Opinion

25 Jun 2019
Originally published in Thai version on 101
24 Jun 2019
First published on Uncommon Ground Media
21 Jun 2019
Stories of prison are always in demand, perhaps because prison is a world not encountered by the majority of people. There are many Thai-language books about prison that span those written from first-hand experience to those collected from the experience of others who spent a stint inside. But All They Could Do To Us is different from other written accounts of prison.
20 Jun 2019
The Ministry of Energy’s Power Development Plan (PDP) claims it will ensure Thailand’s energy security into the future. The national electricity output will apparently surge by 67% to reach 77,221 MW by 2037, with 37% (20,766 MW) coming from renewable energy.
30 May 2019
Following a recent investigation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, Amnesty International has gathered new evidence that the Myanmar military is committing war crimes and other human rights violations. The military operation is ongoing, raising the prospect of additional crimes being committed.
28 May 2019
In the field of Comparative Constitutional Law, Thailand´s Constitutional Court gained an ambivalent notoriety for its repeated dissolution of opposition political parties and cancellation of general elections in the name of protecting democracy – but de facto paving the way for military coups, in 2006 and 2014.
28 Apr 2019
Friedrich Hegel, the German philosopher, once said “the only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history”. With regard to Thai political history, I cannot deny that this quotation expresses one of the “all-time” brutal truths. It is clearly true that most Thai people have never learned any political lessons in Thai history. They have not only made no democratic progress but have also strengthened the authoritarian rhetoric peace-making to repeatedly disrupt democracy by undertaking a series of coups.
27 Apr 2019
When Daw Nan Ja and her family were forced from their home ten years ago, she was well on her way to realizing her dream of saving enough money to send her youngest son to college. 
17 Apr 2019
With growing suspicion and anger over the Election Commission’s handling of the March poll, Thais have expressed their displeasure in a variety of ways: netizens have mocked and criticised the commission online, a demonstration against the agency at Victory Monument attracted around a hundred peo
16 Apr 2019
We’re going to have to find something else. You mean sedition won’t be enough?  But he’s admitted giving that chappy a ride home and he’s now in his party, thick as thieves.  Cut and dried for a military court, surely.
13 Apr 2019
If one thinks that the song “Scum of the Earth” is merely another patriotic song produced by the Thai government, then one has gravely misunderstood. The lyrics of all of the songs referred to as patriotic -- beginning when the Sayamanusathi was put to music and up until the songs of Luang Wichit and all the others -- aim to promote the unity of Thais to fight against enemies who were outsiders.
2 Apr 2019
Suppose you are running an elitist authoritarian political system with one of the highest levels of economic inequality in the world.  You’ve managed to spin out your democracy-free administration for almost five years – longer than any democratically-elected government has ever lasted.  But the

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