Showing 1 - 10 of 21
Thailand needs a geostrategic rebalance
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/06/2025
» With two military coups and multiple judicial interventions that combined to subvert election results and weaken democratic institutions over the past two decades, it is unsurprising that Thailand's geostrategic position has leaned increasingly towards China. Naturally, the more Thailand becomes autocratic, the more it will be estranged from established democracies in Europe and North America, as well as Japan and South Korea, with nowhere to turn but to Beijing. But this China orientation is a geostrategic mistake at this time. Thailand should correct its course until clearer signs emerge as to which side of the superpower struggle will come out on top.
Chambers case must end
Oped, Editorial, Published on 02/05/2025
» Thailand's economy is under strain. Tariff talks with the Trump administration are stalled. Growth is plunging. Global tensions are rising. The last thing the country needs is a diplomatic crisis triggered by a flimsy lèse majesté charge -- especially one that the public prosecutor now refuses to pursue.
Bail is still a human right
Oped, Editorial, Published on 11/04/2025
» The royal defamation lawsuit against American academic Paul Chambers -- who initially had his bail requests denied twice -- has dealt a fresh blow to Thailand's already tarnished human rights record.
Thailand lags in the global trade war
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 11/04/2025
» Thailand is fast isolating itself from the international community and falling behind in the emerging geoeconomic warfare to the detriment of its economy and people. The elected government of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is ironically coming up with outcomes that resemble those of the military administration a decade ago. Thailand must now move quickly to contain policy damage and restore its international standing to navigate and come out of the intensifying geoeconomic war in as decent a shape as possible.
What about us?
Oped, Postbag, Published on 15/02/2024
» Re: "Govt working on visa-free travel deal", (BP, Feb 13).
Klity Creek revisited
Oped, Editorial, Published on 24/01/2024
» Despite a court victory for cleanup efforts and an investment of over 800 million baht of taxpayers' money to rid Klity Creek of toxic lead sediment, the creek remains as polluted as ever.
App won't end pollution
Oped, Editorial, Published on 18/04/2023
» Nineteen years after Na Phra Lan district in Saraburi -- which is home to a number of major stone mills and cement plants -- was declared a pollution control zone, the government surprised the whole nation by announcing that it is planning to develop a "web-based app" to collect local residents' health information.
Boost teen mums' pride, forget the pity
Oped, Natthanicha Lephilibert, Published on 22/03/2023
» The raw deal, the sexual chagrin. In this week's case, a daughter was molested by a father who even recorded the sexual abuse on his own mobile phone. Yet the news that captured society and media attention was that of a 17-year-old mother named "Nim" -- not her real name, who claimed that her 8-month-old son was kidnapped in Nakhon Pathom province. She subsequently changed her story and told police she accidentally dropped the child, and he died from injuries sustained in the fall.
'Thainess' needs rethink
Oped, Editorial, Published on 01/12/2022
» The Education Ministry has faced a torrent of criticism for its initiative to single out history as an individual subject from the social cluster in school curricula.
Better design of roads can save lives
Oped, Jitlaykha Sukruay and Atcharaporn Ariyasunthorn, Published on 27/04/2022
» The tragic death of Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul, an ophthalmologist with Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine, who was hit by a powerful big bike as she was negotiating a zebra crossing in January highlights a sad fact about the danger pedestrians face in their everyday lives.