If not Thaksin, who is actually running Thailand today?

  Thailand flips China's script at the World Cup soccer qualifiers

I found a book called How to Solve 50% of Your Problems. So I bought 2.
  

I have Down syndrome and it's the least interesting thing about me.
Madison Tevlin of Toronto* actress and broadcaster
 *The largest town located inside the Dominion
  

Education, drugs and personal debt.
-- Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin outlines his very latest urgent tasks.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/2804355/

THAILAND ENTERTAINMENT SOCCER

China promised an 'aggressive offence' to defeat Thailand in their World Cup qualifier on Thursday. They had home field advantage and ... Thailand? Easy-peasy.
https://shorturl.at/Iesdz
Yeah, it didn't quite work out for them. The Thais held China to a 1-1 tie, and now need only defeat Singapore [which Thailand always does] to move closer to the 2026 World Cup tournament, for the first time in the entire history of Thailand.

OPINION ANALYSIS
The Short-Term Future Prospects of Thaksin and Srettha
[Khao Sod (Fresh News) https://shorturl.at/J3CbF]
Congratulations All Recent Returnees from the Great Outer Space Exploration Team
You probably noted right away that Thaksin the exiled prisoner now is Thaksin the parolee and Top of the Daily-News TV show and newspaper front pages.
So... um, erm who exactly is the real Prime Minister running Thailand today? Exactly?
 There are three tracks of powers running Thailand at present. First is Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, trying his best... well trying hard to not appear as a mere puppet of Pheu Thai Party and Thaksin.
 On the second track, you have the man on parole, Thaksin, who is too bored to be confining himself to staying at his Mansion of the Shining Moon.
 The third track there is the deep state of established royalist elites (no names), a big chunk of the bureaucracy and the military, who all represent no one but themselves.
2001-2-24
The Last Three Real Prime Ministers of Thailand (not including the self-designated military dictator)
PHOTO: Last month Thaksin was in Chiang Mai and enjoyed dinner with current Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and his brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat (right), who had a short term as premier after the military coup of 2007.

MIDEAST USA BIDEN
Biden gives Ukraine permission to carry out limited strikes within Russia using U.S. weapons.
How kindly! It's so similar to Biden's actions with Cambodia and Vietnam in the six months it took the commies to win because Biden sponsored laws banning or restricting efforts of those two countries to defend themselves.
CBS News VIDEO

THAILAND MIDEAST HOSTAGES
'Neutral' Thailand praises Biden's plan for Gaza
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin signed on to an ungrammatical statement of unknown provenance but also signed by America, U.K. and the leaders of (alphabetically) Leaders of Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain.
The brief praise for 'Biden's Peace Plan' mentions hostages, but not Thai hostages abducted by Hamas terrorists eight months ago.
Srettha has banned all discussion of the 8 remaining Thai hostages by Thai media and by released hostages and their families.
Text of joint statement: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/world/40038614

by Thitinan Pongsudhirak, professor Chulalongkorn University, senior fellow senior fellow Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Thailand's judiciary faces challenges
PHOTO: Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin at his press conference in Japan last week.
At issue now is the power and role of the judiciary. While Thailand has another democratically elected civilian government under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the question that needs to be asked is whether the country is effectively under judicial rule. [The answer is 'yes, yes it is'.]
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2798275/

Thailand draw 1-1 with China in World Cup qualifier
The War Elephants are still alive but need a big win over Singapore on Tuesday at Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok
https://www.bangkokpost.com/sports/2806375/thailand-draw-1-1-with-china-in-world-cup-qualifier
PHOTO: Zhen’ao Wang of China pursues Thailand's Supachok Sarachat during the latest China soccer failure.

Related
CNN goes deep into hilarity
How did Xi Jinping turn China into a soccer superpower?
Correct. He didn't. The question-and-answer are both from the almost useless Google AI 'feature'.

by Kavi Chongkittavorn, veteran journalist on regional affairs
Global crises demand unified action

There is to be a 'Summit of the Future: Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow' -- a United Nations summit in New York on Sept 22-23. The summit has already been dubbed a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to effect global change in ways that would promote solidarity among the international community and all citizens without leaving anyone behind.

by Bjorn Lomborg of Copenhagen and California, who has become a leading voice of global warming scepticism.
He writes here as president of the Copenhagen Consensus, and his headline is
Eyeing climate change, follow science, warily
We endlessly hear the flawed assertion that because climate change is real, we should "follow the science" and end fossil fuel use. We hear this claim from politicians who favour swift carbon cuts, and from natural scientists themselves, as when the editor-in-chief of Nature insists "The science is clear -- fossil fuels must go".
... Sudden, dramatic cuts in fossil fuel consumption will have huge downsides. Climate change is a problem, but a civilisation-endangering cure can be far worse than the initial illness.


Daniel Moss of Bloomberg View writes (accurately):
Thailand wants faster inflation
There is a kingdom where calling for more elevated prices, sooner, isn't off limits. In fact, the government embraces the concept.
In theory, there is an easy solution: cut interest rates. A reduction could not only give the expansion a lift, but help nudge inflation back up toward the central bank's goal.
Changing the goalposts is not a great idea. Fast rate cuts would probably push the baht still lower; the currency is among the worst performers in Asia this year, retreating 7% against the dollar. Only the yen has fared worse.

From India, a post-election analysis
 Modi's Historic, Sobering Elections and His Economic Challenge
His  BJP and its allies won enough seats in Parliament to form a new government, which is historic in itself.
No Indian prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru has ever won three consecutive terms.
https://www.cfr.org/blog/modis-historic-sobering-elections-and-his-economic-challenge
VIDEO [Firstpost]

PHOTO: Modi in green with his cabinet.

More proof that no American news story is complete without DJT. [Epoch https://t.ly/h6vqO]
A U.S. federal judge ordered Donald Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon to report to prison by 1 July to serve a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.
VIDEO, CNN: