Showing 1 - 8 of 8
Thai diplomacy is now in need of a reset
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 24/06/2025
» For the record, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has committed the most damaging diplomatic blunder in Thailand's modern history. The leaked 17.6-minute audio clip of a phone call between her and former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was not just embarrassing -- it was devastating, not only for her but for the Thai people and the country.
'Davos Man' needs to acquire some social skills
Oped, Antara Haldar, Published on 04/02/2023
» One of the most iconic images of our time shows a polar bear marooned and adrift on an ice floe. Few other images capture the reality of climate change so viscerally. And now, ironically, Davos Man finds himself in a similar metaphorical position. His natural habitat, the hyper-globalised world of the past half-century, is shrinking, and he has gone from skiing in the Swiss Alps to skating on thin ice.
Rohingya refugees cannot be forgotten
Oped, Paul McPhun, Published on 24/08/2022
» I have spent nearly 30 years exposed to emergencies and humanitarian crises. Yet, standing at our "hospital on the hill" in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, now the world's largest refugee camp, I was taken by the sheer scale of this makeshift setting. A jumble of humanity packed together in precarious bamboo and plastic shelters, all contained within kilometres of razor wire fencing.
Come on baby, let's do the Twist
Oped, Roger Crutchley, Published on 10/04/2022
» The other day I heard on the radio Chubby Checker bursting forth with his 1960 hit 'The Twist'. It's not the greatest of songs but it sparked fond memories because it launched a dance craze which proved a social life-saver for me and many other shy teenagers.
City governor poll offers us a glimmer of hope
Oped, Atiya Achakulwisut, Published on 08/03/2022
» Following a long delay, the cabinet is expected to set the date for the Bangkok governor election for May 29, according to news reports. To say that it's long-awaited is an understatement.
Early implications of Russia's invasion
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 04/03/2022
» Just one week after his military invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has found some truisms of warfare the hard way. Once war starts, the fog that accompanies it and the friction that it creates lead to unanticipated and unintended outcomes. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, borne out of choice rather than necessity, appears to be dragging on, not the short and swift victory Mr Putin and his military planners might have envisaged. While Russia may still triumph on Ukrainian battlefields, it has lost the war just about everywhere else.
Pattaya needs sustainability
Oped, Editorial, Published on 03/09/2021
» Muang Pattaya municipality is rolling out its new tourism campaign -- "Pattaya Move On" -- in a bid to lure tourists back to the well-known resort town which has turned into something akin to a ghost town after almost two years of Covid-19.
Abuse of migrants, refugees counterproductive
Oped, Puttanee Kangkun, Published on 28/05/2020
» In April, a survey by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) found refugees, migrants and stateless persons in Thailand face insufficient income and lack access to proper hygiene, sanitation facilities and information to prevent the spread of Covid-19 within their communities. But arbitrary arrest and the potential of indefinite detention during a time of pandemic poses an even bigger threat to these communities in Thailand, and to Thailand itself.