Showing 1 - 10 of 243
Surviving the collapse of the population
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 13/02/2026
» 'To them that hath shall [more] be given" is generally a reliable guide, especially in economic matters, but it doesn't work if the beneficiaries are too stupid to take advantage of the gift. The scarce and precious commodity in this case being people, who are in increasingly short supply.
Breaking men: a conscript's tale
Oped, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 19/01/2026
» His face looks tired and strained. His voice trembles, carrying the pain and bitterness from the dehumanisation he endured as a conscript.
Time to restart peace talks in the far South
Oped, Anucha Charoenpo, Published on 16/01/2026
» The series of coordinated bomb attacks at 11 PTT petrol stations in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat in the early hours of Sunday is a warning sign that southern unrest is enduring and can flare up at any moment.
It's the economic history, stupid
Oped, Iker Saitua, Published on 14/01/2026
» Every year, I walk into a first-year lecture hall in Bilbao at the University of the Basque Country (EHU) and watch shoulders slump. The title of the course I'm teaching -- "Economic History" -- draws a similarly dejected reaction from my students: "Meh." "Boooring." "What's this even for?" Some call it "the history class", as if it belonged to another century.
Thailand's political trajectory in 2026
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/01/2026
» What happens in Thai politics this year and the immediate horizon will be determined by the upcoming election on Feb 8. While contesting political parties are in full campaign mode, the contemporary history of Thai polls so far in the 21st century is not encouraging. Only once in the past 25 years have voting results went the way they were meant to, in accordance with the popular will. Whether the vote in four weeks will follow the same pattern will depend on whether the conservative establishment gets its preferred outcome.
Another wasted year in Thai politics
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 26/12/2025
» As Thailand winds down 2025 with an early election looming on Feb 8, the most consequential issue to watch in the coming year will be whether recent topsy-turvy political patterns of polls, protests, and military and judicial interventions give way to a compromise between the old guard clinging on to vested interests and the new generation clamouring for reform and change.
Derelict outpost
Oped, Postbag, Published on 03/12/2025
» Re: Toxic threat sweeps all before it", (BP, Dec 1). Your recent report left me more than a little confused about a village I have known for 37 years. The description bore little resemblance to the village I visit maybe four times a week when I visit my local supermarket or withdraw money from the ATM. Those golden years of rafting took place before the highway was constructed over the mountain range.
Parroting lies
Oped, Postbag, Published on 28/11/2025
» Re: "Rising heat needs urgent response", (Opinion, Nov 24). After repeating the obligatory but egregiously false lie that this year was the hottest on record, the UN climate alarmists claim, "By 2060, under a high-emissions scenario, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mongolia, Myanmar, Turkey and Uzbekistan could lose more than 70% of their glacier mass. These phenomena also add to sea-level rise, raising existential risks for some countries in the Pacific."
Let's just try leaning into your morbid curiosity
Oped, Coltan Scrivner, Published on 30/10/2025
» Film critics Gene Siskel and Johnny Oleksinski have called fans of slasher films like Friday the 13th and Saw "very sick people" and "depraved lunatics who should not be allowed near animals or most other living things". Public outcry around the video game Mortal Kombat in the early 1990s was so extreme that it led to a special US Senate hearing on the topic. Similarly, the recent rise of true crime entertainment has some people wondering if we are becoming desensitised to the horror and seriousness of the events themselves.
UN picks rights council members with bad records
Oped, John J Metzler, Published on 23/10/2025
» In a ritual of near-farcical folly, the UN General Assembly has elected 14 new members to join the Geneva-based Human Rights Council on Oct 15.