Back in business? The return of the Shinawatras (Thailand’s election part 3)

Much as anticipated, the Thai general election on July 3 was won by the latest regeneration of the Thai Rak Thai party that was founded by controversial billionaire Thakin Shinawatra in 1998 and banned in 2007. What was more surprising was that with 265 of the 500 seats in the legislative assembly Pheu Thai (For [...]

A very Thai farce

Karl Marx once famously quipped in his commentary on the 1851 coup d’etat in France by Napoleon’s cousin, Louis Napoleon, that “that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice… the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce”. This adage seems about to be realized in Thailand. With the country [...]