The Big Chilli, an English language magazine for expatriates in Bangkok, has recently published my article on their website!
IT was a long night on November 8th in the United States. A race that many had predetermined the outcome could still not be called with many swing states being neck and neck. But the result could only be delayed for so long and it was a shocking result indeed. Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election was a stunning political upset. A celebrity billionaire turned populist, he energetically whipped the anger and fear of the American electorate and turned it into a movement that propelled him to the White House.
Symbolically, Donald Trump’s elevation to America’s highest office was not only a repudiation of the Washington political establishment but also a validation of a nationalist global revolt against elites, first foreshadowed this year by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. Beyond catchy slogans and simplistic solutions, what does Trump, a man with no experience in the government, actually intend to do? What does President Trump mean for Thailand and the world?
This is difficult to answer. Trump is nothing if not inconsistent. He is, in his own words, “totally flexible on very, many issues”. But let us attempt to answer based on what we do know about the president-elect’s thinking.
Ken Mathis Lohatepanont 
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