Editorial
Bangkok Post editorial column
These editorials represent Bangkok Post thoughts about current issues and situations.
Email : ploenpotea@bangkokpost.co.th
Drivers need screening
A suggestion by the Department of Land Transport (DLT) to have holders of the lifelong driving licence be re-evaluated to ensure that they are fit to drive has been aborted quickly in the wake of fierce public pressure in what was possibly the most short-lived proposal ever.
OAG needs major reform
It's time Attorney-General Wongsakul Kittipromwong takes action and cleans up the back room of his office after the mess of the hit-and-run case involving Red Bull scion Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya to restore public trust.
Police need a slap on the wrist
The arrest of civil rights lawyer Arnon Nampa and a student leader on Friday on sedition charges for their roles in a series of rallies against the government is an ill-thought, excessive act by the police. The tough action against pro-democracy activists which has sparked a public outcry is an embarrassment to the government that came to power through an election.
Tough times still lie ahead
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has initially won a political tug-of-war by making a cabinet reshuffle and filling vacant positions with people he mostly trusts, without breaking up the ruling Palang Pracharath Party -- yet.
Police reform at standstill
The deadly shootout at an underground casino on Rama III Road of the capital, resulting in four deaths on Monday, is a stark embarrassment not only for the Royal Thai Police (RTP), but also for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. It speaks volumes about how the promise of police reform the premier made several years ago while head of the military regime has failed to materialise.
Govt bows to charter calls
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's U-turn on constitutional amendment, revealing that the government has prepared its own version of a charter rewrite, is a crucial development for Thai politics, which has seen growing pressure for changes to the military-sponsored supreme law.
No need for foreign troops
Is a war breaking out nearby? Or has there been any imminent threat to national territory?
Antitrust laws need a rethink
Big Tech roared back into the headlines last week after US President Donald Trump declared that Washington would ban the Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok. The sudden announcement came just days after the US House Judiciary subcommittee grilled four tech chiefs -- Google's Sundar Pichai, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Apple Inc's Tim Cook, and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg -- in a marathon five-and-a-half-hour antitrust hearing. The US-based firms, worth nearly US$5 trillion (156 trillion baht), stand accused of stifling competition and establishing "monopolistic" dominance.
Asean's virus dilemma
The Covid-19 pandemic poses several challenges to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), intensifying regional poverty and inequality. The growing hardship will also pose a major threat to its economic integration.
A country for old men no longer
Last week, outspoken hardliner Maj Gen Rienthong Nanna, who operates Mongkutwattana Hospital, called on Thai businesses and government agencies to stop hiring students found to have been involved in pro-democracy protests in a move he claimed was "a project to protect the future" of these young demonstrators by somewhat counterintuitively creating "list of individuals which companies, government agencies, and educational institutions must ban from being employed, enrolling for study or receiving scholarships".
