Tag: Thailand

There will be no Cambodian Spring anytime soon. This is the sobering reality to a question so tempting to ask – particularly in the shadow of what’s happening in Thailand and now in Lao PDR.…

The death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on October 13, 2016 marked a substantive shift in public sentiments toward the Thai monarchy. In mourning and in unity, hundreds of thousands of Thais gathered a week later…

It was supposed to be another good coup. Prayut Chan-o-cha and his band of Royal Thai Army loyalists promised to return “happiness to the people,” or at least that is how it was advertised. And…

After whirlwind protests that saw thousands of people take to the streets of Bangkok on Tuesday, Oct. 14, the next morning saw the Royal Thai government issue a “severe” emergency decree while at the same…

Social media giant Twitter last week blocked nearly one thousand accounts linked to the Royal Thai Army, which were in violation of its policies on manipulation of information. According to a statement released by Twitter,…

When new Royal Thai Army chief General Narongpan Jittkaewtae took his post on Oct. 1, he and military commander-in-chief General Chalermpol Srisawat made a point to discourage the press and the public to assume that…

Thailand’s military rulers have long had difficulties sharing uncomfortable stories. The painful anniversary of the massacre at Thammasat University on October 6, 1976 has never been reconciled, buried in a kind of “organised forgetting.” As…

After several major protests in Bangkok, authorities have practiced a degree of restraint, despite the dismantling of a long-held social taboo of voicing public criticism of Thailand’s once-revered monarchy.…

More than 100,000 people demonstrated on the open field at Sanam Luang, in front of Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace in Bangkok over the weekend, defying the military-backed government of Prayuth Chan-o-cha and…

After a long silence, Thailand’s pro-democracy opposition has returned. Although not clad in red nor do they share allegiances to ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, they have taken aim at Thailand’s ruling power structures.…