Opinion

Foreigners, especially Western expats, expressing strong political views about Thailand inside Thailand is always controversial.

Pressure group invades NBTC on issue of letter to Prime Minister pressuring Council of State for second round of interpretation, with the apparent intention to accelerate closing True-Dtac deal; TCCT demanded to do its job and not let investors monopolize the country.

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday suspended Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha as PM for up to a month while adjudicating whether he has reached his eight-year limit of term in office as stipulated by the junta-sponsored 2017 charter or not.

The biggest question in Thai politics today is whether Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha will continue to be Prime Minister after completing eight years in office on Tuesday, Aug. 23.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration recently announced it will ‘improve’ the quality and safety of street food in the capital. While this is definitely a good sign, there is little concrete details. I hoped this will not kill the charm of not just Bangkok, but street food itself and more.

The man-made Mountain B pub fire tragedy which led to at least 15 deaths and dozens of injuries was basically preventable. Police confirmed hours after the fire that one exit door was locked, the operator had no license to operate a pub, the place used inflammable acoustic foam panels and more.

The execution of four anti-junta activists in Myanmar earlier this week and the Thai government’s reluctance to even condemn the barbaric act of the Burmese junta speak volumes about how the Prayut Chan-o-cha regime has failed to act in a dignified manner.

As expected, Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha survived the no-confidence vote on Saturday.

A little inconvenience for drinkers occurred on Wednesday and Thursday this week in Thailand because they were Buddhist holidays. People simply cannot buy alcohol or consume it in public, legally at least.

One day late last month I met the Swedish Ambassador to Thailand Jon Åström, who has invited me for a one-on-one meeting. For half an hour, Ambassador Gröndahl did not try to sell more Gripen fighter jets (I am not Prayut Chan-o-cha or the air force chief) or more IKEA furniture (I already bought a few bookcases) but tried to convince me that it would be best for Thailand to adopt right to parental leave for male employees and government officials.