thailand

Opinion

Losing after Winning an Election

Isaan voters have a long track record of their candidates winning and then eventually losing. Northeasterners picked parties whose leaders became prime ministers in 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, and 2014. But they lost to coups (twice), court rulings (two or three times), and election annulments (twice). The overwhelming choice of Isaan voters (and the majority of voters throughout the country) now face a new challenge: an unelected Senate. Will its beloved Pheu Thai Party rise to the occasion and save democracy? Or will it take the premiership and break the pro-democratic bloc? Does it have any choice?

Opinion

Charles Keyes dying wish for democratic Thailand

With the death of Professor Charles F. Keyes earlier this month, Isaan lost one of its oldest and best friends. He had done his field research in Maha Sarakham in the early 1960s and wrote what was his first most major publication and which began the most influential English-language book on the region:

Opinion

Factoring in Bangkok into Thailand’s notable vaccination inequality

In July, the share of new Covid-19 cases in Thailand shifted decisively from Bangkok to the rest of the country. By early August, Bangkok comprised only a fourth of cases, but government vaccination efforts still centered on the capital. At a time when there’s a shortage of vaccines, why hasn’t the distribution of vaccines been more equitable regionally?

Opinion

Book on Bangkok gives fresh insights on its troubled relation with Isaan

Philip Cornwel-Smith’s latest book, Very Bangkok, might have been just another of the umpteen guide books on Thailand’s capital, Bangkok. Why another book on this egotistical and egocentric subject? But Cornwel-Smith is no typical guide. The very breadth of Very Bangkok provides a comprehensive and fresh take on the capital and its role within the country. It also gives us new insights into Isaan and its troubling relationship to the capital.

News

Govt disperses “The People’s Party 2020” rally, arrests leaders

Photos by Suphaphorn Tumprakon Early this morning at about 4:30 a.m., a group of around 500 crowd-control officers with shields and body armor broke up a group of about 1,000 protesters demonstrating on the street next to Government House. It took the police just one hour to take control of the area where they also […]