• OPINION

  Asean now 'really' matters to Australia

  Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 27/02/2024

  » The Albanese government has repeatedly declared that Asean matters to Australia. In the past, such an assertion often drew a quick response, with "really?" being the most common reply. Today, that is no longer the case. Asean "really" does matter to Australia. However, whether Australia matters to Asean remains to be seen.

• OPINION

  Bimstec: A new force of the Global South

  Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 25/07/2023

  » All of a sudden, the countries around the Bay of Bengal are coming to the fore and raising their profiles. They know full well that this vast maritime enclave, with its plentiful resources and potential benefits, is another important strategic landscape. So, it is better to get their act together.

• OPINION

  Thanks to Gorbachev, SE Asia found peace

  Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 06/09/2022

  » Lest we forgot, President Mikhail Gorbachev was the Soviet leader who was the game changer in bringing an end to the Cambodian conflict. Southeast Asia owes him for giving peace a chance during the most turbulent time in this part of the world. The global media has widely credited him for ending the Cold War, opening up and giving more freedom in the Soviet Union, which was unfortunate as it also brought down the empire and led to the establishment of newly independent states.

• OPINION

  Is digging Kra Canal still a pipe dream?

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 28/01/2020

  » Whenever the Kra Canal emerges as a news headline, two standard reactions occur. First of all, there is a very strong but familiar exclamation of "again" or aw-eik-leu and a revitalised sense of disbelief that the time has actually come once more for another debate about the great isthmus.

• OPINION

  Embedding S Korea in Southeast Asia

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 19/11/2019

  » For three days from Nov 25-27 in the port city of Busan, South Korean President Moon Jae-in will have a rare opportunity that eluded his predecessors -- to set in cast iron the future and shape of South Korean-Asean and Mekong riparian country relations amid the ever-changing regional and international environment.

• OPINION

  How to engage China and Japan constructively

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 09/07/2019

  » At the moment, China and Japan are planning to work together on at least 52 business projects in third countries in the region, encompassing both the Indian and Pacific oceans. Certainly, these projects provide tangible ways for Asia's two largest economies to foster mutual trust and forge a stronger partnership. This, however, is still a work in progress.

• OPINION

  Cambodia's key role in regional security

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 11/12/2018

  » Last month, Asia Times, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, reported that China has lobbied Cambodia for a naval base in Koh Kong province on the Gulf of Thailand, prompting the Cambodian government to deny the news.

• OPINION

  US, EU must tread carefully over Cambodia

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 25/09/2018

  » The US and EU must not commit the same mistakes in Cambodia that they made in Thailand. Efforts to pressure strongman Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to follow their suggested paths will not work. Worse still, they could have serious adverse effects, as the country's domestic and external conditions are very different and unique.

• OPINION

  South Korea is wooing Asean and India

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 17/07/2018

  » For the first time since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, South Korea, under the helm of President Moon Jae-in, has effectively been embedded in the regional scheme of things --political/security, economic and social/cultural. The country's previous four presidents -- Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye -- tried to do the same but sadly they repeatedly failed. Every time these leaders wanted to focus on Southeast Asia and South Asia, something happened in the Northeast, the Korean Peninsula in particular, that immediately distracted them. They became mesmerised and forgot the region. There was no consistency whatsoever.

• OPINION

  Thailand revitalising Acmecs scheme

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 12/06/2018

  » Renewed schemes for the region's three great rivers -- under the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (Acmecs) -- are making a comeback after some soul-searching amid a plethora of connectivity plans. Bangkok will host the 8th Acmecs summit this Friday and Saturday.

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