• OPINION

  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?

• OPINION

  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?

• OPINION

  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?

• OPINION

  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?

• OPINION

  Navigating the uncharted territory of AI

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 30/08/2023

  » Artificial Intelligence (AI), alias robots, has captured the public imagination. Yet, the term "AI" can cover more than robots. Not only does AI embody technology that learns and digests data, exhibiting intelligence paralleling humans, but it is also now a major creative force. Generative AI can offer projections, predictions and propositions, potentially surpassing human intelligence. This leads to the question -- should AI be regulated, and how?

• OPINION

  Ratify enforced disappearance pact now

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 14/08/2023

  » As of last year, according to UN figures, there were nearly 80 unresolved cases of enforced disappearances in Thailand. Considering the country now has a law in place against enforced disappearances, in force since earlier in the year, how should we prevent and remedy these crimes?

• OPINION

  Oceanic ripples as our common heritage

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 05/04/2023

  » There are currently three key issues pertaining to the marine environment: climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution. The world's oceans are affected by the degradation of the land, sea and air, which have enormous consequences for the well-being of all living beings, including marine life. The advent of a new international agreement on the protection of the oceans is thus welcome and needs to be followed up effectively.

• OPINION

  Lessons from the Khmer Rouge tribunal

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 18/02/2023

  » One of the saddest episodes of Southeast Asian history was the period during the 1970s that witnessed the rule of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. The group was driven by a warped ideology, and it perpetrated myriad crimes against the general population. Millions were killed and displaced through a range of atrocities. Decades later, an internationally supported tribunal, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), or the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, was set up to prosecute the leaders of the group, and it is now ending its work. What are some of the key lessons the global community can learn from this?

• OPINION

  Green energy, economy, equity are key

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 30/11/2022

  » The challenge of climate change and environmental degradation is an existential threat which is increasingly recognised in all corners of the globe. Its urgency is all the more pressing because it harbours ill for our children and the next generations in terms of their survival and modus vivendi, unless comprehensive action is taken, anchored on the "whole of humanity and whole of society" approach and premised on effective global-local partnerships to prevent, reduce and rectify harm.

• OPINION

  Rights under threat from emerging tech

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 16/11/2022

  » A key challenge facing human rights globally today is the advent of emerging technologies that mutate rapidly and potentially beyond human control. The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva has thus singled out for special study during the next couple of years four areas of concern: autonomous weaponry, neurotechnology, cyberbullying, and green technology (inevitably linked with climate change). What are the prospects for enjoying the fruits of such technologies and pre-empting their negative implications?

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