What Now for Thailand’s Protests?

Now that core leaders of the protests are in custody, the authorities are ramping up their suppression of demonstrators, and the possibility of life imprisonment has been mooted, it seems hard to imagine where this movement goes from here.

/ October 21, 2020
Thailand Protests Excessive Force FORSEAjpg

Use of force must be condemned. Violence must stop in the capital Bangkok

FORSEA issues the strongest condemnation statement against the Thai government. It urges the government to lift the emergency decree, release all those arrested, return free space for the people, and most importantly, stop using violent tactics against the protesters.

/ October 17, 2020
Thai dissident abductions FORSEA

Abduction and Killing of Thai Dissidents

From 2016 to 2020, at least ten activists residing outside Thai borders were killed, abducted and forcedly disappeared. Most of them happened to be anti-monarchists.

/ October 14, 2020

Duterte has forfeited the Philippines’ EU trade privileges

In 2014, Trade Justice Pilipinas supported the Philippines’ pursuit of favorable trade privileges from the EU, hoping they would deter human rights abuses. Six years later, that hope has disappeared, and so should those privileges.

/ October 7, 2020

‘We are not dust, we are human beings’: The message for the next protest this month in Bangkok

Thai student protests are not just to shame the government, they also wanted to reform the monarchy – a long-held taboo in the Land of Smiles. The demand for immediate monarchical reform is now an official objective of the protesters.

/ October 4, 2020

Sabah Election Ends Inconclusively

Because of the outsize political representation handed to them at independence, Sabah and Sarawak parliamentarians now ironically hold king-making power over the fragmented Malay parties. That leverage could moderate the blatant governance abuses, provided the Borneo states learn to use their influence wisely.

/ October 1, 2020

FORSEA’s statement on the arrest of Joshua Wong

The arrest of Joshua Wong resonates with what is going on elsewhere from like-minded political activists in Asia. Youths are protesting against authoritarianism in their own country, but are labelled as threat to national security and hence prosecuted.

/ September 25, 2020

After COVID: 10 Steps to Avert Global Financial Collapse

In the US and China, volatile stock markets, property bubbles, and unregulated shadow banking sectors could trigger the next global financial implosion. The COVID-19 pandemic offers an opportunity for reform.

/ September 24, 2020

Militaries in Politics: Thailand and the Philippines

Mesrob Vartavarian discusses the history of the militaries of both Thailand and the Philippines and explains how they became so deeply involved in their country's politics.

/ September 19, 2020

Nataphol Teepsuwan and Rugby School: A Conflict of Interest at the Education Ministry of Thailand

Here lies a problem. Nataphol’s ministerial position is undoubtedly a conflict of interest. He is running a private international school and at the same time heading the Ministry of Education, Thailand.

/ September 15, 2020