Showing 1 - 10 of 342
Will poll be breakout or more of same?
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/02/2026
» As Thais go to the polls this Sunday, the most consequential question is whether Thailand will finally break out of its debilitating cycle of political instability and economic underperformance that has marked the past two decades. The signs and signals suggest otherwise -- at least not yet.
Three main parties and two directions
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 16/01/2026
» Although Thailand's election campaign is reaching fever pitch ahead of voting day on Feb 8, the dynamics and contours of its final outcome can be gleaned from past polls over the last 25 years. Only once in January 2001, as was indicated in this space last week, were voter results fully honoured and carried out. Other elections were either upended by military coups or manipulated by judicial interventions.
Poll perils persist
Oped, Editorial, Published on 15/01/2026
» As the election campaign intensifies ahead of the Feb 8 poll, a number of education outlets as well as media channels are churning out opinion survey results suggesting the popularity ratings of individual candidates.
Academic out of line
Oped, Editorial, Published on 02/01/2026
» A Facebook post by a well-known academic who ostracised a maverick politician believed to be Ratchanok Srinok, a firebrand former MP of the progressive People's Party, is causing an uproar.
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.
Securities and Exchange Commission shows its timidity
Oped, Editorial, Published on 08/12/2025
» From the surface, the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) probe into seven listed firms over suspicions that some shareholders may be linked to an international scam network is a welcome move.
Bibi's strategy to keep justice at arm's length
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 03/12/2025
» Israel's prime minister, Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, has just asked the country's president, Isaac Herzog, to "fully pardon" him of all three charges -- bribery, fraud and breach of trust -- that he has been on trial for since 2020. And the question is: Why did he only ask for it now?
Easy to cast blame
Oped, Postbag, Published on 01/12/2025
» Re: "Sad litany of flood missteps", (BP, Nov 30).
No-confidence and poll date in flux
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 14/11/2025
» Amid the drumbeats of military conflict with Cambodia, Thailand's political environment is evidently unruly and unsettled. The minority government of Anutin Charnvirakul, the third prime minister from the third largest-winning party since the latest national election in May 2023, is hard-pressed to stay in office beyond the four-month "Memorandum of Agreement" between his Bhumjaithai Party (BJT) and the People's Party (PP), the largest camp in the national assembly.
Sino-Thai family now new era partners
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 11/11/2025
» The long-awaited trip to China by His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and Her Majesty Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana is now official, with the state visit scheduled from Thursday to Monday. The historic visit will be the first by a reigning Thai monarch. Both countries, which established diplomatic ties in 1975, are also commemorating the golden jubilee of their friendship.