Writer and political analyst
The Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Anek Laothamatas is not a man who typically generates headlines. Yet he managed to raise more than a few eyebrows when he declared that in seven years, Thailand will send a spacecraft to orbit the moon. By becoming the fifth nation in Asia to have this …
Continue reading "Is the Thai Government Serious About Space?"
Thailand held its first local elections since the 2014 military coup on Sunday, amid the return of local coronavirus transmission and months of political protests. Across the nation, votes were cast for Provincial Administrative Organization (POA) candidates. After a long suspension of local democracy, did these PAO elections mark a new chapter for Thai politics? …
Continue reading "Four Takeaways From Thailand’s 2020 Local Elections"
My piece for Thai Enquirer: Something that the current democracy movement likes to pride itself on is the fact that “everyone is a protest leader” — a mass movement without a head. Or, at least, that was what the organizers of the Free Youth movement wanted to say when they launched the “RT Movement,” along …
Continue reading "Defending Communism Is a Counterproductive Conversation"
My piece for Thai Enquirer: “I’m going to lose my marbles,” a friend messaged me while quarantined in a hotel room. “…if I have to lockdown here. I came back to escape that!” He had spent most of the year studying in Canada, hunkering down in Vancouver as cases began climbing throughout the fall. Finally, …
Continue reading "Preventing a Second Coronavirus wave Is a Duty for All Thais"
I wrote some quick thoughts on Free Youth's new logo for Thai Enquirer, published here. In politics, simplicity is key. If a message isn’t intuitive — or indeed, if the intuitive message is the one you don’t intend to convey — then it’s probably a counterproductive message. For months, defenders of the protest movement have …
My piece for Thai Enquirer: Last week, parliament gathered to debate and vote on various proposals related to constitutional reform. Nothing out of the ordinary transpired, except for one thing: the sheer amount of airtime dedicated not to the merits of the proposals themselves, but rather for scrutiny of the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw) …
Continue reading "Blaming the West for Thailand’s Instability?"
My piece for Thai Enquirer: Many Thais would have been asleep when the election results in Pennsylvania were finally called at nearly midnight, Bangkok time. Some of those who were awake greeted the news that former vice president Joe Biden had won the state, and with it the American presidency, with relief. President Donald Trump …
Continue reading "A Look Back at the Trump Presidency and Thailand"
My piece for Thai Enquirer this week: One of the most commonly cited statistics in Thailand is that the average Thai reads around eight sentences — yes, sentences — of books in a year. Where this dubious number was sourced is unclear, and its veracity is highly questionable. But even if it were true in …
My piece this week for Thai Enquirer: In August, a user posted on Pantip, Thailand’s most popular online forum with the topic: “When you’re following politics so much it makes you stressed, what can I do?” She added: “I’ve already been depressed for a year. Reading political news everyday and seeing all the news about …
Continue reading "Political Division Straining Mental Health and Relationships"
My piece in the Thai Enquirer: It was a long week, and all Thais felt it. Unprecedented scenes after the royal motorcade drove past protestors. The declaration of a ‘severe’ state of emergency. The dissolution at Pathumwan. Media censorship. Daily demonstrations happening nationwide. The situation was becoming untenable. The government could have tried to turn …
