showing 1 - 10 of 403
Implications of conservative triumph
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 13/02/2026
» The incumbent and conservative Bhumjaithai (BJT) Party has surprisingly swept Thailand's Feb 8 election with a commanding win. With the previously poll-leading and progressive People's Party (PP) coming in a distant second, Thailand appears headed for a conservative coalition government revolving around BJT and like-minded junior partners. Known for its conservative stance and being pro-status quo, it would not be surprising if the BJT-led coalition government, led by Prime Minister-elect Anutin Charnvirakul, were not challenged by the Constitutional Court, the Election Commission, and other supervisory agencies, which have derailed and dissolved reform-minded winning parties in the past.
Surviving the collapse of the population
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 13/02/2026
» 'To them that hath shall [more] be given" is generally a reliable guide, especially in economic matters, but it doesn't work if the beneficiaries are too stupid to take advantage of the gift. The scarce and precious commodity in this case being people, who are in increasingly short supply.
50-party race comes down to just this
Oped, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 09/02/2026
» By the time this opinion piece goes into print, the unofficial outcome of Sunday's election will already have been announced by the Election Commission. Which of the two front-running parties, Bhumjaithai and the People's Party, has emerged the winner and earned the right to form the new government will also be known.
Reflect, respect and celebrate
Oped, Angela Macdonald, Published on 26/01/2026
» Australia Day 2026 is an opportunity to reflect on our nation, history and achievements. We are grateful to celebrate this occasion with our colleagues, partners and friends here in Thailand, a country with whom Australia shares a long and enduring partnership, and a country close to Australians' hearts.
Three shocks that shook us in 2025
Oped, Yanis Varoufakis, Published on 24/12/2025
» This was the year that the remaining pillars of the late-20th-century order were shattered, exposing the hollow core of what passed for a global system. Three blows sufficed.
Baht headache
Oped, Postbag, Published on 18/12/2025
» Re: "BoT cracks down on surging baht", (Business, Dec 17). While the baht's currency strength is an ever-more concerning issue, as pointed out numerous times, what is rarely mentioned is the likely excess Thai foreign reserves, nearing an astonishing US$270 billion.
A lesson in geoengineering for grown-ups
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/12/2025
» A few days ago the European Union's Earth Observation programme, "Copernicus", made a special announcement at the end of its monthly report on the state of the climate. It said that the average global temperature for the past three years (2023-2025) has been 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level. That's the level we were warned that we must never exceed.
The treacherous sycophancy of the populists
Oped, Michael Burleigh, Published on 15/12/2025
» Until a few days ago, it had never crossed my mind that people across Europe -- including Londoners like me -- were living in a strife‑afflicted hell hole, "suffocated" by regulations, stripped of political liberties, and bound for "civilisational erasure". So, it was with some surprise that I read this assessment in the new US National Security Strategy -- a document that echoes pseudo‑intellectual propaganda more than resembling any serious foreign‑policy analysis.
Socialism's novel brand of nomenclature
Oped, John J Metzler, Published on 18/11/2025
» On Nov 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall collapsed. On a very ordinary night, thousands of East Germans started crossing the dividing barrier between the communist East and capitalist West Berlin after the East German regime had suddenly opened tightly controlled border crossings. In a matter of hours, history was made. Throngs of people soon swamped the Wall and then started smashing the hated communist barrier into concrete rubble.
Adam Smith and the moral economy we have lost
Oped, Antara Haldar, Published on 12/11/2025
» With the 250th anniversary of The Wealth of Nations approaching next year, the world is gearing up to honour Adam Smith. But which Smith should be recognised? The hard-nosed "founding father" of modern economics, or the philosopher who wrote The Theory of Moral Sentiments? Scholars have wrestled with this question, a riddle known as "Das Adam Smith Problem", for centuries, because it concerns not just dualities within Smith's thought, but also our own uneasy relationship with morality and markets.