Showing 191 - 196 of 196
A swinish proposal
News, Editorial, Published on 23/04/2018
» At a meeting earlier this month in Washington, the US government asked its Thai counterparts to do something they have never done, and should not do. In brief, the US delegation to bilateral trade talks asked Thailand to legalise a drug and put it in animal feed. The drug, ractopamine, is banned in 160 countries including Thailand. The back story to this disappointing US chicanery is that if Thailand legalises and allows Thai farmers to use ractopamine, Washington will then demand the end of the Thai ban on US pork.
Update the computer law
News, Editorial, Published on 18/04/2018
» If events over the past two weeks do not convince the government to write an actual law covering computer fraud, maybe nothing will. The first unfortunate event was to threaten a Chiang Mai magazine editor with a computer crime charge over something that had nothing to do with computers (or crime, come to that). The second was the reluctant admission by the country's second mobile phone company of security misbehaviour, putting tens of thousands of customers at risk. That is not a crime.
PM must calm public fears
News, Editorial, Published on 28/03/2018
» The capricious responses by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha about the general election, now expected next February, have sown confusion and caused consternation among the public.
Public lose the airwaves
News, Editorial, Published on 13/03/2018
» The junta is poised to "reset" the regulatory body that makes all the key decisions about radio, TV and mobile phones. Secret meetings of selectors have narrowed a field of 86 applicants down to 14 short-list candidates. From that final list, the National Legislative Assembly will soon vote on which seven are best qualified to sit on the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). There will be winners but more importantly, there will be so many losers.
Use law to fix tainted image
News, Editorial, Published on 01/03/2018
» The derogatory comment by Gambian minister Hamat Bah, who referred to Thailand as a sex tourism destination, really is a national embarrassment.
Stop press intimidation
News, Editorial, Published on 02/01/2018
» The Thai Journalists Association wound up the year by issuing a depressing statement. It rated 2017 as yet another year where the free press was regulated and intimidated by the military government. The TJA said the regime hinders the media by restricting freedom of expression. And it says this causes public harm by not allowing examination and by barring criticism of the junta, collectively and individually.