Showing 1 - 10 of 65
Government stability tests performance
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/04/2026
» Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has gone from strength to strength, leveraging a stopgap minority government late last year into solid majority rule after the Feb 8 election.
PM apology a good start
Oped, Editorial, Published on 30/03/2026
» The recent public apology by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul regarding the fuel management hiccups during the first half of March is a rare and welcome gesture of political accountability.
Asean's moment of truth is now
Oped, Mari Elka Pangestu & Tan Sri Rebecca Fatimah Sta Maria, Published on 05/11/2025
» For decades, integration into the global trading system has been vital to economic growth and development. Now, however, integration implies vulnerability, as powerful actors -- beginning with the US -- wield tariffs, export restrictions, and financial sanctions. For Southeast Asia, this turn of events represents both a warning and a call to action: countries must work together to shape their own destiny or others will decide their fate for them.
Timor-Leste's long road to Asean
Oped, Ronny P Sasmita, Published on 22/10/2025
» This Sunday, when Timor-Leste finally joins Asean as its 11th member, it will mark a diplomatic triumph for one of Asia's smallest states and a moral test for the region's most enduring organisation. For Dili, this long-awaited step is not about prestige; it is about survival, legitimacy, and opportunity. For the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), welcoming Timor-Leste completes the Southeast Asian map but also exposes the limits of its inclusivity.
Asean's regroup requires deep reforms
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 17/10/2025
» If Asean's 58 years thus far have been about resilience and playing a central organising role in promoting regional security and stability, its next decade will determine whether the Southeast Asian bloc can adapt and remain relevant. After the crises in Myanmar and along the Thai-Cambodian border, Asean's credibility has never been more in doubt. To regain its effectiveness as Southeast Asia's one and only agency, Asean needs to move away from the ritualistic diplomacy of mundane meetings to far-reaching reforms that chart new ways of making things work.
Vaccine risk data
Oped, Postbag, Published on 01/10/2025
» Re: "Dept quick to dispel vaccine naysayers", (BP, Sept 29). Unfortunately, this article, in which the Department of Disease Control dismisses claims that vaccines are unnecessary or harmful, uses authoritarian declarations. There are copious testimonies and a recent definitive paper presented to the US Congress committee investigating vaccine safety.
Bolt from the blue
Oped, Postbag, Published on 29/09/2025
» Re: "Safety first in golf", (PostBag, Sept 25) & "Caddie dies after being hit by lightning on golf course", (BP, Sept 23).
Anutin's new cabinet is a mixed bag
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/09/2025
» The composition and size of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's 36-member cabinet suggest that he intends to stay in office for as long as possible, clinging to the terms of the government-enabling Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and calling an early election only if circumstances make it unavoidable.
Invest, not spend
Oped, Postbag, Published on 08/09/2025
» Re: "BJT to revive co-payment scheme for daily buys", (BP, Sept 7). Prime Minister Anutin Chanvirakul should subsidise investment, not consumption. A key reason for Paetongtarn's downfall was her blind insistence on her B10K/person handout to subsidise consumption, forecasting a fiscal multiplier of 3 to 4.