Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Banned bets
Oped, Postbag, Published on 24/10/2025
» Re: "Anutin bans poker, sports gambling nationwide", (BP, Oct 23). So, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has banned gambling again. The prohibition specifically aims at poker and other similar sports-themed card games. The Ministry of Tourism and Sport earlier classified poker only as a sport? Well, it's not, is it -- it's a card game that is invariably played for money, unlike many others, such as bridge, which are not.
Betting on the wrong horse
Oped, Editorial, Published on 11/08/2025
» In times of economic challenge and amid simmering border tensions with Cambodia, Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who doubles as interior minister, has quietly overturned a 67-year-old ban on poker, reclassifying it from gambling to a recognised sport. The sudden move, which happened without public consultation, has sparked criticism and fuelled suspicion about the government's true priorities.
More of the same
Oped, Postbag, Published on 18/04/2025
» Re: "Trump has eye on chip, drug tariffs", (Business, April 16) & "The dollar correction is finally here", (Commentary, April 16).
Report cards in
Oped, Postbag, Published on 12/04/2025
» Re: "Phuket beach inspected", (BP, March 13).
NK troops sent to the Ukraine: cannon fodder?
Oped, John J Metzler, Published on 24/10/2024
» The rumours were true. The apparent dispatch of elite North Korean military units to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine appears at first surprising but actually is quite logical given the historic and comradely ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. After all, North Korea's isolated Kim Jong-un regime has forged increasingly close ties with Vladimir Putin's Russia and the cash-strapped North Koreans have shipped more than eight million 122mm and 152mm artillery shells to Russia during in the past year.
Ukraine War a risky game of Mother May I?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 17/08/2022
» 'This obviously does not happen because of a thrown butt," said British Defence Minister Ben Wallace. But the Russian Ministry of Defence insisted that the explosions that destroyed at least eight warplanes at Saki Air Base in Russian-occupied Crimea on Aug 9 were due to "a violation of fire safety requirements".
Russia is stuck in a vicious circle while it plays bluff
Oped, Manlio Graziano, Published on 03/06/2022
» The Russian war in Ukraine is a calamity -- for the people suffering through it, for Ukraine, for Russia, for China (which needs stability to develop faster than its competitors), and for most of the world (due to the resulting energy and food crises).
Jakarta junket
Oped, Postbag, Published on 24/04/2021
» Re: "Govt ducks Myanmar Asean challenge," (Opinion, April 23).
A 'culture of silence' at work is not OK
Oped, Boonwara Sumano and N Aneksomboonphon, Published on 10/03/2021
» Every year on March 8, we celebrate International Women's Day to recognise the progress we have made in women's social, economic and political advancement. And every year, we still hear about heart-rending incidents that make us realise that we still have a long way to go towards a safer world for women and girls.
Greece tries to keep Erdogan at bay
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 02/09/2020
» There are eight Turks for every Greek, so you might think the Greeks have to fold. But Greece has the backing of France, Italy, Israel, Egypt and practically every other country in the eastern Mediterranean and the Arab world, as well as the entire European Union, so it has just called the bet and raised it.