Showing 11 - 20 of 82
Key portals to Global Digital Compact
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 09/02/2024
» This year will witness the formulation and adoption of the UN-backed Global Digital Compact if all goes as planned. It will provide a policy framework for digital relations worldwide, although not yet equivalent to a binding treaty. What, then, are the stakes, the key portals to the digital future?
Reconfiguring Thailand's constitution
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 18/01/2024
» A key debate this year will be the question of constitutional reform. The current constitution -- the 20th -- is the product of a coup d'etat.
Rights, freedoms hang in balance
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 30/12/2023
» The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) capped 2023 by celebrating its 75th birthday just before the year's end. As the seminal UN document on human rights, it is closely linked with the four freedoms: namely, freedom of expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. Where are we in that long march towards their realisation?
Thailand's interface with new FTAs
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 21/12/2023
» The power of data in the expanding panorama of digital trade is becoming an essential component of commercial relations, especially recent free trade areas (FTAs). As Thailand is now exploring new agreements on its western flank (such as with South Asia, Gulf countries and Europe) and on its eastern flank (such as with Pacific rim countries, interlinking with the Indian Ocean), what are some of the stakes deserving careful reflection?
Soft power charms, with a Thai ripple
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 04/12/2023
» The term "soft power" has seeped into international relations and it is now a catchphrase with its own global momentum. Yet it should be recalled that in the 1980s, it was used to describe the nature of a weaker state confronted by the "hard power" embodied by a stronger state.
Building a rights protection framework
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 10/11/2023
» The Asia-Pacific region is a vast conglomeration of large and small countries with a wealth of inter-generational wisdom. Yet, the region does not have a regional inter-governmental human rights protection system. What, then, are some possibilities for the future?
An Israel-Palestine conflict explainer
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 23/10/2023
» The armed attacks by militants from the Gaza Strip, an area controlled primarily by the Hamas group, into southern Israel in early October and the subsequent armed responses from Israel deserve to be put in a historical and political context. Gaza is one of the two parts of Palestinian territory, the other part being the West Bank, both of which are part of an age-old conflict which has not been resolved but regrettably has been left to fester.
Fight for the right to clean environment
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 11/09/2023
» A year ago, the international community was heartened by the UN General Assembly's proclamation of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right to be enjoyed by all, universally. In essence, what does the right mean?
Having another go at a UNHRC seat
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 03/08/2023
» Thailand is planning to be a candidate in the next round of elections for the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), with voting on the matter due at the UN General Assembly in 2024 for a seat in 2025-2027. What might be the reasonable expectations for this and what might be an appropriate strategy for the nation to be sufficiently self-prepared?
Litigation embroiling Thai politics
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 17/07/2023
» Thailand is faced with key cases before the judiciary and state agencies which shape not only the fate of litigants but also the political and social space surrounding them.