Category: Opinion

The latest opinion from those committed to making our region fair, just and democratic.


Thailand Student Protest Democracy Monument

Burmese activists express solidarity with Thai student protestors

Over the years, thousands of Burmese dissidents have received support and space from Thai communities, politicians and even governments in Bangkok. They now call for solidarity protests across Southeast Asia in support of young Thai protesters on the streets of Bangkok.

/ August 29, 2020
Duterte Blame Game FORSEA

Foreign powers, political elites, and ruling regimes enabled Duterte’s rise to power

It is time to stop scapegoating the Left for Duterte’s rise. Instead blame and fight the real culprits – foreign powers, political elites, previous regimes and their policies – and to forge stronger unities and intensify the struggle against the cronyist and dictatorial regime.

/ August 22, 2020
What's behind the Thai student protests 2020

Call for Urgent Monarchical Reform is behind the 2020 Thai Student Protests

The student gatherings at the Democracy Monument and at Thammasat University in August were a turning point in the course of the ongoing protests in Thailand. Calls are now being made for an immediate reform of the monarchical institution to locate back into the constitutional framework.

/ August 16, 2020
Uncivil Society- Religious Organisations, Mobocracy Jeff Kingston

Uncivil Society: Religious Organisations, Mobocracy and Democratic Backsliding in Asia

Civil society is usually seen as a force for liberal reforms, but uncivil society merits more scrutiny. It represents the dark side of the 3rd sector, is subject to elite capture, and can be an advocate for an agenda conducive to authoritarianism. We examine religious organisations in four of Asia’s plural societies– Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

/ August 7, 2020

COVID-19 Attacks the Regime: The Case of Thailand

The failure of the Thai government takes many forms. Ex-generals occupying top political positions whose frame of thought is confined within their military expertise were not the right people to lead the country against this non-traditional threat.

/ August 5, 2020

How Black Lives Matter Inspired West Papua’s Freedom Struggle

The people of West Papua have suffered decades of oppression and discrimination at the hands of the Indonesian state. Now they’ve drawn inspiration from the Black Lives Matter protests to mount popular resistance to yet another authoritarian clampdown.

/ August 2, 2020

Burmese genocide scholar Maung Zarni takes on Myanmar’s most influential abbot, Sitagu Sayadaw

No global justice or international accountability process will be complete without Sitagu being named as a criminal who despite his saffron robe and high honours has provided spiritual patronage to genocidal leaders of Myanmar while offering scriptural justifications for “killing millions of non-Buddhists.”

/ July 28, 2020
Student protests Bangkok Royalist Marketplace

Thai Royalists Must Change Tactics in Dealing with Free Speech

After printing "I'm losing faith in the monarchy" on a tee shirt, a critic of the monarchy was locked in a mental asylum. Not surprisingly, it did little to reassure Thais that authorities were acting in their best interests.

/ July 24, 2020

Manila’s a Trap: Sensing the City in Filipino Indie Music

With the advent of laptops, synths, mixers and other musical gadgetry, the DIY ethic endeared by small indie labels is back on track. The indie culture keeps artistry aground since in today’s music industry, the story will always be an issue between the haves and the have-nots.

/ July 23, 2020
Aung San and MA Rashid who were Vice President and President of Rangoon U Students Union with the British governor Sir Dorman Smith in 1930s FORSEA

De-imagining Myanmar and Reimagining Free or Federated States

The painful but necessary question – How will or can Myanmar be de-constructed, or more alarmingly, disintegrated? – needs to be asked openly and debated publicly.

/ July 18, 2020