Showing 1 - 10 of 100
Grasping the VAT nettle
Oped, Editorial, Published on 24/11/2025
» The proposal to raise value-added tax from 7% to 8.5% in 2028, and to 10% in 2030, by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas is a display of political courage rarely seen in a political landscape where politicians are quick to spend money in the name of "economic stimulus" but stay mum when asked how to finance the schemes.
Why climate finance is no longer enough
Oped, Laura Carvalho, Published on 11/11/2025
» With the UN Climate Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, kicking off, it is clear that the world's widely shared commitment to a just energy transition is falling by the wayside. In the year since governments signed on to the agreement at COP29 to scale up climate finance -- with a goal of mobilising $1.3 trillion (42 trillion baht) annually by 2035 -- wealthy countries have been retreating from their pledges. Worse, these signs of bad faith are coming just as the costs of climate adaptation and decarbonisation in developing countries are mounting.
Aid as leverage
Oped, Postbag, Published on 17/10/2025
» Re: "Solving the conflict in Myanmar", (Opinion, Sept 15). The humanitarian crisis in Myanmar presents a complex and deeply troubling challenge for the international community.
Abbot's dramatic fall from grace
Oped, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 01/09/2025
» Faith built his empire. Fraud destroyed it. Luang Por Alongkot's fall from grace leaves Thai Buddhism reeling, demanding long-overdue reform.
Sustaining healthcare in volatile times
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 18/08/2025
» Health care is pivotal for human well-being. Yet in today's precarious world, it is pressured by diminishing resources, demographic variables, warfare and violence, and environmental degradation. Sustaining health care thus requires insightful planning and implementation, no less for Thailand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) regions.
Lead paint risk lives on
Oped, Editorial, Published on 05/08/2025
» A recent pollution study has revealed that lead-based paint remains a persistent threat in homes and buildings, despite government efforts to reduce the risks.
WTO at 30 after decades of challenges
Oped, Supachai Panitchpakdi, Published on 30/07/2025
» When I sat down to write an article "WTO at 10" for a commemorative book for the occasion in 2005, little did I know of the huge challenges the WTO and the multilateral trading system would have to confront in the following two decades.
High rates hurt public healthcare
Oped, Serah Makka and Rosemary Mburu, Published on 14/07/2025
» May's 78th World Health Assembly (WHA) -- the annual meeting of the World Health Organization's member states -- ended on a self-congratulatory note. From an agreement on pandemic preparedness to increases in assessed contributions to the WHO, there were plenty of achievements to tout. But there was an elephant in the room, hiding behind a banner reading "One World for Health": the high borrowing costs faced by African countries.
Can the 30-baht health scheme survive?
Oped, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 19/06/2025
» I recently met Dr Jadej Thammatacharee, secretary-general of the National Health Security Office (NHSO), at the home of a mutual friend to ask questions, of which I had many, about the so-called 30-baht scheme -- also known as the "gold card" scheme.
Premier cringefest
Oped, Postbag, Published on 06/06/2025
» Re: "Time to show resolve", (Editorial, June 5).