Kansai Gaidai University, Osaka, Japan
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Category: Thailand

Is Thailand’s PM More Concerned About Sound Cannabis Policy or Political Optics?
hai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is most known outside Thailand for two things: his 2026 center-right electoral victory and his advocacy for the legalization of marijuana in Thailand. Those two things will always be related, as recently he warned…
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Thailand Needs to Soak Its Own Rich, Not Just Wealthy Tourists
Thailand’s government has decided, like Japan and others, that the quality of the tourists it attracts is far more appealing than the quantity. After receiving just 33 million foreign arrivals to the Kingdom this year, far…
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Thailand’s Anti-Scam Efforts Are Well Behind the Pace of Criminality
Thailand’s economy has suffered a staggering 60 billion baht loss in 2024 due to widespread online fraud, with millions of citizens falling victim to sophisticated telephone and SMS scams. The Royal Thai Police (RTP) reported…
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Thailand’s Election Commission Is Next of Kin to Chaos
Thailand’s February 8 election stunned some political pundits and defied national polls that predicted that the People’s Party would gain a larger percentage of the vote than the eventual winner, Prime Minister Anutin Charnavirakul’s Bhumjaithai…
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Pheu Thai is Banking on Corruption to Remedy Thailand’s Informal Economy 
It’s one of the oldest marketing gimmicks in the world and it hasn’t lost its appeal. You’ve seen the slogans before: “Enter now for your chance to win!” Companies have expanded their market share by…
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The Political Neglect of Thailand’s Deep South Cannot Continue 
In the Deep South provinces of Thailand, violence is commonplace in January. In this month in 2025, two border patrol officers were killed in Narathiwat when their truck hit an explosive device. Around the same time,…
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Thai Royal Defamation Case Against American Academic Could Have Dire Consequences
Earlier this month, the prominent American academic Dr. Paul Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University in Phitsanulok, Thailand, was arrested on charges of insulting the Thai monarchy (lese-majeste). In addition to causing international headlines and earning a quick…
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The Dangerous Implications of Paul Chambers’ Article 112 Arrest
Charges under Thailand’s strict lese-majeste law used to be rare, both for Thais and foreigners. When foreigners were charged, it made public headlines, and such was the case of a drunken Swiss man, who defaced…
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Thailand’s Cooperation With China on Cross-border Crime Comes at a Cost
During Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, one of the main topics of discussion was the proliferation of scam centers close to Thailand’s borders in Myanmar, Cambodia,…
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Making the Most of Paetongtarn’s Visit to Thailand’s Deep South
On January 14, two border patrol officers in Narathiwat province, in Thailand’s south, were killed when a homemade bomb detonated on their pickup truck on the way to Tua Ngo Border Patrol Police School where…
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