Showing 1 - 10 of 67
'Scam-gate' deserves full accounting
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/10/2025
» The explosive revelations and allegations of regional cybercrimes and scam networks have hit Thailand head-on and placed the government of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in an awkward and defensive position. As more facts surrounding what looks like a labyrinthine cross-border multibillion-dollar transnational criminal ring come to light, more questions have surfaced with no clear answers. The Anutin government needs to come clean and avoid a "scam-gate" of cover-ups and lies at the expense of countless scammed victims across many countries.
Singapore turns 60 with much to show
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 08/08/2025
» No country turns 60 like Singapore. In a neighbourhood of political dynasties and varying shades of autocracies and flawed democracies, the little island state of six million got lucky with its strongman rule. When he died in 2015, Singapore's patriarchal founder Lee Kuan Yew left a great country behind. This weekend, Singaporeans can take stock of what's gone by and rightly celebrate its milestone with much to show for.
Southeast Asia facing hidden extremist threat
Oped, Muhammad Makmun Rasyid, Published on 07/07/2025
» In May, Indonesia's counter-terrorism unit arrested an 18-year-old man in Gowa, South Sulawesi, on charges of spreading Islamic State (IS) propaganda and inciting bomb attacks on social media. Identified only as MAS, the suspect represents a deeply troubling development in Southeast Asia's struggle against terrorism: the rise of youth radicalisation driven entirely by online exposure.
An anniversary worth celebrating
Oped, Jonathan Kings, Published on 24/06/2025
» This year marks a significant milestone for New Zealand's relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) -- 50 years of formal dialogue relations. This anniversary is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to this important partnership and a strong future together.
As US retreats, will it be China's world or Europe's?
Oped, Orville Schell, Published on 11/04/2025
» 'Today we're in one era, and tomorrow we'll be in a different era," President Donald Trump loudly proclaimed from the White House Rose Garden as he hiked US tariffs to their highest level since 1909. "No one's done anything quite like this!"
How China and Japan's values 'differ'
Oped, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 05/12/2024
» Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad famously saluted "Asian values" citing "diffidence" as one of the characteristics that ostensibly made Asians different, though he did so in an arrogant, attention-grabbing kind of way. More successful was his "Look East Policy", (which, from the geographic confines of Malaysia is actually the Philippines) and there was no mistaking that it was Japan that Mr Mahathir had in mind, with China hovering somewhere out of focus in the background.
Fujimori's Peru and the price of neoliberal success
Oped, Antara Haldar, Published on 10/10/2024
» The script of Latin American politics too often reads like a "dictator novel," and on Sept 11, another chapter drew to a close with the death of Alberto Fujimori. As the president who most defined -- and divided -- modern Peru, his legacy remains a topic of heated debate. One version of Fujimori's epitaph would commend his economics and condemn his politics, but the deeper lesson his life story offers may be that it is impossible to separate the two.
Isan farmer's tale
Postbag, Published on 25/09/2024
» Re: "Bangkok's Chula Uni relocates launch of book critical of military off-campus", (Online, Sept 23).
Asia's consumer tipping point
Oped, Juan Caballero & Wolfgang Fengler, Published on 17/09/2024
» With market turmoil recently capturing headlines, it is easy to lose sight of the long-term forces which have been shaping Asia's development. While Asian markets, especially the Nikkei, experienced sharp losses in recent weeks, a positive tipping point has been reached as well: for the first time ever, over half of Asia's 4.8 billion people are part of the global consumer class, defined by the World Data Lab as those spending more than US$12 (400 baht) per day in purchasing power parity prices.
Time to regroup?
Oped, Postbag, Published on 17/09/2024
» Re: "Asean's united front amid global shifts", (Opinion, July 30).