In late December, a prominent young member of the United Thai Nation Party, Shinapat Kitlertsirivatana, sent in a fiery resignation letter to the party. “The United Thai Nation Party cannot change this country if it will not change its internal working processes,” he declared. “I’m clear that the monarchy must remain. But conservatives need to…

This past year, I had the opportunity to serve as the Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) — the University of Michigan’s equivalent to a Teaching Assistant — for two political science courses. In the fall, I taught Southeast Asian Politics with Prof. Allen Hicken and Chinese Politics with Prof. Mary Gallagher in the winter. It was…

Despite campaigning last year on being able to “think big and deliver,” the Pheu Thai government has recently found itself struggling to deliver on one of the most basic tasks of maintaining a government: producing a cabinet of ministers. What was supposed to be a routine reshuffle, the normal adjustment of ministerial portfolios that every…

Decades ago, Thaksin Shinawatra liked to talk about his vision of Thailand as a CEO-state. “A company is a country, a country is a company,” he said in 1997. As As Pasuk Pongpaichit and Chris Baker described it, he “claimed the methods of business management were superior to the traditional practice of bureaucracy or government.…

As important as the recent decision by the Electoral Commission to seek a dissolution of the Move Forward Party is, it is not surprising in the least. If anything, this decision had seemed inevitable after the ruling by the Constitutional Court that the Move Forward Party, by calling for an amendment of the lèse-majesté law,…

Of the policies that the various political parties campaigned on during the 2023 general election in Thailand, one that especially raised my eyebrow was Pheu Thai’s “One Family, One Soft Power” policy. It described a proposal where at least one family member from every household have the chance to enter a “creative skills incubation center”…

Political tensions in Thailand have escalated following a court ruling that could potentially lead to the dissolution of the Move Forward Party over charges stemming from its campaign to amend the country’s lèse majesté law. (Co-authored with Dr. Napon Jatusripitak) Click here to read the full piece at Fulcrum.

Back in October, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin argued that he does not merely want people to see him as a prime minister, but as a businessman. “I’m a salesman. I have to sell Thailand’s great products and build investors’ confidence. It’s my duty and mission as the No 1 salesman of the country,” he told…

In a new article published in Contemporary Southeast Asia, Prof. Allen Hicken, Dr. Napon Jatusripitak and I take a new look at Dr. Anek Laothamatas’ famous theory of Thailand being “a tale of two democracies.” Rural and urban voters have now converged in significant ways, but there is still a distinct divide between densely populated…