Showing 1 - 10 of 13
Reform temples, or lose public faith
Editorial, Published on 08/06/2025
» Temple corruption no longer raises eyebrows. The Wat Rai Khing scandal is just bigger, louder, and harder to ignore. It demands serious reform before public faith erodes further.
Bad monks erode trust
News, Editorial, Published on 19/05/2025
» The recent scandal involving a former abbot of the renowned Wat Rai Khing, accused of embezzling over 300 million baht to fund an online gambling addiction, is deeply disturbing but not surprising. It will not be the last blow to public faith in the Thai Sangha unless meaningful and fundamental reform is made.
Saffron swindlers
Oped, Editorial, Published on 22/03/2024
» The news of the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct this week handing a 480-year-plus jail term to a former abbot for embezzling temple donations is shocking enough. But the story gets even more convoluted.
Justice key to the toxic haze solution
News, Editorial, Published on 05/03/2023
» The toxic smog season is back with a vengeance. Most of February saw Thailand's air quality in the danger zone, and this month it won't get any better.
The fight for press freedom is local
Oped, Jos Midas Bartman, Published on 24/05/2022
» A macabre political thriller recently unfolded in the Philippine province of Palawan, an island known mostly for its rich biodiversity and pristine beaches. On May 9, Joel T Reyes, a suspect in the 2011 murder of well-known radio broadcaster Gerry Ortega, ran again for governor. Had Mr Reyes won, the possibilities for Ortega's family to obtain justice for the killing would have dwindled. Fortunately for them, he lost.
Temples of temptation
Oped, Editorial, Published on 14/05/2022
» Reports of Buddhist monks being caught having sexual relationships or embezzling temple money have become daily staples of local news stories. The controversies are serious enough to make the relatively quiet and inert authorities revise some laws regarding the Buddhist clergy.
Curing ailing health scheme
Oped, Editorial, Published on 05/09/2020
» On Tuesday, the Prayut Chan-o-cha government approved a proposal to allow local administrative offices to take over the administration of the healthcare budget allocated to areas under their jurisdiction and switch to electronic forms of budget disbursement. This is a crucial and forward-looking public health policy decision.
Corruption in Jokowi's Indonesia
Oped, Abdurrahman Syebubakar, Published on 04/09/2020
» Corruption is ingrained in the history of Indonesia, dating back to before the colonial period. In the era of the Sukarno and Suharto regimes, corruption became rampant among a small clique of capitalist cronies and their networks.
For the people
News, Postbag, Published on 04/01/2020
» It must be acknowledged by foreign "guests" that Thai politics, taken as a whole, is quite incomprehensible. For example, does a military-run democracy mean that the military has declared war against the people? Or is the government actually weak and hiding behind "threats" to remain in power?
Big fish go uncaught
News, Editorial, Published on 28/06/2018
» The Auditor-General's Office has once again flaunted its stringent efforts in tackling corruption in the state sector. In its latest findings, the office accused three officials, one supervisor who has retired, and two others, at the Energy Office in Kanchanaburi of committing fraud.