ISIS Thailand

We now turn out attention to Thai politics in view of Covid-19. Will the student-led flash mobs prior to Covid-19 reappear after the virus subsides? What will be the political consequences of the ongoing economic doldrums and GDP contraction? How will the Thai people respond and react to the Covid handling and management under the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha? And the role of the military in Thai politics in the coming months? Tensions seem to be mounting as Thailand grapples with political problems and economic adversity over the past several years, now exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis. This webcast public forum will aim to address these questions and issues. Our two speakers are seasoned analysts and researchers of Thai politics. First, we will hear from Dr. Jade Donavanik, a former constitution advisor and drafter and a law professor. He will help us gauge and tease out some of the political dynamics, especially the 2017 constitution and its ongoing implications in light of Covid-19 and thereafter. Dr. Puangthong Pawakapan will discuss civil society issues, governance, and the likely political directions in the near future.

This online forum will focus on the shifting and moving balance between virus concerns and economic imperatives. The Thai government today has announced an extension of the emergency decree for another month until the end of May 2020. This extension is understandable due to the persistence of the deadly coronavirus and its potential new outbreaks, even if numbers of infections and fatalities appear to have stabilized. At the same time, bottom-up pressure for a partial re-opening of the Thai economy is mounting, as economic hardships have hit the people hard and fast. Accordingly, we focus on this trade-off and moving balance in our next forum, featuring the World Health Organisation’s Thailand Representative Dr Daniel Kertesz and Thailand Development Research Institute economist Dr Kirida Bhaopichitr. Their backgrounds are attached. Both experts will bring different perspectives to the discussion in search of a balance and prioritisation for the policymaking community in Thailand.

“Counting the Cost, Looking for Recovery: The Thai Economy After COVID-19,” featuring two leading economists in Dr Supavud Saicheua and Dr Sutapa Amornwiwat.  Their backgrounds are attached. Dr Supavud is a prominent economist in Thailand for more than the past three decades, known for his independent macroeconomic analyses. Dr Sutapa has worked in multiple capacities in the government sector, including with the Fiscal Policy Office, and now with a data analytics tech start-up under Siam Commercial Bank. This online forum will home in on challenges facing the Thai economy during and after the virus crisis.

Building on our debut, we are pleased to continue with another forum on "COVID-19 in Thailand and Southeast Asia: Dynamics, Directions, Prospects" to take place on Friday 17th April (930am-11am).  The two speakers on this occasion are Dr. Panitan Wattanayagorn, who is a Chulalongkorn University professor and an advisor to the Thai prime minister on security affairs,  and Dr. Zachary Abuza, a prominent US-based scholar and analyst on Southeast Asia's comparative politics and security issues, based at the National War College and affiliated with Georgetown University.

Our first-ever webcast forum last Friday (10th April) on "ASEAN and COVID-19: A Regional Response?" transpired successfully. Much ground was covered from ASEAN dynamics, regional public health crisis, infection and fatality details, individual and regional efforts to address the crisis, and virus-induced geopolitical shifts in the region.