In the 2019 election, a sizeable portion of the military proxy party’s electoral candidates were “pulled” (phalang dud) from other parties.
Universal coverage without universal testing: Thailand’s delays in access to testing may be costly
Social distancing and travel bans won’t save Thailand from COVID-19 writes Anthony C. Kuster.
The partisan history of police power in Thailand
Paul Chambers looks back at the politicisation of the Royal Thai Police, before turning to the palace's recent personalisation of authority over an institution often overshadowed by the military.
Anakot Mai: ‘lawfare’ and Future Forward Party’s legacy
Future Forward successfully convinced younger Thais to give democracy another try, argues Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang.
Looking back at Thailand’s Constitutional Court: Somchai Preechasinlapakun
Thoughts from a legal expert as the Constitutional Court prepares to rule on the dissolution of the Future Forward Party.
Thailand’s previously apolitical join the Run Against Dictatorship
Previously politically disengaged members of the population are joining organised political activity alongside older red shirt activist groups.
Defections to expulsions: Future Forward Party’s internal turmoil
"Very few MP candidates actually call themselves “true believers” in the Future Forward ideology."
Cascading royal-nationalism: Bangkok’s “Volunteer Spirit 904” bootcamps
Around 3,000 public servants have volunteered to attend intensive “boot camps” at a military base in Bangkok.
How Christianity consolidated royalist, Buddhist “Thainess”
What do the late King Bhumibol and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra have in common? They're both alumni of Catholic private schools.
National security and “immunising” Thais to political conflict
On the discourse of "immunity" against partisanship and contestation in Thailand’s 2019–22 National Security Policy
Pracharat welfare depoliticises Thailand’s “political peasants”
สวัสดิการประชารัฐกับการเปลี่ยนแปลงความสัมพันธ์รัฐ-ชนบทไทย
Papal visits in Thailand and “foreign religious subversion”
As Pope Francis lands in Thailand, Katewadee Kulabkaew unpacks hardline fears that the Catholic Church is like "a stealthy python" that will swallow Buddhism.
The Thai Constitutional Court’s war on freedom of expression
While the Court has always targeted critics of the regime, it generally spared critics of its own rulings. With the rise of Future Forward Party, that's changed.
“We try to not be Thai”: the everyday resistance of ethnic minorities
How two ethnic minority groups, the Lisu and the Maniq, continue to challenge the Thai state's sovereignty
The desecration of corpses on 6 October 1976: who, how and why
Why did the perpetrators treat the bodies of the deceased so savagely—in public before thousands of eyes?
Scrutinising Thailand’s 2019 annual military reshuffle
The annual military reshuffle shows a military leadership in transition.
Why the ‘Prayuth regime’ will fail to prevail
ทำไมระบอบประยุทธ์ไม่เข้มแข็ง: The "elected" military regime is not popular, nor can it guarantee the support of the armed forces
Is the era of “Red versus Yellow” over in Thailand?
ยุคของ “แดง ปะทะ เหลือง” ในประเทศไทยจบแล้วจริงหรือ?
Disappearing Japan: Vajiravudh’s translations of The Mikado and the Thai elite’s admiration of Japan
On what translation can tell us about Thai society and its perspectives on its regional neighbours.
Lao dissidents exiled under Thailand’s military rule
The activities of Lao dissidents who have fled to Thailand can offer some insight into anti-regime sentiment in Laos.
Thai Civilized: what a minor party tells us about authoritarianism in Thailand
จงสังเกตความโหยหาอำนาจนิยมในสังคมไทย: มงคลกิตติ์เป็น ส.ส. สะท้อนอะไร
Live and die with dignity: a publisher vs. a kingdom
Amid assassinations and forced disappearances of Thai dissidents abroad, a dissident publisher reflects on what it means to “survive” under “Democracy with the King as the Head of State".