Deputy National Police chief Pol General Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn sounds surprisingly cheerful given that his high-flying career has just plunged into another crisis. It’s as if he were trying…
Read MoreDeputy National Police chief Pol General Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn sounds surprisingly cheerful given that his high-flying career has just plunged into another crisis. It’s as if he were trying…
Read MoreMany months are still to go for 2024, but perhaps the understatement of the year should go to the one made by Elon Musk, who has predicted a few days…
Read MoreThe last time Thailand saw an outstanding parliamentary censure that was not ideologically motivated and hence turned out to serve genuine public interest was when the opposition exposed the Sor…
Read MoreAbsolutely hopeless as it may seem, the critical state of the Thai police deserves one last try. And who says the last, desperate measure has to be extremely tough, costly…
Read MoreIf Thailand’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms Part I ended with the formation of the Srettha government, the evolving Part II is about how to maintain the shaky alliance and…
Read MoreIf Hollywood is thought of by some as America’s mouthpiece, Oppenheimer has to be a nuclear bomb that could all but destroy that perception. The film and the Oscar awards…
Read MoreThat watchers did not take the “War of the Transgender Angels” earlier this week seriously deserves some serious consideration. Political, social and even economic aspects of the clash between Thai…
Read MoreOne “tradition” that Move Forward will find hard to challenge concerns the parliamentary censure of the government. Although opposition MPs are not required to do it every time it is…
Read MoreThis week’s purple phenomenon is a fairy tale befitting HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, as her life story seems to have come straight out of children’s bedtime publishing house. The…
Read MoreArticle 112 requires prudence in everything – enforcement, commentaries for and against, judgement of wrongdoing and etc. Cue Thaksin Shinawatra and that can be an understatement. In a few days,…
Read MoreIf Move Forward was a rebellious teenager and its rivals were the parents, Wednesday’s ruling by the Constitutional Court was a “You are grounded” order, to say the least. No…
Read MorePita Limjaroenrat’s vow to go to Government House is either a cryptic comment or an off-the-cuff remark that did not mean much. What is certain is that if he was…
Read MoreIf Pheu Thai needs one good reason why it should back down from its flagship electoral promise, the party does not have to look beyond the 14th floor of the…
Read MoreThe government’s legal advisers have issued a very polite warning about the massive borrowing plan which is necessary if the ruling Pheu Thai Party is to keep its controversial election…
Read MoreDon’t let the drone-painted skies during the New Year countdowns fool you. That is as beautiful as 2024 can ever get, because this year is going to be the most…
Read MoreMany believed that things would drastically change after the Criminal Court ruling on December 20, but even they had not expected that it would be such a spectacular free fall…
Read MoreSavitree Wongsricha’s deep sorrow and great anger were the most glaring in four shabby pieces of paper few people have seen or remembered. In them, she pledged that anyone responsible…
Read MoreAnother 12-month journey around the sun and another trail of ironies and unpredictability. This year is ending with the planet earth telling humans again that nothing is certain, that no…
Read MoreAssuming that she becomes the chief of the Football Association of Thailand, there is nothing better to describe the immense task ahead for Nualphan Lamsam than a football jargon that…
Read MoreOn the surface, it’s a blatant show of apparently-backpedaling defiance at most. Beneath it, the opposition Move Forward Party wants its amnesty bill to look that way so that the…
Read MoreWhile he was in exile, Thaksin Shinawatra welcomed Thai visitors all the time, so it’s not such a big deal that Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has admitted to meeting him overseas during…
Read MoreWhile Thaksin Shinawatra’s camp has never looked more vulnerable, it used to lose political power from positions of apparent invincibility all the time. In 2005, the Thai Rak Thai Party…
Read MoreWhile Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter) and the likes have come in for a lot of criticism over the years due to their flaws, one of their undisputed virtues has…
Read MoreHow many prime ministers does Thailand have? It’s a question dramatized by the much-taunted action of Srettha Thavisin who appeared to be kissing a hand of Paetongtarn Shinawatra immediately after…
Read MoreA famous Mr Bean episode has him grapple with a wrong exam paper the whole time. He only realises his mistake in the last minute when the supervisor’s announcement makes…
Read MoreOn October 31, a Criminal Court verdict will come down on a case that once captivated Thailand. If “Loong Phol” is set free, it can bring a trail-blazing defense strategy…
Read More“October 6” is the dark fallout of “October 14”. What happened exactly 47 years ago was considered the blackest chapter of the modern political history of the “Land of Smiles”….
Read MoreIf he speaks out, deputy police chief Surachate Hakparn has warned, the entire Police Department would crumble. He possibly couldn’t be any more wrong. The whole police force crumbled the…
Read MoreThe most lethal weapon has to be able to fly under the radar and pack a big punch. Chaithawat Tulathon is better than other candidates for the Move Forward Party’s…
Read MoreWhile Thais were being obsessed with something else, Praween Chanklai, aka Kamman Nok, made senior police officers strip almost naked “for fun” at one of his “parties”, fired celebratory shots…
Read MoreIn Parliament, the newly-formed Srettha government stands to face several explosive issues, but the controversial treatment of Thaksin Shinawatra is not one of them. In fact, treacherous as it is,…
Read MorePast governments were judged largely along ideological lines. By that, controversial figures in Cabinets were noted, but eventually they would be accepted as virtual necessities. When something bad about them…
Read MoreSenators rejecting a Pheu Thai prime ministerial nominee will be heavily criticised, but that possibility will have been largely expected. Move Forward doing the same, however, will be a lot…
Read MoreMind you, even Myanmar’s military junta doesn’t ground teenagers if they come home reeking of alcohol. Even the most suppressive rulers don’t tell people how to dress. Authoritarian regimes don’t…
Read MoreHow fast the situation is changing. A few months ago, the Pheu Thai-Move Forward bond looked unbreakable, and just a few days ago, their smiling leaders were still posing together…
Read MoreThe last time Thaksin Shinawatra was in Thailand, Pita Limjaroenrat was still a high-flying student cementing international recognition and was never heard of by his own political fans of today…
Read MoreIf the tightrope stretching before the second biggest political party had been very narrow before, it’s also fragile now. A clear picture of what lies ahead has two main features:…
Read MoreThe “catastrophe loading” has been completed, so to speak, after Parliament on Thursday rejected the nomination of Pita Limjaroenrat as the new prime minister. The objective of every player now is…
Read MorePolitically, modern Thai history is on nobody’s side, but neither is the future. Therefore, a pretend and celebratory phone call to a late revolutionary reformist to say “We have made…
Read MoreAmid post-election shocks and Move Forward’s euphoria, the Pheu Thai Party looked all but dead and buried immediately after the May 14 election. It was a peculiar political mishap, though,…
Read MoreComing from a man considered to be one of the top political thinkers, the idea that the second biggest party in a multiple-party system is traditionally required to fight with…
Read MoreWhen it was conceived around three decades ago, iTV represented a big hope, with the public wanting it to counter misinformation, distortions and manipulations. At that time, Thailand was in…
Read MoreWhile Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat has taken certain actions regarding the iTV share controversy, history is not on his side. Some media reports have dug up similar cases that…
Read MoreEven in an extremely-unlikely scenario that it ends up in the opposition bloc again, the Move Forward Party will still have to tussle with political gravity. And future tests will…
Read MoreHours after Move Forward’s shocking election victory, Voice TV presenter Nattakorn Devakula said something that is politically sensible but democratically questionable. Pheu Thai, he suggested, should go ahead and be…
Read MoreAfter every big earthquake, major aftershocks ensue. A Pheu Thai landslide would have made headlines, but unpredictability would not have been as prevalent. Move Forward’s wham-bam victory means a lot…
Read MoreWhen Thais go to the polls on Sunday, the challenge is how to help lay the groundwork for a system that can prevent the next election from being held under…
Read MoreIt could be a Hail Mary pass in an increasingly unpredictable playing field. The scenario of imminent Thaksin Shinawatra homecoming, amplified by the man himself, can help Pheu Thai, but…
Read MoreSararat Rangsiwuttaporn, the suspect in what looks certain to become one of the world’s most talked-about criminal cases, is entitled to full-scale legal defense. But there is no stopping of…
Read MoreTo different people, Bt10,000 is worth differently. In other words, one rural man can use it to buy a food stockpile that may last a year or even longer, while…
Read MoreSongkran is an elephant and everyone can be one of the blind men fumbling around for its shape. Road accidents make it a nightmare festival for related authorities or rescue…
Read MoreThe thin line between being a whistleblower and shrewd schemer is thinner in Thailand, which boasts one of the world’s biggest numbers of squealers, who exist largely in the political sphere….
Read MoreFour starving men trudge across a vast desert with just one piece of bread left. Sharing it and nobody will die first or immediately, but most likely they all will…
Read MorePolice had to use force to end the recent armed standoff at a housing estate in Phetchaburi province because more people could have been killed or injured if the situation…
Read MoreMultiverse teases, taunts, gives hope, darkens mood, sells books and inspires new-age movies. Cue quantum physics and screenplay writers can do just about anything, since the very fundamental concept of…
Read MoreThe marking of Women’s Day on March 8 in Thailand is considerably “political”. But it’s political “constructively”. Demands for free tampons at workplaces, extended pregnancy leave or legalised prostitution, whether…
Read MorePrawit Wongsuwan, Jatuporn Prompan and the unbendable Move Forward Party have all expressed sound reasons lately when it comes to the future course of Thai politics. The greatest influencer, though,…
Read MoreMore resounding than explosions in Ukraine are words uttered over the past few days by top politicians of the rival superpowers. The statements did not quite offer anything new that…
Read MoreIt’s the Pheu Thai Party who has done much of the talking in Parliament this week, but it’s Move Forward who stands to benefit the most. The biggest opposition camp,…
Read MoreFor a change, heavy equipment and machinery are being mobilised from all parts of the world to one destination to save lives, not destroy them; religious and political differences were…
Read MoreThe latest statement by hardline politician Piyabutr Saengkanokkul provides the clearest evidence that one of Thailand’s newest political parties, which thrives on unorthodoxy and drastic reforms that border on extremism,…
Read MoreThe Pheu Thai Party has decided to spar with Jatuporn Prompan only, but did it really have the choice of going toe to toe with him in full scale? The…
Read MoreThe much-taunted and extremely unlikely post-election scenario of Pheu Thai joining hands with Palang Pracharath to form a government would be historic if it happened. Anything shorter than that will…
Read MoreThe old “three Ps” were united. The new “three Ps” are anything but, yet there are scenarios where two would join hands and leave the other out cold. After the…
Read MoreThis week’s virtual pledge of loyalty to allies by the Pheu Thai Party cannot entirely soothe them, because they know all too well that in politics, even cutthroat one like…
Read MoreBruised, defiant but clueless, humans entered 2022. At that time, COVID-19 was the main plot, but, as 2023 approaches, the bruise has largely gone and defiance has probably morphed into…
Read More“This is my first time backing Argentina in a football match,” declared a Thai football fan. Coming from a Brazil supporter, who loves France’s Thierry Henry and Olivier Giroud to…
Read MoreWhat Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat said the other day may not be as significant as why he said it. While Pheu Thai may not like his statement in its…
Read MoreMorally, it’s undisputed. Economically, it’s questionable. Politically, it’s a no-no. All of them, of course, come with a big “Unless”. That’s how Thailand should proceed with the Pheu Thai Party’s…
Read MoreWhen straightforward replies should have been preferred but are replaced instead with elusiveness, it’s safe to assume that something is amiss. Over the past few days, both Prime Minister Prayut…
Read MoreThe name is Salem Al-Dawsari. If that does not ring a bell, he scored a World Cup goal that shocked the world the other day. Ones can be forgiven for…
Read MoreThe Democrats are cautiously optimistic and the Republicans are clenching their jaws, but if chaos could speak, it would wholeheartedly thank American voters for the midterm results. The slippery slope…
Read MoreUS democracy’s biggest irony is that, in order to survive, it must demonise itself. One of the most glaring evidence of that has come just hours ago, when President Joe…
Read MoreOne man’s justice is another man’s oppression. This rings true in any political system. On April 28, 2004, 32 allegedly-armed people took shelter in the Krue Se mosque in Pattani, after…
Read MoreDemocracy is easy when everyone is agreeable. How conflicts are dealt with, peacefully and justly, is what truly separates it from authoritarianism or anarchy. Minor conflicts producing the kind of…
Read MoreWhen it happened in 2020, the death of three-year-old Nong Chompoo was one of Thailand’s most tumultuous criminal cases. However, the Criminal Court’s trial, which began a few months ago…
Read MoreIf he was wrong about Buddhism and detachment before, Prairie Praiwan has to be right this time, getting out of the closet to become someone he always has been wishing…
Read MoreOne chapter has just been closed. Prayut Chan-o-cha’s nail-biting survival act is in the middle of the book at most, with Thailand’s political turmoil only entering a new phase, where…
Read MorePeople drawn into a Ponzi scheme disguised as foreign exchange “investment” is ridiculous, but that is possible only because the world had either “normalized” or come to condone the senselessness…
Read MoreWhat had Queen Elizabeth II done in the 1990s that she didn’t over the last two decades? Nobody knows the exact answer. Most likely though, she kept doing what she…
Read MoreIt’s “that month” again, arguably the most significant period of the year when many in America are concerned. But September has never been the same for a lot of other…
Read MoreIf Jirayut Srupsrisopa is a true blockchain enthusiast, he must be uncorking the champagne when that massively-lucrative deal with the Siam Commercial Bank collapsed a few days ago. In an…
Read MoreA major political suspense is materializing following Wednesday’s Constitutional Court decision to suspend Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha from duty. But it will also a period when everyone is restless, has…
Read MoreThe answer depends primarily on two factors. The first one is quite ironic considering the Palang Pracharath “conspiracy theory”, which is doing the rounds and not for the first time….
Read MoreHere’s a little tip if you don’t want to buy a basket of chicken essence or bird’s nest soup, or go to a crowded sukiyaki restaurant: Ask your mother to…
Read MoreThere is too much at stake in today’s world for China and the United States to lock horns militarily. However, Xi Jinping telling his US counterpart Joe Biden not to…
Read MoreA Pheu Thai “landslide” is very likely, no matter how the party-list calculation fights end. In fact, despite the Thai Raksa Chart setback and failure to win a single party-list…
Read MoreHere’s a simple question: Who was the last Cabinet member to be ousted in a no-confidence vote? The answer is “Don’t torture your brain” because everyone has survived no-confidence voting…
Read MoreEarly bird gets the worm, we all have been taught. But nobody has said anything about the fact that the worm can get jaw–droppingly expensive. Many Thai fans of Liverpool…
Read MoreWhen Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard visited Thailand many years ago for a friendly game with the Thai national team, he said two things that probably can combine to form the…
Read MoreTwo months ago, the coronavirus would have still been a “sexy” topic at the no-confidence debate. But the relevant numbers are going down, and economic suffering has been too related…
Read MoreWhen the “freedom” to own guns was constitutionally embraced in America a long time ago, critics must have given the same warning as their Thai counterparts up in arms against…
Read MoreThai men have deservedly received a fair share of “male chauvinism” criticism. But that cannot be the only reason why domestic abuse cases featuring them as victims have never made…
Read MoreThe Pheu Thai Party has a strong cause for celebration. Move Forward, if it wants to celebrate as well, must do so cautiously. The Democrats still have their work cut…
Read MoreChadchart Sittipunt’s stunning landslide may have hidden scrambled messages voters in the capital delivered on Sunday in the Bangkok gubernatorial election, but arguably the real nightmare for the shaken powers-that-be…
Read MoreThe Luangpoo Saeng controversy contains two dangerous substances that shall never be mixed. The first one is monks not doing their jobs properly while the second is reporters gravely mistaking…
Read MoreSome call it “Beauty of democracy”. Under authoritarian regimes, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, or Bongbong, wouldn’t stand a chance. For the son of someone who had been dislodged from power to…
Read MoreSome nine years ago, both popularity and exit polls pointed towards one outcome. The Pheu Thai Party’s city gubernatorial candidate, Pongsapat Pongcharoen, would win comfortably, if not by a landslide,…
Read More