Showing 1 - 10 of 1,264
Can alliances with the US be replaced?
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 07/04/2026
» The increasingly loud debate over the future of alliances -- after reports that the US could scale back or even withdraw from Nato -- is nerve-racking. It has caused alarm across Europe and in Southeast Asia, another node of the US alliance network. Even without any official decision, remarks by US President Donald Trump on social media were enough to shake already fragile US alliances. The question now frequently asked by Thai policymakers is: What comes next if alliances weaken?
The fatal flaw of AI-driven business models
Oped, Joachim Klement, Published on 02/04/2026
» Hundreds of billions of dollars are riding on the assumption that artificial intelligence will be reliable enough for high-stakes work. New research suggests it may never be. The AI tools that power ChatGPT and its rivals -- known as large language models, or LLMs -- are a genuine productivity-enhancing innovation. But they have serious shortcomings, most notably, their tendency to hallucinate, or make things up.
Why safe havens unexpectedly drop
News, Helen Jewell, Published on 28/03/2026
» Geopolitical shocks often don't move markets the way intuition suggests, as investors raise cash first and ask questions later.
Cornered Orban at risk of losing next election
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 28/03/2026
» Viktor Orban has not aged well. When I met him in Budapest two months before the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, he was a typical hyper-ambitious student leader. Anybody who has been to university knows the type: fluent, ruthless, perpetually on the look-out for the main chance, and oddly old still to be a student. (He was 26.)
Education rethink
Oped, Postbag, Published on 27/03/2026
» Re: "Social Security Fund reform 'urgent' as society ages", (BP, March 25).
Trump goes off-script, US gone rogue
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 27/03/2026
» It was not supposed to work like this. "America First" and "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) were supposed to be about an inward turn to repair, replenish and rebuild an externally overstretched and internally weakened country, weighed down by unnecessary global entanglements, unsustainable national debt, and unimpeded mass migration. It seemed for a time that the MAGA movement to prioritise America above and beyond the international system and its constituent parts had found its final prophet in President Donald J Trump. But now, somehow, President Trump has betrayed the movement that has carried him to office by waging a disastrous war on Iran in cooperation with Israel.
War hits wallets
Postbag, Published on 21/03/2026
» Re: "The Iran war's lasting energy shock", (Opinion, March 20).
75 years of Thai-Lao relations
Oped, Krongkanit Rakcharoen, Published on 18/03/2026
» December is a meaningful month for the peoples of Thailand and the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), as it marks the national days of both countries -- 2 Dec for Lao PDR and 5 Dec for Thailand. December 2025 is particularly significant as it commemorates the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Lao PDR and, on 19 Dec, the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Thailand and the Lao PDR when both countries launched the formal establishment of diplomatic relations on 19 Dec 1950.
Loving the lizards
Oped, Postbag, Published on 18/03/2026
» Re: "It's not just the park's lizards", (BP, March 16) & "Monitor monitoring", (BP, April 26, 2025).
Global travel erases places we love
News, Richard Florida and Carlo Ratti, Published on 17/03/2026
» Venice is drowning -- not just in rising waters but also in tourists. The city is charging a day-tripper fee and has banned large tour groups and loudspeakers in an effort to curb the crush. Barcelona residents march with squirt guns and "Tourists go home" signs to protest rising rents and crowds. Amsterdam is moving to cap and eventually ban ocean-going cruise ships to reduce pollution and visitor pressure.