Showing 1 - 10 of 33
Anutin fuels border fear
News, Editorial, Published on 14/02/2026
» From a dubious plan to tightly seal the border with Cambodia, caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who is seeking to form a coalition government, has now given the nod to construct additional fencing along the frontier -- a move that signals extended hostility towards Thailand's immediate neighbour.
Ceasefire accord offers fragile hope
Editorial, Published on 28/12/2025
» With the signing of a ceasefire accord by the defence ministers of Thailand and Cambodia, the borders were to be quiet as of noon yesterday. The immediate challenge now is how to sustain peace between the two neighbours that share an almost 800‑km‑long border.
Gaza is being offered a big historic chance
Oped, John J. Metzler, Published on 27/11/2025
» The UN Security Council has approved a landmark American-sponsored resolution which just may give long suffering Gaza its final chance for peace and reconstruction. The US resolution enshrines Washington's 20-point plan for Gaza; the current ceasefire, the establishment of a Board of Peace and backs the creation and deployment of an international stabilisation force for the war-ravished territory. There were 13 votes for, none against, and two abstentions, Russia and China.
Learning to get along
News, Editorial, Published on 01/11/2025
» After three months of extreme hostility, with border clashes resulting in a few dozen deaths, Thailand and Cambodia finally agreed to a peace deal brokered by US President Donald Trump.
Bring peace to the border
Oped, Editorial, Published on 30/05/2025
» The brief clash between the Thai and Cambodian armies over a disputed area in the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani underscores the urgent need for the Joint Border Commission (JBC), which has been dormant for some time, to resume its tasks promptly.
Zelensky-Trump clash spurs rethink by US allies
News, Peter Apps, Published on 10/03/2025
» As they watched Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky evicted from the White House last week after an unprecedented live televised quarrel with President Donald Trump and his Vice President JD Vance, some of America's closest allies began to swiftly reappraise decades of foreign and defence policy.
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.
Those pesky pigeons and a plastic owl
Roger Crutchley, Published on 21/07/2024
» Fond as I am of our feathered friends I admit to getting in a bit of a flap over the rapidly increasing number of pigeons (nok pilab) that have been descending on our residence in recent times. Some people call pigeons "rats with wings", others more generously "doves without the PR". I must confess to be leaning towards the first of those opinions.
Nato meet faces shadow of Trump, Ukraine divisions
News, Peter Apps, Published on 03/07/2024
» As Nato officials prepared in June for the alliance's July 9-12 summit in Washington, outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg embarked on the traditional pre-meeting shuttle diplomacy aimed at avoiding unexpected disruptions.
Myanmar as interim 'non-state' state
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 01/03/2024
» Myanmar, also known as Burma, has become a de facto state that is dominated by non-state entities. Contrary to facile claims, Myanmar is not a failed state like some that beset parts of Africa and the Middle East. The ethnically diverse country of 55 million still functions despite widespread violence in an ongoing civil war. Unless and until Myanmar is understood and re-conceptualised as an interim state comprising non-state entities, it will be difficult to move forward to remake and reconstitute a new country after the civil war and the passing of the military junta that seized power on Feb 1, 2021, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.