US signs rare earth MOUs with Malaysia, Thailand. Can it hedge against China?
By Ralph Jennings in Kuala Lumpur The United States has ramped up efforts to hedge against rare earth export controls by China – the world’s dominant supplier – through agreements signed on Sunday with two Southeast Asian countries, including one that experts believe could deliver results relatively quickly. Memoranda of understanding with Malaysia and Thailand […]
Read MoreAsean summit: Thailand, Cambodia sign ceasefire pact as Trump hails own role
By Joseph Sipalan,Iman Muttaqin Yusof and Aidan Jones A triumphant Donald Trump on Sunday presided over a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia on the first trip to Southeast Asia in his second presidency, applauding his own peacemaking skills while warning that American trade was contingent on the durability of the truce between the two […]
Read MoreThailand’s Queen Mother Sirikit, influential style icon, dies at 93
Thailand’s Queen Mother Sirikit, who brought glamour and elegance to a postwar revival in the country’s monarchy and who, in later years, would occasionally wade into politics, has died aged 93, the Thai Royal Household Bureau said today (25 October). Sirikit had been out of the public eye since a stroke in 2012. The palace […]
Read MoreThailand’s ex-PM Paetongtarn quits as party leader
Thailand’s recently removed prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra resigned Wednesday as leader of the party founded by her father, ex-premier Thaksin, signalling the potential end of the family’s decades-long political dynasty. Paetongtarn, 39, served less than a year as prime minister before being sacked by a court in August over an ethics breach related to her […]
Read MoreFormer Thai prime minister Thaksin has new job in prison: overseeing sewer cleaning
Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is set to be assigned a role overseeing sewer-cleaning crews from Bangkok’s Klong Prem Central Prison, his daughter Paetongtarn said following a visit to the facility. “The prison director said Dad will be assigned to supervise sewer cleaning,” she told reporters outside the prison on Thursday, according to Thai […]
Read MoreWhat’s next for Thailand? Unpacking the rise of Anutin Charnvirakul
By Aidan Jones In Thailand, elections do not necessarily decide who governs. Over the past few weeks, that paradox has played out once more, with a prime minister ousted, the country’s best-known political dynasty sidelined and a new leader taking the reins. For young Thai activist Aitarnik Chitwiset, the endless chaos feels like it has […]
Read MoreWhat’s next for Thailand? Unpacking the rise of Anutin Charnvirakul
By Aidan Jones In Thailand, elections do not necessarily decide who governs. Over the past few weeks, that paradox has played out once more, with a prime minister ousted, the country’s best-known political dynasty sidelined and a new leader taking the reins. For young Thai activist Aitarnik Chitwiset, the endless chaos feels like it has […]
Read MoreThailand’s Thaksin Shinawatra jailed after apex court rejects hospital stay
Aidan Jones and Agencies Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire tycoon who once dominated Thai politics, spent his first night behind bars on Tuesday after the Supreme Court sentenced him to a year in prison. The verdict was a stunning blow for the former prime minister, whose political dynasty has, for now, been pushed aside. Thailand’s top […]
Read MoreThailand’s Anutin Charnvirakul elected PM by parliament
Thailand’s Anutin Charnvirakul was elected prime minister on Friday after breezing through a parliamentary vote, trouncing the candidate of the Shinawatra family’s once-dominant ruling party to end a week of chaos and political deadlock. With the decisive backing of the opposition, Anutin easily passed the threshold of more than half of the lower house votes […]
Read MoreThailand’s ruling party seeks house dissolution as opposition backs rival’s PM bid
BANGKOK, Sept 3 : Thai politics were in chaos on Wednesday as the ruling Pheu Thai party said it had sought royal approval to dissolve the parliament for a new election, moments after the biggest group in the house said it would back another party to form a government. The chief whip of the Pheu […]
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