Politics of Thailand

Election of Bangkok governor turns into mini-referendum

3 Mar 2013

Almost three years after the Thai capital was engulfed by weeks of deadly violence between the "red-shirt" supporters of exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the opposition "yellow...

6:12AM

Coffee threat to Shinawatra daughter by Cathay attendant

3 Dec 2012

Getting served a cup of coffee is a routine part of flying, but the thought now has uncomfortable associations for one frequent business class patron, especially on board Cathay Pacific.

7:28AM

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Thai police warn of plot to abduct Yingluck Shinawatra as rally looms

23 Nov 2012

Thai police have warned of a plot to abduct Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as her cabinet approved using an internal security law to manage an anti- government rally scheduled for tomorrow.

2:44AM

Thailand should brace for more bruising politics

12 Nov 2012

Thailand could be heading towards a new round of violent political confrontations. Late last month, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra reshuffled the cabinet for the third time in just over a year...

3:36AM

Thaksin scales back Myanmar visit after reports of assassination plot

8 Nov 2012

When Thailand's former premier Thaksin Shinawatra announced plans to visit the Myanmese border town of Tachileik tomorrow and Saturday, it prompted thousands of his supporters to book out hotels...

3:58AM

Royalty and democracy make an unhappy match

22 Jun 2012

On Sunday, Thailand will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the abolition of absolute monarchy. After so long, however, not only has democracy struggled to take root, the monarchy has refused to...

6:12PM

Opinion

Tom Holland

Attempts to diversify China's reserves have been a disaster

4:45AM

Howard Winn

China is like the EU; provinces are its member states

5:26AM

Thais on collision course over lese-majeste law

Known in Thailand as 'Uncle SMS', Amphon 'Akong' Tangnoppakul died last week in detention, less than six months after being sentenced to 20 years in jail for violating the lese-majeste law.

3:00PM

Thaksin return won't bring reconciliation

Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a fugitive from Thai law, continues to raise the political temperature at home. Recently, while visiting South Korea, he said he would return to...

10:42AM

Archaic law serves only to weaken the monarchy

The increasing number of lese-majeste cases in Thailand in recent years has dangerously worsened the human rights situation in the country.

3:37AM

Five years are enough to do lasting damage

Five years ago today, the Thai military staged a coup which overthrew the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Some Thais blamed Thaksin for triggering the crisis.

7:54PM

It won't be easy for Yingluck

'You Decide' was the compelling message some Thai newspapers had on their front pages yesterday.

Unfortunately, nothing in Thailand's fragile democracy was ever going to be quite...

1:59PM

Will it just be another Thai Groundhog Day at the polls?

If Thai politics was a movie, it would be tempting to think of it as Groundhog Day, or at least Back to the Future.

1:55PM