The Milk Tea Alliance: How Thailand, Taiwan, and Hong Kong are supporting each other’s fight for democracy
With the world in shambles and leadership severely lacking, young people are proving that they are not afraid to fight for a better future and to stand together throughout this process. That is the true power and potential of this Milk Tea Alliance.
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.
Thailand Student Protests: FORSEA stands in solidarity with Thammasat University Students on Monarchical Reform in Thailand
For several decades now that the so-called “constitutional monarchy” of Thailand has proven to be fraudulent. The call from Thammasat University students is both timely and crucial in moving Thailand forward in the democratic direction.
FORSEA prominent at Thai Protests for Reform of the Monarchy
Pavin Chachavalpongpun, FORSEA’s co-founder, sent his message to the large gathering of Thammasat University students, Bangkok, August 10, 2020, supporting them in their endeavour to bring discussion of the monarchy into the open.
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.
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.
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.
Upcoming FORSEA podcast series: “Dissenting Voices Across Southeast Asia”
The goals of this series is to provide a space outside of face-to-face debates and unilateral exposes for deeper discussions about major challenges facing human security in the region and obstacles to democracy and free expression.
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.”
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.