Opinion pieces and commentary on Thailand's current affairs, in English, from Thai PBS World contributors.
This World Cup was like that bad boy you date because of his looks and not much else. The stadiums were gorgeous, on-field dramas were aplenty and off the pitch were things like the Messi-Yamal photos taken when the former bathed the latter who had only just been born. Late, meaningful goals were scored every other day.
With Thailand playing a coordinating role, ASEAN is accelerating its diplomatic re-engagement with Myanmar despite mounting scepticism about the initiative achieving any breakthrough.
Most people assume an exhibition begins with the first artwork. It does not. By the time you arrive at the first painting, sculpture, video work, or installation, your experience has already been shaped from several footsteps ago.
Cambodia's decision to seek compulsory conciliation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) has fundamentally changed the way the two neighbors will handle their maritime dispute.
I have been thinking recently about how much contemporary culture enjoys the idea of “discomfort” while remaining slightly unwilling to experience it actively.
Right now, football fans would, under normal circumstances, be speculating about how well Lamine Yamal will perform in the upcoming World Cup and whether Germany, France, Argentina or Spain is the best team. Instead, dominating the 2026 World Cup talk are the names of a country not likely to win, and a political leader who famously refers to the sport as soccer and whose personal history with the “beautiful game” is non-existent.
The trilateral meeting between Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Prime Minister Hun Manet, facilitated by ASEAN chair President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., yielded a concrete stepping stone for both countries to elevate their relationship to the next level.
One way to measure the success of the recently concluded Songkran festival is through data: the millions of revelers and the billions in revenue. But perhaps a truer metric lies in the departing words of overseas visitors.
A Thai-flagged cargo ship was attacked while sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring how the escalating Middle East conflict is affecting countries not directly involved.
The recent controversy surrounding a Thai woman denied entry to South Korea should be a wake-up call for Thai visitors abroad. Again, Thai social media went ballistic, with the typical emotional and lopsided reactions as usual.
The Thailand–Cambodia conflict has become an excellent case study of the so-called “Asian Way” versus the US-inspired “Trump’s Way.”
The resumption of Thailand-Cambodia fighting put ASEAN under the global microscope. Some critics were quick to slam the bloc for its failure to manage conflict among its own members.
