Thitinan claims to be an academic, but fails to understand current political dynamics, geopolitics, or historical context of current events, leading many to wonder what exactly he is an “academic” of. Thailand’s universities, and universities across the rest of Asia should seriously consider imposing mandatory quotas on their “academics,” forcing them to spend the majority of their time developing and implementing tangible solutions to Thailand’s problems, instead of engaging in what appears to be politically-motivated lobbying. Barring that, characters like Thitinan will continue to undermine the credibility of all academia, just as Bangkok Post consistently undermines journalism by providing no counterbalance to his politically motivated op-eds week-to-week.