Super Tuesday as seen from Thailand: Audio interview with Suthichai Yoon

When  I woke up on Super Tuesday, primary results were already coming in, and a prominent national media expert was on TV discussing the outcomes that were unfolding.

No, I didn’t sleep in: I’m in Thailand, thirteen hours ahead, visiting family, and that commentator was Suthichai Yoon, the group editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Nation, the country’s only Thai-owned English-language daily newspaper. In two days I’d be meeting with Suthichai on a personal call — to discuss media and say hi from an old friend, Jim Boyd, former mentor to Minnesota Monitor and a Harvard Nieman fellow with Suthichai years ago. Given the chance to meet one of Thailand’s pre-eminent political thinkers, I decided to ask him a few questions about how the American presidential race is playing in Asia, and how our trade, diplomatic and economic policies affect people half a world away.

Photo: Santikan Boontongkumkaewmanee