Ploenpote Atthakor
Editorial page Editor
Ploenpote Atthakor is editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post.
Don't build a wall against our own people
A famous quote, "Numbers never lie", comes to my mind often as the country copes with the coranavirus outbreak which all of a sudden has some Thais obsessed with numbers and case counting.
Red-tape mess making hard times harder
A hairdresser in my neighbourhood told me she didn't get the 5,000-baht cash handout she's entitled to. Frustrated, she has little, if any hope.
Bangkok booze ban is the last thing we need
Social distancing as a means to curb Covid-19? OK. Partial curfew after 10pm until 4am, probably OK.
Anutin must get a grip in battle against the virus
Despite not having contracted the Covid-19 virus, Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul finds himself in deep trouble.
Virus a wake-up call to change our bad habits
With Covid-19 infection cases soaring past 300 in a short time, we have now realised the battle with this disease will be much tougher than we thought. In other words, despite the predicament in Wuhan, we unforgivably underestimated the threat it posed.
Smog a bigger problem than coronavirus
For more than three months, facial masks have become a necessity for Thais, though not all the people find this accessory affordable or easy to obtain.
Blame game no solution to smog woes
Be warned, everyone. The ultra-fine PM2.5 dust will not be going away anytime soon.
No room for apathy as haze crisis returns
With levels of particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter -- PM2.5 fine dust -- surpassing 180, Bangkok was ranked as the fourth most polluted city in the world yesterday. People in the provinces -- both near and far -- have also experienced similar problems.
We will keep eating poison for a while yet
The latest resolution on the ban of the three hazardous chemicals is even more toxic than the chemicals themselves.
Pareena saga a test of land reform resolve
When Deputy Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow defended Pareena Kraikupt -- a Palang Pracharath Party member and MP for Ratchaburi who is being grilled in a high-profile land scandal -- by suggesting that she may escape forest encroachment charges because her family "had lived on the disputed plots prior to the enactment of land reforms", I could sense his triumph, as well as relief.
