Opinion

The press cannot be truly accountable to the public if it does not try to analyze and question the current militarization of Thai society because a militarized society is antithetical to a democratic and pluralistic society.

BEIJING — China’s economic slowdown has been the subject of countless debates, discussions, articles, and analyses. While the proposed remedies vary considerably, there seems to be a broad consensus that the illness is structural. But while structural problems, from diminishing returns to capital to the rise in protectionism since the global economic crisis, are certainly acting as a drag on growth, another factor has gone largely unnoticed: the business cycle.

In Berlin, one can accidentally walk past the Holocaust memorial near the Brandenburg Gate or parts of the remaining Berlin Wall. At leafy Tier Garten, one notices a memorial for killed Roma people. Just in front of Humboldt University’s Law Faculty, one can stare through a glass square into a white room full of empty bookshelves, as a reminder of the banned books burnt during the Third Reich.

While the Bangkok elite talks about how green it will be with a shiny new Tesla or BMW i3 EV, are they actually saving the planet? Thailand’s mid-20th century energy mix – namely fossil fuels such as coal – could mean the green brigade’s misguided idealism will make things worse.

As with any action, there are different points of view on this week’s decision by junta leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha to end the use of military tribunals to try civilians.

Amendments to the criminal code removing judicial oversight of wiretapping combined with new laws on cybercrime, cyber security and even the digital economy all suggest the Good People running the country can no longer distinguish between internal security and external threats.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – Last month, 50 former national security officials who had served at high levels in Republican administrations from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush published a letter saying they would not vote for their party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump. In their words, “a President must be disciplined, control emotions, and act only after reflection and careful deliberation.” Simply put, “Trump lacks the temperament to be President.”

LONDON – There has been a lot of fuss lately about the handful of Muslim women who choose to bathe on French beaches wearing a special garment that covers the head (not the face), and much of the body. That garment – the so-called burkini – was invented in 2004 by an Australian-Lebanese woman named Aheda Zanetti, with the goal of enabling even the strictest Muslim women to swim or play sports in public. Little did Zanetti know that her creation would generate a national controversy.

A society needs as diverse views and news as possible so people can compare, debate and learn. In Thailand, there are people who believe...

BANGKOK — A group often overlooked when considering the Deep South’s ongoing separatist conflict is the kingdom’s majority Thai Buddhists.