As the election campaign heats up, political parties are fiercely competing to win votes by offering generous cash handouts, raising concerns about their impact on the country’s fiscal discipline for the incoming administration. Such concerns are warranted. Yet the focus on the post-election financial burden should not overshadow the outgoing administration’s last-minute budget spending for […]
School uniform and hairstyle rules are part and parcel of Thailand’s education.Three years ago, groups that called themselves “progressive students” started to challenge the stiff rules, calling for the state to respect their rights to make their own decisions. The staunch campaign caused the Ministry of Education (MOE) to ease its rules on hairstyles, allowing […]
Chiang Mai has repeatedly been named the world’s most air-polluted city this year. Not exactly a title to be envious about. The city was hit hard by PM2.5 ultra-fine dust on March 31. IQair.com, an air quality reporting website, reported Chiang Mai had an air quality index of 320 with an ultra-fine PM2.5 dust level […]
Thailand needs to gain competitiveness in the global economy. However, two hindrances come to mind: old leaders and outdated laws. First, ageing leaders. Let us be clear from the outset. This is not about age discrimination. Older people bring valuable experience from the past. But when there is no room for fresh ideas from young […]
At the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt last year, Thailand maintained its previous goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 — another 27 years, and having net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2065 –or almost half a century. As the country’s largest producer of carbon dioxide, which is the major cause […]
Covid-19. Technological disruption. Climate crisis. These have happened at a rapid pace that challenges the adaptability of people around the world. Is Thailand prepared to withstand these challenges? Ask the children — the future of the country — and their answers, according to the 2018 PISA Survey of 15-year-old children around the world, are not […]
The Thai economy will face many headwinds but also tailwinds next year, mainly from the global economy and geopolitical tensions. In 2022, the Thai economy slowly recovered from the Covid pandemic as lockdowns ended and the economy was reopened to international travel. After contracting by more than 6% in 2020, Thailand’s real gross domestic product […]
Teenagers declared war on schools’ authoritarian rules. A rap song chastising Thai dictators went viral overnight. Angry youths defied state crackdowns for democratic rights. The social media movement “Let’s Move Out of This Country” spread like wildfire. The signs during the past few years have been abundant and clear. Thai youths are fed up and […]
Startups have succeeded in disrupting so many business sectors in Thailand. Why not in agriculture yet?Thailand’s outdated and unproductive agriculture definitely needs a shake-up. Despite the natural abundance, farmers remain poor amid rising investment costs and low prices. Droughts and floods from climate change have also increased their production risks, making farmers’ lives much more […]
Is it wrong to post video clips or photos of children on social media? Maybe this is the wrong question. Instead, we should ask whether those posts are legal or not. The question of the appropriateness of posting children’s photos or video clips on social media has raised a storm of debate recently with an […]
Want to have an impressionist painting of Thai temples in the style of Claude Monet, but you cannot afford to commission an artist? Let artificial intelligence (AI) do the work for you. Then you change your mind and want to have the painting in a surrealistic style. A piece of cake. Type what you want […]
Oct 6 marks one of the most tragic days in Thailand’s history. Back in 1976, hundreds of students and protesters were attacked and killed at Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus. Last week, 37 people, 24 of them preschool kids, lost their lives in a gun and knife attack at a childcare centre in Nong Bua […]
