Showing 1 - 10 of 54
'Old guard' weighs idea of outsider PM
News, Chairith Yonpiam, Published on 09/08/2025
» As the Constitutional Court is set to hand down a ruling against suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra for her controversial phone call with Cambodian strongman Hun Sen that was later leaked, most political pundits remain downbeat on her prospects. Should she be dismissed, the ruling Pheu Thai Party would have to form a new cabinet.
PM in a dicey position
News, Editorial, Published on 20/06/2025
» A leaked audio clip of a phone call between Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Cambodia's Senate President Hun Sen has put the Thai premier in a very vulnerable position.
Beware of rogue presidents (this time in Korea)
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 07/01/2025
» Turning yourself from a democratically elected president into a dictator is a tricky operation, and most people who try it fail. It's called a "self-coup", from the Spanish auto-golpe, and to try it without first gaining the support of the armed forces is sheer lunacy. Yet, from time to time, an elected president tries to do exactly that.
Local voting rules outdated
News, Editorial, Published on 27/11/2024
» The Election Commission's (EC) decision to hold the forthcoming local elections on a Saturday instead of a Sunday in at least 47 provinces have sparked concerns about adverse impacts on voter turnout.
Former Merkel rival aims to become chancellor
News, Sarah Marsh, Published on 24/09/2024
» Squeezed out of top-level politics by his arch-party rival Angela Merkel more than two decades ago, Friedrich Merz is on course to land his first-ever government job as Germany's next chancellor. The conservative Christian Democrat Party (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, which together are topping nationwide polls, last Tuesday agreed to nominate Mr Merz, 68, as candidate for chancellor in next year's federal election.
Kabul collapse emboldened global despots
News, John J. Metzler, Published on 16/08/2024
» The collapse of Afghanistan to the Taliban three years ago on Aug 15 signalled an inflection point on the geopolitical scene. While the appalling stupidity of the Biden/Harris administration's botched and humiliating withdrawal of US forces from this South Asian land stained and sullied the reputation of the United States, the fiasco equally opened the floodgates to the deluge of refugees fleeing the toppled Afghan government in Kabul.
In Russia, the really dangerous ones are sane
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 08/04/2024
» There are plenty of crazies in Russian politics who make bizarre claims about their country's victim status ("the evil West made us do it") and issue blood-curdling but implausible threats about using nuclear weapons on their enemies. But the really dangerous ones are quite sane.
Govt told to answer for torture law
News, Post Reporters, Published on 23/05/2023
» A human rights lawyer on Monday called on the government to show responsibility after the Constitutional Court invalidated an executive decree suspending four provisions of the new law against torture and enforced disappearance.
City Hall admits blunder as UTN's laser stunt goes viral
News, Supoj Wancharoen and Aekrach Sattaburuth, Published on 10/05/2023
» City Hall admitted yesterday to having made a mistake in permitting the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party to display a laser-lit election message on a tower of Rama VIII Bridge.
Reforestation rethink required
News, Editorial, Published on 24/07/2022
» The military was given an earful early this month for using invasive alien species in their aerial reforestation mission, and rightly so. The blunder, however, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Thailand's reforestation policy, which puts dictatorship and money before ecological health. To save the forest, this self-serving mindset must end.