• 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

  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?

• 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

  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.

• 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

  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?

• OPINION

  Time travelling with human rights

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 03/07/2023

  » If humanity had to travel with human rights (past, present and future), what might be pivotal dates interplaying with our destiny? 1993, 2005, 2023 and 2033 might well be candidates for testing our recent chronology.

• OPINION

  Towards a global summit of the future?

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 19/06/2023

  » If international plans are on course, there will be a global Summit of the Future (SOF) in 2024 at the UN General Assembly. Given that 2023 is already witnessing various global activities for the 30-year milestone of the 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, as well as a summit on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), what could be the value-added of the SOF? And perhaps the value-subtracted?

• OPINION

  Building bridges from Asia to Africa the right way

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 29/04/2023

  » The quest to build bridges between Asia and Africa is longstanding. A Chinese Admiral -- Zheng He -- led a series of voyages from East Asia to East Africa, down to Kenya and possibly Zanzibar, from the year 1405. The ships he navigated were enormous -- about 400 feet long and 100 feet wide (122 metres by 30.5m) -- especially when compared with Christopher Columbus' Santa Maria, which was about 70 feet long. For centuries, people have also migrated and traded between the two regions.

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