From paradise to political pawn: Koh Kut torn between two nations
Koh Kut still looks like a tropical paradise, but geopolitical tensions are now rocking this otherwise tranquil holiday island.
Longer-form commentary and opinion pieces across all geographic sections
Koh Kut still looks like a tropical paradise, but geopolitical tensions are now rocking this otherwise tranquil holiday island.
Thai lawmakers have agreed that an amnesty should be granted to people charged with political crimes related to street protests over the last two decades. However, they disagree on whether lese majeste should be included in the new amnesty law.
The Middle East crisis will continue unabated. Thai workers, especially in Israel, will not be safe. The latest casualties of Thai workers near the city of Metula once again demonstrated how cheap their lives could be. The Thais would be willing to take the risk in return for some incentives. And many of them have paid the price.
A growing battle between supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Palang Pracharath Party leader General Prawit Wongsuwan is reviving the two kingmakers’ old rivalry but also exposing their vulnerabilities.
The Thai economy is in a K-shaped recovery. Taking the symbolism further, while tourism is the arm of the alphabet, heading up, the property sector is the leg.
The government plans to start collecting congestion fees during peak hours to ease Bangkok’s notorious traffic snarls. The congestion fees will also help fund a move to cap metro fares at 20 baht per ride by buying back concessions from current private operators.
Calls are growing for better protection of elephants at sanctuaries and tourist attractions across Thailand after two of the animals perished in Chiang Mai’s raging floodwaters this month.
The opposition is demanding a drastic reform of the businesses run by the military, pressing for insolvency, privatization, restructuring, and transfer to other agencies so that the national armed forces could stay focused on their main mission — security of the country.
Two former leaders of prominent anti-government protest movements are threatening to ignite street rallies against Paetongtarn Shinawatra's government, raising the spectre of a return to the political turmoil that plagued the last two decades.
How will Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra position Thailand as an active promoter of peace in the region when other member states focus their efforts on addressing the Myanmar crisis
School trips have been cast as “disasters waiting to happen” after 20 students and three teachers perished when their bus crashed and caught fire in Greater Bangkok on Tuesday.
Thailand has been reeling under the onslaught of excessively heavy rains and flooding in several provinces in upper Thailand.