Showing 1 - 7 of 7
Change tack on Myanmar
News, Editorial, Published on 03/01/2023
» 2023 will be a year of reckoning for Myanmar. In August next year, the country will hold an election, which many believe will be a one-horse race. Such a result will certainly be a headache for the international community, especially supranational bodies like the United Nations.
Camp riots can be avoided
News, Editorial, Published on 19/12/2021
» The riot on Tuesday night at the Mae La refugee camp in Tak province along the Myanmar border speaks volumes on the issues surrounding migrant relations in Thailand.
Stop attacks, or stop talks
News, Editorial, Published on 26/05/2017
» The bombing of a Big C Supercenter in Pattani on May 9 has perversely put the government on the back foot. The car bomb attack which wounded 59 innocent civilians has been condemned worldwide for its savagery. It also raised political questions without clear answers for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and the regime. How the military proceeds in the coming days will probably determine whether there is even a slim chance of ending the southern violence.
Ahok case spreads hate
News, Editorial, Published on 15/05/2017
» The combination of a guilty verdict followed by a two-year jail sentence is the worst court judgement in a long time. The man on the receiving end is the governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known by his nickname, Ahok. He was convicted of blasphemy, one of most nebulous of thought crimes. The verdict makes Indonesia directly exposed to imminent violence of the most destructive kind. And the hatred the court promoted will spread through the region.
South peace suffers blow
News, Editorial, Published on 02/05/2016
» On Friday night, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha unexpectedly brought up the situation in the South during his weekly address to the nation. He was terse and he was blunt. He called the 12-year war "a sad and terrible waste of lives", and in that one sentence criticised attempts over the past year and a half under his regime to renew peace talks with Malaysia-based separatists. Dialogue appears interrupted for the time being.
Too brutal for Asean
News, Editorial, Published on 04/01/2016
» The shocking photos and video of last week's whippings in Indonesia's Aceh province have refocused attention on a serious problem within Asean. On the eve of the Asean community becoming an economic union, a woman and five men were caned in public in Banda Aceh. Four were whipped for gambling and a couple were caned for "indecency". Such barbarity has no place in a modernising and progressive Asean Community (AC), which was formed to bring prosperity.
All South must talk
News, Editorial, Published on 31/08/2015
» The decision to resume official contact with separatists is good news for the Deep South and the country in general. Last week, a government-authorised team led by Gen Aksara Kerdpol met a number of representatives of well-known military groups. The public ceremony took place in Kuala Lumpur, and was largely organised and arranged by the Malaysian government. The contacts are tentative, and not yet even called peace talks. There is an essential ingredient missing before the contacts can make significant progress.