Singapore Uses ‘Fake News’ Law Against Critics
The very thing that press organizations, social media platforms and human rights groups feared is now coming to pass in Singapore.
A Film Unseen in Thailand
On 12 December 2019, up-and-coming Thai film producer, Thunska Pansittivorakul, thrilled his audiences at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, by showing one of his latest films – Screaming Goats – a film never to be screened in his home country, Thailand.
Rights Groups Launch Myanmar Boycott Ahead of Hague Genocide Hearings
Rohingya campaigners launch a global boycott movement, urging corporations, foreign investors, professional and cultural organizations to sever their institutional ties with Myanmar, on the eve of Myanmar’s genocide trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
A Tale of Two Warlords: Andal Ampatuan, Rodrigo Duterte, and the Philippines’ Mutating Politics
Local and provincial warlords had been an integral component of national politics since the postwar period. During the Arroyo years, Ampatuan and Duterte increasingly influenced national affairs from afar by dealing out violence in their respective locales.
FORSEA Co-Founder Pavin Chachavalpongpun Edits the “Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Thailand”
November 6, 2019, sees the release of the “Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Thailand” which is edited by FORSEA co-founder Pavin Chachavalpongpun. This timely volume discusses the condition of today’s Thailand and contains 34 chapters from an international line-up of academics.
Thai Kings’s Absolute Reign
The Thai military, which helped the country’s establishment create an unassailable monarchy to further its ends, now finds that it has created an uncontrollable figure in the form of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the 67-year-old monarch who took the throne on the death of his revered father in 2016.
National Security States Demonise Myanmar’s Victims of Genocide – Rohingya – and Other Refugees
Those who vehemently oppose the repressive – and often racist, bigoted and economically predatory states – call attention to Myanmar's Rohingya people as the most terrorised by their own government.
Ban in Extramarital and Gay Sex Postponed in Indonesia
The Criminal Code may yet be revised so that human rights like freedom of expression and association are better protected. But this requires the mobilisation of civil society in a way that has not been seen since General Suharto was ousted in 1998. It seems more likely that the pace of Islamization of the country has only faced a temporary setback.
Homage to Gwangju and Salute to South Korean Democrats and Rights Activists
FORSEA Co-founder Maung Zarni paid homage to South Korea's fallen democrats and rights activists at the May 18 National Cemetery, Gwangju, South Korea.
A New Royal Consort Raises Uncomfortable Questions about the Role of Royalty in Thailand
After three failed marriages, Vajiralongkorn has lost interest in fulfilling the institution’s role in projecting family values. And after appointing a noble consort, it's a tall order to rescue King Vajiralongkorn’s image.