Showing 1 - 10 of 340
Japanese PM Takaichi comes out on top
Oped, Taniguchi Tomohiko, Published on 11/02/2026
» Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has just scored an unprecedented victory in the country's general election. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which she leads, won 316 seats in the 465-member House of Representatives (the Diet's lower house), up sharply from 198. The combined strength of two parties that had merged hastily -- despite their fundamentally opposing platforms -- in an effort to bring Ms Takaichi down fell from 167 seats to just 49. The LDP, which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, has never looked more robust.
Pheu Thai bets again on loyal red-shirt base
News, Anucha Charoenpo, Published on 06/02/2026
» The Pheu Thai Party's call for supporters to wear red shirts today appears to be a last-ditch effort to re-energise its traditional "red-shirt" base.
When the news is wrong about my homeland
Oped, José González Vargas, Published on 11/12/2025
» The people of Venezuela conjure contradictory images, particularly for those living in the Global North. We're starved and oppressed masses under a totalitarian thumb, but also arrogant and pigheaded émigrés living in golden exile from Miami to Madrid. More recently, we are hordes of criminals, the scum of the Earth, flooding into the United States. Where's the truth? Where's the lie?
Artists resist repression in Thailand, US
Oped, Sally Tyler, Published on 08/12/2025
» In late August, two seemingly unrelated events occurred in Thailand and the US. The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) altered a major exhibit it had recently opened and, a few weeks later, the comedian Jimmy Kimmel was temporarily taken off the air by the ABC television network. These events are linked as forms of artistic repression and perhaps more concerning, as examples of the growing use of intermediary censorship by authoritarian regimes.
Footpath chaos
Oped, Postbag, Published on 14/11/2025
» Re: "Public safety No.1," (Editorial, Oct 22). I am also a pedestrian and walk regularly. It is good for taking care of my health, especially my heart condition. To some extent, Thailand's walking paths are obviously good for citizens.
Ease border tensions
Oped, Editorial, Published on 08/10/2025
» In response to Cambodia's failure to submit a plan for repatriating its citizens living in three disputed areas, including Nong Chan, in Sa Kaeo province, the Thai army has indicated it will boycott the forthcoming Regional Border Committee (RBC) meeting with Cambodia, scheduled to take place in Poi Pet on Friday and Saturday.
Plot twist in Asia's energy story
Oped, Lidy Nacpil, Published on 18/09/2025
» Asia's energy story is one of persistent energy poverty, while communities grapple with the health, climate, and economic impacts of fossil fuels. The rise of renewables may prove to be a transformative plot twist in the making. Asia's shift to renewable energy is already underway, and progressing faster than many realise. From rooftop solar panels in suburban Pakistan, to vast offshore wind farms along China's coast, to utility-scale projects electrifying farms in Bangladesh, renewable energy is showing potential to redefine energy security across Asia.
Brazil and the US: Same crime, different fate
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 16/09/2025
» If Donald Trump were a religious man, he might have said "There but for the grace of God go I" when he heard that former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro had been sentenced to 27 years in prison. Bolsonaro's crime was to have plotted a coup to take back the presidency he lost in the 2022 election.
The postwar era's first democratic authoritarian
Oped, Antara Haldar, Published on 08/09/2025
» The 78th anniversary of India's independence last month offers an opportunity to recall one of the most insidious moments in the country's post-independence history: prime minister Indira Gandhi's 1975 decision to declare an emergency and suspend civil liberties. A new book by political scientist Srinath Raghavan, Indira Gandhi and the Years That Transformed India, not only revisits that fateful move, but also traces its lasting impact half a century later.
Artist award saga leaves sour taste
Editorial, Published on 07/09/2025
» For the sake of its own honour and the prestige in safeguarding the National Artist Award, the Department of Cultural Promotion must break its silence. It needs to clarify whether veteran writer Sri Daoruang was pulled off the list of national artists at the last minute.