Showing 1 - 10 of 156
Humanity's alignment problem
News, Antara Haldar, Published on 06/01/2026
» It's lunchtime on top of the world again. Time's annual "Person of the Year" issue released two weeks ago has revived the iconic Depression-era photograph of steelworkers casually lunching on a beam suspended over Manhattan. With the city rising beneath them, the image portrays risk as normalised, even glamourised.
Dec 26 tsunami victims remembered 21 years on
News, Achadthaya Chuenniran, Published on 27/12/2025
» Phuket, Krabi and Phangnga marked the 21st anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on Friday with solemn remembrance ceremonies, interfaith prayers and tributes to the thousands who died.
Another day, another massacre
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 08/11/2025
» The ceasefire in Gaza, however shaky, is freeing up some bandwidth for the world's media to fret about other ongoing massacres, and UN Secretary General António Guterres wasted no time in turning the spotlight on Sudan. "The horrifying crisis in Sudan … is spiralling out of control," he said on Monday -- but he didn't explain why.
Timor-Leste finally joins the Asean fold
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 14/10/2025
» Timor-Leste will be made a full member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Oct 26. President José Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste often joked that joining Asean was more difficult than going to heaven. Not anymore.
When societies rise, fall, and face catastrophe
News, Antara Haldar, Published on 11/10/2025
» When the United Nations emerged from the rubble of two world wars 80 years ago, it represented humanity's most ambitious attempt ever to turn catastrophe into cooperation. But while the scarred world of 1945 had hope following the Allied victory, that optimism has since curdled. The UN today is underfunded, risk-averse, and paralysed.
Soldiers and parks workers join Mae Hong Son flood rescue
News, Online Reporters, Published on 27/08/2025
» MAE HONG SON - Soldiers and national parks staff have been mobilised to join local officials in assisting residents hard hit by flash floods and landslides in Mae Hong Son.
Border disputes need a smarter path
News, Sally Tyler, Published on 27/02/2025
» Though I live in Washington, DC, I generally spend some time each year in Thailand. When I visited recently, I was interested in noting the renewed controversy around the MOU 44 with Cambodia concerning Koh Kut and the overlapping claims area. While there are obvious parallels with the Preah Vihear conflict, using the dispute surrounding the celebrated temple complex as a guide for an effective resolution in Koh Kut will prove unsatisfactory for all parties.
Solving Thailand's migrant worker retention crisis
News, Christian Offermanns, Published on 24/02/2025
» Thailand's border provinces are facing an economic contradiction. Despite government efforts to train and integrate migrant workers, the reality is stark: as soon as these workers gain skills, they leave. The cycle is predictable -- low wages, limited career paths and poor labour protections push them towards Bangkok and the Eastern Economic Corridor, where opportunities are greater, wages are fairer, and oversight is stronger. Instead of reaping the benefits of their workforce investments, border provinces are left with an ageing population, unstable industries and a persistent labour shortage.
Here's looking forward to a calmer 2025
News, John J. Metzler, Published on 06/01/2025
» In the swirling whirligig of world events, the past year 2024 was nearly like no other. Extraordinary but often jarring occurrences mixed in a hodgepodge of hope, joy and despair as crucial elections were won and lost, regional conflicts exploded and humanitarian crises boiled over with sickening predictability.
Syria: It's those jihadis on the march again
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 04/12/2024
» One week in, the ceasefire in Lebanon seems to be holding, but everything is connected: only three days later, the civil war in Syria started up again after a de facto four-year truce.