Follow us on social media
Find out all the latest news and events
Event_
Making sense of Thailand's 2023 election
What just happened and what's next?
Join us for an in-person roundtable event featuring expert analysis of the results and repercussions of Thailand's 2023 general election.
When: Thursday, 8 June, 6pm to 7pm
Where: New Law Lounge (Room 113), Law Building Annex (F10A), University of Sydney, Camperdown Campus - see campus maps
Register: Please register your details here.
Thailand is holding its general elections on May 14 – one expected to be stocked full of surprises. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha has led Thailand for nine consecutive years, first through a military coup d’état and subsequently an election in 2019. Changes to electoral rules and an exploding number of political parties heighten uncertainty as to which party will come out on top and form government. This election also takes place on the back of more than two years of sustained youth-led political protests and economic uncertainties following the pandemic. This in-person roundtable event brings together scholars and community leaders to provide diverse perspectives on the outcomes of this pivotal general election and what it means for the future of politics in Thailand.
This event will also be livestreamed on SSEAC's Facebook page.
Speakers
Michael Ruffles is the chief sub-editor at The Sydney Morning Herald. Along with investigations editor Michael Evans, he wrote an award-winning series of articles exposing a former Thai cabinet minister's drug charges and jail time. He was chief sub-editor of the Bangkok Post Sunday and its acclaimed Spectrum section from 2013 to the end of 2016.
Pavin Chachavalpongpun is Associate Professor at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Japan. He is the chief editor of the online journal Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia in which all articles are translated from English into Japanese, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia, Filipino, Vietnamese and Burmese. His forthcoming book, as editor, is titled “Rama X: The Thai Monarchy under King Vajiralongkorn” and will be released in Summer by Yale University.
Greg Raymond researches Thai politics, defence and foreign policy and civil-military relations at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University. He is the author of Thai Military Power: A Culture of Strategic Accommodation (NIAS Press 2018) and lead author of The US-Thai Alliance and Asian International Relations: History, Memory and Current Events (Routledge 2021).
Kanyanatt Kalfagiannis is a freelance translator and interpreter and a co-founder of The Australian Alliance for Thai Democracy, a non-profit organisation that advocates human rights, democracy, and equality for all Thais based in Sydney, Australia.
Aim Sinpeng is Thailand Country Coordinator for the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre and Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney. She is the author of and award-winning book, Opposing Democracy in the Digital Age: The Yellow Shirts in Thailand (University of Michigan Press, 2021). She has published widely on Thai politics and digital politics of Southeast Asia.