• OPINION

  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.

• 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

  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

  Some good news for freedom of speech

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 13/05/2023

  » The World Press Freedom Day, concurrently May 3, was celebrated recently with a panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand, which provided a fresh opportunity to catch up with news, especially on Thailand. It was also an occasion to reflect on international developments concerning the shrinking space for the free flow of information ("info-inhibition") in various settings.

• OPINION

  Free vs hate speech as world changes

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 28/12/2022

  » While the Asia-Pacific region is home to a wealth of constructive traditions and practices, it is also confronted with the conundrum of how to protect freedom of expression at the same time as tackling hate speech which is rampant today. A morass of laws of a prohibitive and inhibitive kind are emerging, entrenching censorship and self-censorship, especially in the face of more authoritarian trends, rather than a broader range of actions to respect a diversity of opinions and to counter incitement to hatred.

• 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?

• OPINION

  Beating scams, trafficking no easy task

  News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 01/09/2022

  » This region has been in the news in recent weeks in regard to online scams and human trafficking, compounded by other forms of exploitation such as forced labour and forced criminality.

• OPINION

  A new direction for UN in Thailand?

  Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 13/07/2022

  » Thailand is proudly a hub for United Nations (UN) agencies and programmes, and this adds weight to its leverage in international relations. Inevitably, the UN presence has to address key issues of sustainable development, human rights, democracy and peace. A key question is thus whether a viable balance is being struck between national practices and international aspirations.

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