Every year, unless they have been exempted through reserve training, Thai men at the age of 21 receive a letter in the mail instructing them to attend the military draft. It is a summons for a dreaded rite of passage: jub bai dum bai daeng, the red and black cards that they will pick through […]
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Thai Politics, Explained
Over the years, many friends have told me that they enjoy reading my writing, but wished they had a better grasp of Thai politics so that they could understand better what was going on. I thought about this for a while and decided that they have a point. One of my key goals in writing […]
Right is Wrong and Wrong is Right
“Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them”, Immanuel Kant once said, “the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.” If the heavens above and morality within filled Kant with wonder, so has it been for Thais. The […]
On Google and Governance
It’s been a busy start to the semester here at Cal and time has not been something with which I have been well-endowed. But I do want to comment on the latest uproar in Thai politics over Prayut’s remarks at Asia Society in New York. The prime minister began with a riff about social media: […]
What Thailand Can Learn From Brexit
Thailand may have supposedly changed its system of governance in 1932, but it is well known that skepticism about democracy remains deeply entrenched amongst many Thais. It is not uncommon to observe some using democracy as a bit of a dirty word, representing in their view the wrongful empowerment of the ignorant masses who often […]
Constitutional Revision Matters for the Economy
Why revise the constitution, some ask, when the government’s attention and toil would be better spent on improving people’s livelihoods? This is a question that has come up with ever-increasing frequency as the Future Forward party has organized town halls across the country to promote the idea of constitutional revision. Despite the bipartisan look that […]
A Taste of Defeat
Attention in Thai politics has been focused this week on the cabinet’s oath-taking error. The episode is worrying for several reasons. This was succinctly summarized by Parit Wacharasindhu: if it was an unintentional gaffe, it casts doubt Prayut’s ability to handle complex issues; if it was intentional, it puts into question his respect for a […]
On Buffalos and Desserts
Wading into the replies section on any political tweet or Facebook post is almost always like intentionally jumping into a well filled with poisoned water. Social media has never been the arena for intellectual discourse and well-reasoned arguments, but rather a breeding ground for angry insults and cheap shots. Thai social media, however, may be […]
In Thailand, Pessimism Once Again
“If voting made a difference”, Mark Twain once wrote, “they would never let us do it.” In Thailand, this has more than a hint of being true. The election was never going to resolve many of Thailand’s problems. The power of the pen, as a popular hashtag went, was never going to be enough to […]
Takeaways From Thailand’s 2019 Election
I just flew from Washington D.C to New York City with no laptop. Originally, I had planned on commenting on the Thai election after I fly back to Berkeley, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to write a quick post. The election, already famous for its unpredictability, has took an even stranger turn: the junta’s […]
