Opinion

Writing this commentary hours before the results of Bangkok gubernatorial elections will be known, there is no certain way for this writer to know who will win. As Bangkokians voted on Sunday and we still wait for the outcome, here is my brief note of what we can expect if candidate A, B or C wins, however.

While Bangkokians have been waiting for nine years to be able to finally elect their governor anew due to the disruption caused by the May 2014 coup, people in all provinces have been waiting for over a century now. And the wait is far from over for non-Bangkokians.

What is the Thai national dish?

Almost one year ago, as Poland marked the 230th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of 3 May, Warsaw was visited by the presidents of Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Today is the World Press Freedom Day and it got this writer thinking about the changing media landscape in Thailand.

The biggest Thai news over the past few days, or since Thursday, was undeniably the sexual harassment and rape allegations made by some twenty women against Democrat Party deputy leader Prinn Panitchpakdi.

Condemn the Prayut Chan-o-cha’s regime and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai all you like for Thailand’s vote to abstain from supporting or opposing the resolution to suspend Russia’s membership to the U.N. Human Rights Council and from expressing grave concerns at the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

One of the most blatant on-air television news censorship took place on Monday. As army-run TV5 news host, subcontracted from far right Top News news agency, was talking about the Ukrainian war, it was taken off air. It was during the noon news bulletin. The on-air censorship lasted for 8 minutes.

In a week of diplomatic faux pas, a prominent state organization in Thailand attempted to publicly take sides with Russia amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine, only to capitulate, having abruptly canceled its partisan press conference without a proper explanation. This was followed by a visit to the Ukrainian Embassy hours before the cancelled press conference.

For some Thais, supporting or at least condoning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is backed by some disturbing logic. Meanwhile, those against the invasion also grapple with uneasy questions about the U.S. as well as the fact that Thailand, like nothing close to a superpower and whatever they do may have minimal impact.