Pravit Rojanaphruk

​Depicting himself as Jesus Christ this week was just US President Donald Trump's latest narcissistic exercise on social media.

The 10 prominent MPs from the main opposition People’s Party (PP) may have breathed a sigh of relief last Friday after the Supreme Court decided to accept a petition alleging serious ethical misconduct against them, but refrained from suspending them from their parliamentary duties. The petition stems from their proposed amendment to the royal defamation […]

A Bangkok-based Western researcher requested a meeting with me on Tuesday afternoon in Bangkok to discuss the troubling Thai–Cambodian relations, asking me whether I see any hope for the normalisation of the two neighbouring ASEAN member states. Before attempting to answer, I learned that he had recently visited Phnom Penh to talk to experts and […]

​On Sunday afternoon, this writer received a surprising phone call from France, from exiled Thai political dissident Jaran Ditapichai. The 78-year-old Jaran has lived many lives: university student in France, communist insurgent in Thailand during the 1970s, detainee of the Burmese junta for distributing pro-democracy leaflets in Yangon, national human rights commissioner, redshirt co-leader, and […]

​For a country which hosts over two million migrant workers from Myanmar and at least half a million from Cambodia, they remain mostly invisible in Thailand. This is partly due to physical similarities, but also due to the fact that they are rarely acknowledged publicly as an indispensable part of the Thai economy, performing hard […]

​The Anutin Charnvirakul government’s decision last week to cancel the extended visa-free entry scheme, which allowed stays of up to 60 days instead of 30, was based on the belief that it would strengthen national security, combat transnational crime, and prevent foreigners from exploiting the policy to work illegally, engage in business without permits, or […]

Viktor Semenov, chargé d’affaires at the Embassy of Ukraine in Thailand, on Friday thanked the Thai government, saying Ukraine is “really grateful” for Thailand’s principled support for Ukrainian sovereignty, international law and the UN Charter as Russia’s full-scale invasion drags past the four-year mark. ​Semenov gave a lengthy briefing to Thai journalists in Bangkok about […]

It was another precarious week for Thailand–Cambodia relations, judging by several incidents over the past few days. Some were entirely unnecessary. There was also a missed opportunity at last month’s ASEAN Summit: Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Manet, couldn’t even hold a bilateral meeting by themselves without the mediation of ASEAN […]

Anand Panyarachun says Thailand must rebuild its diplomatic influence after two decades of decline and return to its “rightful place".

With two weeks to go before the Bangkok gubernatorial election on 28 June 2026, it appears that incumbent Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt is likely to return to City Hall. This is despite mixed reactions to his first term in office. While it would be unfair to describe Chadchart as a failed governor during his first […]