Ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky what he wants more now, worldwide expression of sympathy or what he deems a fraction of western tanks, warplanes and anti-warship systems that he suggests…
Read MoreAsk Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky what he wants more now, worldwide expression of sympathy or what he deems a fraction of western tanks, warplanes and anti-warship systems that he suggests…
Read MoreA Facebook post by an anti-government activist may have gone largely unnoticed but it asks a highly-relevant question: What does the political rise of Thaksin Shinawatra’s youngest daughter say about…
Read MoreAfter German troops invaded Poland in 1939, triggering an armed conflict that was to spread to virtually every part of the world, human beings made the most of their fledging…
Read MoreTo Vladimir Putin, the serious economic sanctions and major diplomatic embarrassment were not something to learn from. He had expected it, which leaves a question of what the current war…
Read MoreWhen “Tangmo” is concerned, there is no shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. In other words, the TV star, who has died tragically in her prime, must have…
Read MoreThaksin Shinawatra is trying to get back on stage, whereas Move Forward is struggling to stay on it. Will Prayut Chan-o-cha dissolve the House of Representatives and/or join a new…
Read MoreWhen future historians deal with political “colors” in Thailand, the first thing they will probably need to do is acquaint themselves with words like “Burgundy”, or “Carmine”, or “Amaranth”, or…
Read MoreIt was a peculiar electoral outcome that “winners” may celebrate cautiously and some “losers” can find encouraging. Ballots cast in Bangkok’s Laksi and Chatuchak districts on Sunday show that races…
Read MoreThe point is not about Joe Biden’s approval rating has hit a new low. It’s about the eventuality and unavoidability of it. No matter how hard he has possibly tried,…
Read MoreThailand’s political situation used to be straightforward in the recent past. The Democrats being up against the Shinawatra camp made elections easy to contest and predict. The former were guaranteed…
Read More“New Normal” was an adapted way of life that prevailed when people thought they could perish if infected by the coronavirus. That adaptation is partly old now because, while the virus…
Read MoreReligions adapt, as there were no social media or stock markets in the ancient days and the concepts of human rights and humility were different during the times of Jesus…
Read MoreHeadlines all over the world in 2021 do not give the coronavirus the credit it deserves. Expression of awe and show of panic is seasonal at best, meaning that whenever infection…
Read MoreDelta scares. There is no question about that. Harder to say is what Omicron is doing. Is it frightening, or lulling, or confusing, or performing a mixture of everything? What…
Read MoreIt used to be a black and white situation, or so it seemed, when the United States and the then Soviet Union boycotted each other’s key events for fun, when…
Read MoreOne possible answer to that question is that the founder of Buddhism had been “there” before his enlightenment, enjoying wealth, power, status, and all kinds of other worldly pleasures including…
Read MorePolite words sometimes could not paper over big conflicts in politics, so Pheu Thai and Move Forward speaking nicely to each other or referring to each other amicably regarding the…
Read MoreThis week’s demise of a charter amendment bill sold as “of the people” is not a surprise, but what is bewildering is why people who matter continue to keep away…
Read MoreThailand’s oldest political party had been there before. By that, before the catastrophic last general election, the Democrats had gone through all kinds of lows, be it devastating insurrection, disastrous…
Read MoreIn politics, a man’s good news is another man’s bad one. However, here’s doom and gloom for all: Long-lasting national peace will remain very remote no matter what happens from…
Read MoreCommon sense, whether it’s humanitarian or economic, dictates that if the world has found a drug that can make the coronavirus a lot less scary, the treatment should be made…
Read MoreYou can be a “freedom fighter” storming a “corrupt” Parliament, or you can be a “rioter” invading the place where honorable congressmen work. You can be a “brave journalist” trying…
Read MoreThe trick is that the independent Bangkok gubernatorial candidate must stay away from national politics if he wants to lead all the way to the finish line. However, that is…
Read MoreTo varying degrees, all key players in Thai politics can be both optimistic and apprehensive at the same time. While politicians regard themselves as second to none at keeping their…
Read MoreIn a more ideologically straightforward world, Chinese “merchants” and capitalism don’t go anywhere near each other. That, however, is not the case in this world, where the financial troubles of…
Read MoreThey were skating on thin ice together like a pair, but, currently, the prime minister and arguably the most controversial man in his government coalition are drifting in opposite directions….
Read MoreThe question regarding Prayut Chan-o-cha and Thammanat Prompao is whether it’s a “mountain out of a molehill” situation or a “no smoke without fire” development. In a world where Prayut…
Read MoreRival Thai politicians and their supporters are gambling on how the country’s COVID-19 situation will pan out in the immediate future. If it gets worse significantly or improves remarkably, nothing…
Read MoreMost armed conflicts in the world have “proxy” written all over them, so one of the most-ridiculed Joe Biden statements regarding America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan is actually spot-on. “They have…
Read MorePolitics, whether it’s an extreme dictatorship, mild fascism, or full-blown democracy, is all about magnifying opponents’ faults and belittling your own in the full glare of the public. Motives are to…
Read MoreThe brightest minds in the United States and England are fearing that the world is facing a really and progressively gloomy future, but they think slightly differently, though. The US…
Read MoreThe answer will depend primarily on the COVID-19 numbers at Thailand’s popular island resort. But how the Prayut administration will look coming out of a potential Phuket nightmare will also…
Read MoreSimple math and the almost-worldwide belief that good coronavirus vaccines are in the United States make its current situation mind-boggling. Its population is roughly 4.7 times that of Thailand, but…
Read MoreHuman beings having several, competing vaccines may be the last thing they need and the first thing the coronavirus wants. Instead of pooling expertise, manpower and financial resources to create…
Read MoreOne possible explanation for the continued, terrifying increase in COVID-19 cases in Thailand is that the country may be arriving at the most unwanted juncture. As news reports focus on “clusters”…
Read MoreMany military strategists may quietly admire the coronavirus. In the first wave, it took advantage of human beings’ unpreparedness, striking rich countries with brute force and sparing much of the…
Read MorePheu Thai and Move Forward are reportedly not seeing eye to eye. But neither are Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Palang Pracharath, and the latter pair’s conflict can be more…
Read MoreHumans make rules, dissolve parliaments, woo voters, mark ballots, and set up administrations, but the new normal of politics stipulates that they aren’t the ones actually in control. Those activities…
Read MoreThe answer is “Yes” and “No”. “Yes” because a non-politicised knowledge can help prevent or soften a future pandemic a great deal, if the world manages to get out of…
Read MoreA lot can go wrong if or when “Walk-in” (or whatever they call it) vaccination facilities are opened. People may scramble to receive jabs, creating potentially dangerous clusters. Untoward incidents…
Read MoreIntensifying vaccination drama in Thailand is taking place against an intriguing international backdrop featuring an apparent race between the West on one side and a Chinese-Russian alliance on the other…
Read MoreThe prime minister is taking a big gamble with his future, something intertwined with the national course. The opposition has proposed an ironic and controversial way to handle COVID-19. The…
Read MoreHuman beings’ “fights for freedom” have come a long way since the man loved and idolized by so many all across the world and considered a symbol of peaceful resistance…
Read MoreA few days ago, the most telling quote and the most telltale headline emerged as the world’s fight against COVID-19 entered a very crucial phase. “We are currently in a…
Read MoreMore names are joining the fray thick and fast. They make the complex picture of Thai politics even more incomprehensible, compensating for the fact that street protests at the moment…
Read MoreAmong top Thai political activists, Jatuporn Prompan is probably the most unpredictable. Wild speculation, therefore, has greeted his surprising plan to lead a separate street protest against the prime minister. Whatever…
Read MoreAll of a sudden, it’s halfway through. Amid a reigning political chaos, it’s easy not to notice that Thais are now as close to the next general election as they…
Read MoreThe referendum that endorsed the present Constitution in 2016 may be controversial, but the one that would re-affirm or question its worthiness will be far less so. The former referendum…
Read MoreMarch has been a bad month for the anti-establishment network, so far at least. Its public support has continued to decline, the royal portrait burning incident has planted more doubts…
Read MoreA moderate question to the increasingly splintered anti-establishment movement is where Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul was on Sunday. A harder question is whether ideologies that clashed many times in the history of…
Read MoreAlthough Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha appears to be sailing out of a big storm, his ship will still remain in uncharted waters, which could turn extremely treacherous at any moment….
Read MoreMost of the times, advices from perceived enemies can be discarded, but not those that come from friends or allies. Over the past few days, much caution has been pouring…
Read MoreTwo most difficult periods to bring a politician to justice are during the peak of his (or her) power and the time after he has just lost it. Thailand has…
Read MorePrime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will remain the prime target, but the similarities between the upcoming no-confidence attack and the last one end there. The rest of the strategy and the…
Read MoreSometimes, ones explode their way out of a dark tunnel, whether they like it or not, or even intend it or not. Whatever Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit is thinking about being charged…
Read MoreThe prime minister can be forgiven if he assumes that his previous problems were “political”, albeit ones that had more to do with ideology and power play than genuine well-being…
Read MoreThe Capitol Hill tragedy may be an exception to US rules. Or it might not be. Donald Trump may have acted crazy after he “lost” the presidential election, but many…
Read MoreNobody had been able to predict how 2020 would transpire, so it would be unwise to make assumptions about 2021. This much is clear politically: All key players have been…
Read MoreTo Thai people, 2020 was a year of two halves, and nobody had seen either half coming. The first featured surreal and scary scenes of empty streets, quiet city nights…
Read MoreSome major political changes in Thailand followed high-profile troubles with the land. A Democrat-led government crumbled in the 1980s after some politicians of the ruling party were accused of grabbing…
Read MoreArguably, the most ideologically ambivalent in the coalition government is the Democrat Party. Former leader Abhisit Vejjajiva quit the party’s helm largely because of his disagreement with tough constitutional measures…
Read MoreIf it was a football game, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s rivals were taking a slim lead going into half time, at a big price in the form of severalkey players…
Read MoreAt first, it looked like Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha would lose out quite easily. Then the tide turned and it appeared the anti-establishment protesters were facing a far tougher job…
Read MoreThe red and blue colors marking who wins which states in the US presidential race are eerily similar to how Thailand’s map is painted after each general election. Consequences of…
Read MoreThere are things that can never be reconciled, and one of them is clashing political ideologies. This is one of several reasons why the idea to set up a panel to…
Read MoreThailand has had 20 constitutions since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932, and 23 education ministers since 1997, the year the country produced what was considered its best…
Read MoreIf the two-day special session of Parliament, held this week purportedly to seek possible solutions to the current political crisis, has achieved anything, it must be the greater clarity of…
Read MoreThailand’s legislature has two days to prove it can tackle a crisis properly, or it can throw some more gasoline into a raging fire. At this hour, doubters are threatening…
Read MorePicture a man surfing in a turbulent sea. That’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at the moment. If he falls off and drowns, it will be no surprise. If he survives,…
Read MoreThat one idea is popular does not necessarily mean it is the most workable, and this can be applied to a favourite concept of the hours, which calls for an…
Read MorePolitical rallies are all about the numbers game: the larger the crowd, the more successful and powerful the protest appears to be. However, one glance at the numbers shows…
Read MorePeace is the winner this weekend, although it’s still a very long way to go. A major student-led protest against several things in the Thai society brought about a huge…
Read MoreFor decades, every charter amendment showdown has had the Senate as the main plot. Details may have varied, but they have revolved around the same questions: Should senators be appointed…
Read MoreIt’s just over a decade to go, before Thailand’s awkward grappling with the questions about senators’ relevance, importance or lack thereof reaches the century mark. The struggles are related to…
Read MoreThe key gesture of anti-government protesters apparently came from a Hollywood hit, the Hunger Games trilogy. However, the fictional ending and what red-shirted leader Jatuporn Prompan bemoaned last week carry…
Read MorePrime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is having his back against the ropes, but he could be saved temporarily by an unlikely bell. If the charter amendment drive takes an unusual course,…
Read MoreThe ambiguous involvement of the biggest opposition party in the on-going protests by youngsters against key establishments seems to be its only option. The protesters don’t need to worry about…
Read MoreWhen Vorayuth Yoovidhya crashed his supercar into a motorcycle, killing a police officer, Yingluck Shinawatra was Thailand’s prime minister and few people heard of Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. At the time, the…
Read MoreImagine a full-strength Pheu Thai smelling blood and firing on all cylinders against a government reeling from the “VIP” scandal related to COVID-19. Granted, that would not have put the…
Read MoreIt has been a week the prime minister wants to forget. Whatever Prayut Chan-o-cha thought the government had achieved in the fight against COVID-19 was suddenly in jeopardy and the…
Read MoreAn embattled political leader, disliked or even abhorred by at least half of his country, celebrates his nation’s most nationalistically important day by accusing his opponents of trying to undo…
Read MoreEveryone has to be worried about a recent opinion poll, which escaped general attention largely but probably best summarizes how deep the Thai politics is in dire straits. Thais…
Read MoreWhether Prawit Wongsuwan carries the ambition to become the new head of the biggest coalition party is not as clear as whether he owned the expensive watches that sparked a…
Read MoreThaksin Shinawatra’s political camp is no stranger to reports, rumors or speculation about senior figures “leaving”. Most of the time any “split-up” was tactical, like when the now-defunct Thai Raksachart…
Read MoreIt’s easier for three poor people to share one bowl of soup than for three rich people to share Bt50 million. This can very well be applied to “Three Friends”,…
Read MoreSome CNN commentators gritted their teeth amid Donald Trump’s shocking election victory nearly four years ago, and, in a broadcast seen globally, apparently tried to console themselves by saying that…
Read MorePolitical analysts must primarily take stock of two things, which include a recent opinion poll predicting that “post-COVID-19 politics” will be very heated, and an admission by a former red-shirted…
Read MoreThe message is loud and clear and global: When a COVID-19 vaccine is developed, it must be easily accessible virtually free of charge to all the world’s population. The calls…
Read MoreTwo heads are better than one, goes a universal proverb. Which can also mean that two superpowers must be better than the rest of the world when it comes to…
Read MoreThe daily numbers of COVID-19 cases in the country have been encouraging, but the good news remains quite limited, and the biggest nightmare can still come true. What if no…
Read More“New normal” is actually an old term. Over two decades ago, it referred to economic conditions following the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and then the aftermath of the 2008-2012 global recession….
Read MoreGood news for PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is that charter amendment will take a back seat, and the impact of the Future Forward Party’s dissolution, which had looked like a political…
Read MoreA lot of people, among them many scientists, said the COVID-19 outbreak may have something to do with the weather. Europe is colder than many parts of the world, goes…
Read MoreOne of the most-maligned politicians in the global COVID-19 crisis is Donald Trump. But truth is that many of his key mistakes are typical in the conventional political system. In…
Read MoreLosing jobs hurts, and the knife is being arguably twisted with the state of emergency. Staying home, having repeated or sloppily-cooked menus and watching TV around the clock can be…
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