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May 04, 2024
 

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Pavin Chachavalpongpun

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Pavin Chachavalpongpun
For Pavin Chachavalpongpun's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2014
Thai regime hunts for legitimacy in Myanmar
Thai Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha visits Myanmar, of all places, to try to add a layer of legitimacy to his regime following the military coup last May.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2014
Thai junta hounds opposition across borders
Even as the Thai junta claims to promote democracy despite having overthrown the previous elected government, its representatives hound anti-coup groups in Thai neighborhoods across borders.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2014
Make no mistake about Thailand's problem
The Thai military has not played the role of 'democratic defender' following its recent coup. Instead, its intervention shows its desperate move to maintain power ahead of the imminent royal succession.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2014
Red-yellow scrum moves beyond the border
As the U.S. hosts the largest number of Thai immigrants — about 250,000 — it stands to reason that Thailand's color-coded politics would land on its shores. Both camps are trying to lobby the U.S. government.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2014
A climate of fear in Thailand
Despite claims by the Thai military, the May 22 coup has restored neither peace nor order to the country. Instead, a climate of fear has replaced the pre-coup political uncertainty.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2014
Desperate Thai elites get their wish for a coup
Thailand's traditional elites have never been willing to invest in the game of electoral politics. They still rely on the shortcuts for maintaining power — through guns and coups. They've gotten their wish again.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2014
No end in sight to Thailand's political unrest
The crux of the now six-month-long Thai campaign of protests is not just the widespread corruption supposedly committed by the Yingluck government. It's also the seemingly intimate ties between the king's heir apparent and Thaksin Shinawatra, which worry the conservative royalists of the 'network monarchy.'
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 9, 2014
Thai crisis puts Japanese companies on notice
With Japanese investors already nervous about the domestic recession, the global economic recovery and competition with China, Thailand's political crisis threatens to spur a dangerous outflow of Japanese capital.
COMMENTARY
Jan 16, 2014
Thai protesters see last chance to save interests
The fact that a member of Thailand's royal family — a daughter of the king — has gotten caught up in politics would seem to guarantee that the current political strife will go on for some time.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2013
Thai angst and the battle for royal intervention
The battle in Thailand has been redrawn into one between ethical rule centered on the monarchy as the face of moral authority against the supposedly corrupt Yingluck Shinawatra regime.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2013
Thai amnesty bill stirs a new round of unrest
The possibility of political violence will compel the Thai government to shelve an amnesty bill that would allow former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to return home.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2013
Defenders of Thai monarchy busy politicizing
You would think that Thailand's state agencies would be trying to de-politicize issues related to the monarchy in light of the country's deep polarization in recent years. You would be wrong.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2013
Hope for amnesty bill as Thai protests return
The Thai government finds itself beset by renewed street protests as an amnesty bill, for those involved in political violence since 2006, is debated in Parliament.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2013
Southern Thai separatists touch trust milestone
Peace talks between the Thai government and Muslim separatist groups have reached a milestone as both sides discussed ways to rebuild mutual trust.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 18, 2013
Visiting premier talks of protracted Thai crisis
During her visit to Japan, Thailand's prime minister dared to talk about the protracted political crisis that followed the overthrow of her brother in 2006.
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2013
Wishing for China's trade, fearing its prowess
The Southeast Asian region has been caught in a dilemma — wanting to benefit from China's economic rise but fearing its intensifying military prowess.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2013
Dispute over Preah Vihear Temple is taken up, threatening to revive Thai nationalistic fervor
The Cambodia-Thailand dispute over the Preah Vihear Temple has been taken up by the International Court of Justice, threatening to reignite nationalistic tensions.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2013
Bangkok governor re-elected despite his failings
Incumbent Bangkok Gov. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, of the national opposition Democrat Party, is re-elected despite his failings the past four years.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2012
Linchpin for Thai amnesty — or more violence
Last week the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) decided to press murder charges against former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his deputy Suthep Thaugsuban in connection with their role in a military crackdown against anti-government red-shirt protesters during April and May of 2010.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2009
Building trust between contentious brothers
SINGAPORE — Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya recently announced that Thailand would facilitate resettlement in third countries for 158 Hmong refugees detained in Nong Khai province.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

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