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After the legal noose was tightened around him in Thailand, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's choice of Great Britain early this month as a safe haven was not surprising, as he had also sought refuge there after the September 19, 2006 coup.
Hello Perspective, hello people.
Asean Secretary-General: Surin Pitsuwan : I have learned about the decision to scrap the Perspective section with a sense of personal loss. I have not only followed various national issues in depth from the pages of Perspective, but also contributed to the discussion through the years. I realised that some issues that I was personally involved in had to be reported to the public at large. And I chose the column space of Perspective to relate those stories to the Thai people. And I very much appreciated the editors of the Bangkok Post, who always reached out to me for insight on issues that they thought the readers deserve deeper analysis and larger perspectives on.
When Peter Fischbach moved to Thailand 18 years ago, he joined Democrats Abroad Thailand (DAT). It was a nascent group at the time, made of a handful of members who started meeting in the late '80s and who kept in touch about events and elections by snail mail and the occasional fax.
COMMENTARY
By now, it is clear that the Samak Sundaravej government's efforts have not borne fruit as planned. Even though its core People's Power party (PPP) won the election and led the coalition, its administration has been anything but smooth. Protests and obstacles have been rampant despite the constant reminder that it is an elected, legitimate government.
EDITORIAL
A report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) last week brings home the true cost of wealth inequality, paid in full by those at the lower end of the economic scale with the days of their lives. The report, which concludes that "social injustice is killing people on a grand scale" all around the world, cites some very disturbing statistics.
SOUL Searching
In yet another indication of how the Asian media's patience with the Western media is wearing thin, Times of India commentator Ramesh Thakur has blasted the Western mainstream media for "living in a different planet" over its coverage of the Russian-Georgian conflict.
IN SIGHT
When British Ambassador Quinton Quayle was first posted with the British Embassy in Bangkok, the big names in Thai politics were Samak Sundaravej, Banharn Silpa-archa, and Prem Tinsulanonda, and there was a bitter and ongoing dispute on the Thai-Cambodian border.
POSTBAG
Regardless of the Forbes report citing His Majesty the King as one of the richest monarchs in the world, the Thai people have benefited time and again from His Majesty's unbounded generosity during times of need. Flood victims have the King's personal attention, the upcountry sick, and the hill tribes have received His Majesty's help. Thai foundations, charities, and the King's personally established schools and royal foundations receive generous amounts of money from His Majesty. What other country could boast a monarch with the heart and generosity of King Bumibol, and indeed, the rest of the royal family? Indeed, they represent an overflowing cornucopia of generosity toward the Thai citizens and the Thai nation.
