Showing 1 - 10 of 24
Mines, rivers, and a regional crisis
Oped, Tuenjai Deetes, Published on 18/12/2025
» 'When I was a child, the Kok River and the Mekong were clear and alive. We drank directly from the river. Women and mothers gathered along the banks, hauling in fishing nets fully loaded with heavy fish, which we cooked and ate the same day. We were happy. We lived without fear -- fear of toxins, fear for our health.
Defusing a battery waste time bomb
Oped, Nattaphorn Buayam & Pitnaree Polsomboon, Published on 22/10/2025
» A mountain of dead batteries is piling up. If Thailand does nothing, these seemingly innocuous yet toxic batteries will become a national crisis. Properly managed, they can fuel a new economic future.
The scramble for the world's critical minerals
Oped, Rabah Arezki & Rick van der Ploeg, Published on 07/08/2025
» The world's superpowers have developed a seemingly insatiable appetite for the critical minerals that are essential to the ongoing energy and digital transitions, including rare-earth metals (for semiconductors), cobalt (for batteries), and uranium (for nuclear reactors). The International Energy Agency forecasts that demand for these minerals will more than quadruple by 2040 for use in clean-energy technologies alone. But, in their race to control these vital resources, China, Europe, and the United States risk causing serious harm to the countries that possess them.
Will Indonesia regret its trade deal with Trump?
Oped, Lili Yan Ing, Published on 23/07/2025
» Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true. That ancient proverb comes to mind when considering the eagerness of America's trade partners around the world to negotiate deals with US President Donald Trump's administration. Four countries already have, with Indonesia the latest to do so -- and possibly the first to regret it.
US-China trade truce didn't solve rare earths riddle
Oped, Imran Khalid, Published on 27/06/2025
» Amid the swirl of headlines about a US-China trade breakthrough in London on June 11, it is reported that US President Donald Trump said the US and China had made a "great deal" -- with China agreeing to supply US companies with magnets and rare earth metals, while the US would walk back its threats to revoke visas of Chinese students.
Cabbies to blame too
Oped, Postbag, Published on 26/05/2025
» Re: "DLT warns against taxi airport blockades", (BP, May 22).
Toxic rivers need help
Oped, Editorial, Published on 23/05/2025
» The government's reaction to heavy metal contamination in transboundary rivers in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces has left local villagers in despair. Almost three months after heavy metal contamination was recently detected in such rivers, our officials and ministers are still just at the stage of warning people not to consume water and fish from the Kok River in the North.
Americans can't win from trade war by Trump
Oped, Nancy Qian, Published on 12/04/2025
» The world is reeling from US President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day", when he announced the highest US tariffs in more than a century.
Milking Moo Deng
Oped, Postbag, Published on 08/03/2025
» Re: "Minister rejects criticism over hippo's welfare", (BP, Feb 26).
How to counter Trump's tariffs
Oped, Shang-Jin Wei, Published on 19/02/2025
» After months of threats and speculation, US President Donald Trump has officially launched his long-anticipated trade war. He has just imposed 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports. His new 10% tariff on Chinese imports will further strain the world's second-largest economy, which is already grappling with slowing growth and unfavourable demographics. And his postponed -- but not cancelled -- 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, together with threats to impose new tariffs on the European Union, India, and many more countries, put greater pressure on key US allies.