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Friday, March 29, 2024

Editorial: Prayuth’s PM Victory is a Sham

Last night’s vote, which secured junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha another term in office, proved the process was rigged from the start.
A file photo from the 2017 National Book Week in Bangkok.

Opinion: Why Don’t Thais Read?

By Tayo Tunyathon Koonprasert At 13, having just moved back to Bangkok after seven years in the United States, I asked my mom to take me...

Opinion: Social Media as Thailand’s Public Sphere of Last Resort

A recent controversy reminds us that in Thailand, certain topics cannot be publicly deliberate without severe risks.
A Tuk Tuk drives past Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand on Aug. 3, 2021. Photo: Sakchai Lalit / AP

Opinion: Bangkok, a Most Visited City on Earth, and The Other Bangkok

Many Thais expressed pride when a travel website, Travelness.com, recently reported that Bangkok was the most visited city on earth in the first half of 2023 – 22.78 million foreign visitors compared to 19.1 of Paris and London’s 19.09 (Dubai clocked in the fourth place at 15.93 followed by Singapore at 14.67).
A man receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Khlong Toey community in Bangkok on May 9, 2021.

Opinion: Thailand’s Sinovac Dilemma

The government of Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha is facing double challenges in handling COVID-19. First, how to get enough vaccines in time before the situation is too critical, and second, how to convince enough people that Sinovac is a good and adequately safe vaccine.
Photo: Ben Bartee

Bangkok’s Class Divisions: An Outsider’s Opinion

Some landscapes paint a more graphic depiction of poverty than others. Such is the case in Bangkok.

Opinion: Thai Poor Face Either Death by Coronavirus, or Economic Ruin

Monitoring daily government press conferences and its latest coronavirus figures has become a daily ritual for many Thais as they enter a nationwide lockdown in April.

Rule With an Iron Fist. Lie Without Shame.

A long, long time ago, just one day after junta leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha staged his May 2014 coup, I was asked by Al Jazeera TV what I thought of him.
Amanda Obdam during Miss Universe 2020 pageant in Hollywood, Florida on May 16, 2021. Photo: Miss Universe

Opinion: Amanda Obdam and Hegemonic Thai Identity

Thailand’s Amanda Chalisa Obdam may not have won Miss Universe 2020 Crown last week, but the debate about her Thai identity was ignited anew.

Opinion: Emergency Power in the Hand of an Ex-Dictator is Worrying

Even though I personally support lockdown measures as long as there are adequate compensations to affected people, we can debate whether a state of emergency is really warranted at this point.

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