Jonathan Head

Excellent, clear-eyed analysis - and in view of Trump’s clumsy reference to Pearl Harbour in front of PM Takaichi, some trenchant comparisons with Japan-US misunderstandings in WW2

This should be fun share.google/3LxIDf6qdgW62W…

If you thought last year was wild, what about 2026? 5 top speakers will take you through the geopolitical landscape ⁦@FCCThai⁩ tonight, I will be moderating and there is a special Fire Horse cocktail too. share.google/WbiQiji020UbVb…

🇵🇭 Marcos vs Duterte with @pakhead @RegineCabato We look at political dynasties & endemic corruption👇🏻 フィリピン🇵🇭2大政治一族の連携→対立💥 ICC拘束、弾劾訴追、反汚職デモ🪧 フィリピンの政治中枢に何が起きているのか？ マルコス🆚ドゥテルテを解析👇🏻 youtu.be/q94aebpOLro?si…

@DerekTonkinUK People forget that Timor-Leste’s president Jose Ramos Horta is a Nobel laureate who spent much of his life campaigning for his country’s independence and against abusive authoritarianism. His stance on Myanmar is to some extent personal.

"This early stoush sends one clear message: Timor-Leste may be in ASEAN, but its leadership will not quickly assimilate the political culture of the group." [I had to look up stoush, which I hadn't met before, despite living for 4 years in New Zealand.] “Myanmar and Timor-Leste quarrel” lowyinstitute.org/the-interprete…

Old-style politics beats youthful ideals in Thai election bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

The ever-evolving scam business. And the Cambodian authorities are arresting journalists trying to report on scam compounds, not a great look if you want to convince the world you are fighting the business.

@freeAgent85 @RazgrizX I’m afraid their real legitimacy comes from proximity to real sources of power in Thailand. But they ran a very effective tube campaign and did win a lot of Thais over.

@RazgrizX @pakhead They were also the ones who faced a lot of vote buying and related claims around representation in the senate. Let’s just say that I remain skeptical of their legitimacy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Thai…

The polls were wrong again in Thailand - this time old-style conservative parties surprised everyone with their success at the expense of the more reformist People’s Party and Pheu Thai. Among many factors the conservative strength in constituencies, 80% of seats, played a part.

@bangkokaussie Easy to say but you can see their dilemmas. In 2023 they had no choice but to go with PT to form a government. It was the senate that torpedoed them. With BJT they were over-focussed on constitution but may also have wanted to show they were grown-ups, helping find a new govt.

@pakhead PP (I held my nose voting for them) are the useful idiots of Thai politics. They trusted PT after the last election & later supported Anutin who's coveted being PM forever and used that to walk all over them. Blind Freddy could see that coming. No tactical nous, not ready to lead

@kdot_ydot Agree with you pedestrian crossings are a relatively easily fixable safety hazard. Everything about them, and the mindset of drivers, is wrong

@pakhead I tried to engage the local PP elected official to do improvements to zebra crossing in Bangkok to no avail. He seemed more interested in building his political "brand" than real civic work. So I totally agree with the article analysis

Interesting perspective on. The Thai People’s Party’s challenges after its disappointing election performance. fulcrum.sg/the-roots-of-t…

Thailand election: The result the polls never saw coming bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

@Cedric_Crispin Yes thats true. But there were polling stations just for the constitutional referendum for those who had cast advance votes - why the referendum couldn’t have been part of advance voting is unclear.

@pakhead In most places, you can actually do the three votes: representative, party & constitution change.

Voters queuing to cast ballots in the Thai referendum on whether to change the constitution - as important for those wanting change in Thailand as the general election. But this is just the 1st stage in a protracted process - which can easily be stalled by opponents of change.

@xmmooxx @Thai_Talk Agree. Whatever the flaws in the system there is a healthy commitment to exercising democratic rights in Thailand.

@Thai_Talk It looks quite good honestly. There are a lot of limitations, etc. But people are quite determined and political. It feels very alive.

Our voting may seem idiotic to some outsiders. But look, either we go out and vote our choice (give them a FU & make their shenanigans a bit more difficult) or stay home and let them have a satisfaction of winning easily at the ballot box. Do you let the bully push you around?

The extraordinary Rukchanok ‘Ice’ Srinork, standout political candidate of the 2023 election and now a formidable parliamentary performer.

For Thailand's popular progressives, winning the vote is only the first hurdle bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Thailand heads to the polls on 8 Feb in a defining election & referendum. Who will govern next and will the 2017 military-era constitution be rewritten? Join leading analists, key players and what the results mean for Thailand’s future tomorrow at 7pm. fccthai.com/event/thailand…

Excellent first hand account of changes in the scam industry in Cambodia