By Yiamyut Sutthichaya |
<p>At least 30 critics of the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration had their phones infected with Pegasus spyware, a powerful tool for surveillance and eavesdropping. Although government authorities have yet to be tied to the bugging, an investigation strongly suggests state involvement.</p>
By Teeranai Charuvastra |
<p>An open-air film screening initiated by Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt turned sour last week when a group of activists at the event said they were blocked from displaying balloons with a slogan calling for abolition of the royal defamation law. </p>
By Nat Scrivener |
<p>The recent rulings by the US Supreme Court have shown that letting nine judges decide the most important issues of the country can have a devastating impact. But how bad can it get? Thailand provides an ominous example: its right-wing judicial activism has paved the way for military coups and decades of political crisis. </p>
By Jared Makana Kirkey |
<p>Critics contend that efforts by Thailand’s Prime Minister and the Royal Thai Armed Forces to downplay the significance of an incursion into Thai airspace by a Myanmar MiG-29 fighter place border safety at risk.</p>
By Kanchanaphorn Teeruk, Veeraphattra Siangyen |
<p>A peek at the lives of road sweepers in Bangkok, and their work on the streets of the capital city of a country that is ranked top in the world in road fatalities. We look at safety policies and the rewards for risking danger on the day that Thai society woke up to road safety, and when road sweepers lose their lives every year.</p>
By Teeranai Charuvastra |
<p>After a hiatus of nearly two decades, the Pride Parade returned to Bangkok last Sunday with a bang, drawing crowds of LGBTQ community members, sex workers, feminists, political dissidents, and even corporate representatives. </p>
By Teeranai Charuvastra |
<p>Chadchart Sittipunt’s landslide victory in the gubernatorial election captured the media's attention, but the battle for the City Councilor seats may turn out to have even greater implications for national politics, observers say. </p>
By Teeranai Charuvastra |
<p>A disability rights advocate spent half a day in jail – in his wheelchair – after a court unexpectedly accepted a criminal case against him and held him in custody as his lawyers scrambled to raise bail. His alleged crime: posting a photo of a car that he believed was improperly occupying a wheelchair user’s parking space.</p>
By Yiamyut Sutthichaya |
<p>Sorcery and religious rites that are deeply imbedded in Thai society have been in the spotlight as mainstream media outlets have joined hands with vigilantes to expose monastic malpractice and cults. Calls for professionalism that have long been overshadowed by competition for audiences have been sounded again.</p>
By Teeranai Charuvastra |
<p>Government data says 2 million out of 12 million senior citizens have yet to receive a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and many more have yet to get their booster shots, despite established evidence that the elderly population is most at risk in the face of Omicron’s onslaught. </p>
By Yiamyut Sutthichaya |
<p>Vocational Students Protecting the Institution have admitted that their members took part in assaults of a photojournalist and another citizen after a protest on 22 April. Despite the attacker being temporarily banished from the group, concerns remain over media safety and the likelihood of further hate crimes.</p>
By Teeranai Charuvastra |
<p>Election banners have become a leading campaign gimmick in the gubernatorial race. In response to criticism that the plastic banners are wasteful relics from the pre-digital era, some candidates have come up with ‘green’ alternatives, like shrinking banners or promising to recycle them after the vote is over. </p>