Veera Prateepchaikul
Former Editor
Former Bangkok Post Editor, political commentator and a regular columnist at Post Publishing.
Protesters must show more maturity
All eyes will focus on the protest this Saturday by anti-dictatorship students, albeit with a sense of uneasiness about whether the protest will be peaceful or whether it will lead to violence.
Students in it for the long haul
Anti-dictatorship student activists plan to stage their next mass protest at Thammasat University's Tha Prachan campus on Saturday Sept 19.
Throwing paint is not peaceful protest
The throwing of blue paint by Bottom Blues Band lead singer Chaiamorn Kaewwiboonpan at a police officer during an anti-establishment rally in front of Samran Rat police station on Friday is definitely not a form of "paint as protest", a symbolic public act listed in The Politics of Nonviolent Action by Gene Sharp.
The winds of change are blowing
The wind of change has swept across Thailand and awakened Thai youth faster and more furiously than I've witnessed before in my lifetime. The three-fingered salute of rebellion which has spread to high-school students like Covid-19 during the traditional ritual of national anthem singing appears to have caused alarm among older generation people like myself.
Student protesters must be respectful
The sudden announcement of a 10-point demand for reform of the monarchy at a student protest at the Rangsit campus of Thammasat University on Aug 10 was, indeed, unprecedented, daring and shocking for many Thais.
A sad Thai policy of blanket dismissal
Army commander Gen Apirat Kongsompong took a swipe at anti-government elements, which are increasingly hounding Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on an almost daily basis, while chatting with army cadets on the occasion of the 133rd anniversary of the founding of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy on Aug 5.
Justice needs salvaging after fatal crash
There is an old Thai saying which goes along the lines of: "A dead elephant cannot be covered by lotus leaves."
Fight over jobs prompts dirty tricks
Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin appeared to be caught with his pants down last week when, out of the blue, his wife, Anongwan, was served with a notice from the National Anti-Corruption Commission to acknowledge corruption charges related to the 770 million baht fund for the construction of fai maew weirs.
Paranoia wreaking economic havoc
We have taken pride in the fact that Thailand has not had any local transmission of Covid-19 for more than 50 consecutive days and that our success in stemming the spread of the virus has won worldwide praise.
PM must learn to turn other cheek
After six years in office and having earned the unenviable reputation of being an "angry pot" for his occasionally unprovoked outbursts at Government House reporters, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha might have thought it was about time for him to change tack and reach out to media outlets that he didn't appear to admire.