Ken | Mathis Lohatepanont

Blog

  • The Three Poles of Thai Politics and Pheu Thai’s Prospective Grand Coalition

    “They say the momentum of history was ever thus, the empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide.” So states the first line of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. We are used to thinking about Thai politics as divided between two camps. But the momentum of history is pointing to new unions and divisions…

  • With Pita Gone, What Happens Next?

    Thailand held its general election on May 14th. On July 13th — almost two months since the election — the first round of voting for prime minister unfolded inconclusively. Then, on July 19th, the scheduled second round did not happen at all, with Parliament voting that Pita Limjaroenrat could not be submitted for consideration twice.   It has…

  • Why Pita Limjaroenrat Didn’t Become Prime Minister

    The chances were never high, but Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat has failed to win the first ballot of MPs and senators. With one senator having resigned, Pita needed to garner a constitutional minimum of 375 votes across the two houses.  He garnered 324 votes, with 311 MPs and 13 senators voting for him. 188…

  • Speakership Battle Reveals a Precarious Coalition

    During the first meeting of parliament, only one contested vote took place. Wan Muhammad Noor Matha, the leader of the Prachachart Party, was nominated as speaker of the House of Representatives unopposed; Pheu Thai got its pick for the second deputy speakership similarly without incident.  Only Move Forward’s choice for the first deputy speakership, Padipat…

  • Straight Talk SEA Podcast: Towards a Thai Government

    I was on the Straight Talk Southeast Asia Podcast with Dr. Bridget Welsh to discuss the post-election political landscape in Thailand. Listen on Spreaker Listen on Spotify

  • An Introduction to the Poetry of Sunthorn Phu

    This article originally appeared in the Thai Enquirer on June 26, 2023. After this piece I was published, I was taken aback by the attention it received, which I had not expected for what felt like a somewhat niche subject. The translations were seen over a million times on Twitter, and covered in the Thai…

  • NIAS Podcast: Can Thailand Move Forward?

    I was on the Nordic Asia Podcast with Professor Duncan McCargo to discuss the May 2023 election results. Why was the May 2023 Thai election such a historic election? What does the surprising Move Forward victory tell us about the state of Thai politics? And what happens next? Listen to this episode about the historic…

  • The Man Who Almost Became Prime Minister

    In recent weeks, the uncertainty surrounding Pita Limjaroenrat’s attempt to become Thailand’s 30th prime minister has led to renewed interest in another failed bid for the premiership.  Thirty years ago, Air Chief Marshal Somboon Rahong had dressed up in the standard white uniform of Thai officials, ready to receive a royal proclamation appointing him as…

  • A Cultural Constitution in Transition

    In 1985, the historian Nidhi Eoseewong introduced the concept of a cultural constitution in Thailand. Thailand’s written constitutions, he observed, are frequently torn up: charters so easily replaced cannot possibly be worth very much.  But the cultural constitution, which Nidhi describes as the “political culture which is the true supreme arrangement of power relations,” cannot be discarded…

  • CSIS Podcast: Understanding the Thai Elections

    I was on the Center for Strategic and International Studies’s Southeast Asia Radio podcast to talk about the results of the 2023 Thai general elections. Greg and Elina talk with Ken Mathis Lohatepanont, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan and a writer for the Thai Enquirer. They…