Recent Commentary
Thailand’s Bid for a Seat on the UN Human Rights Council is Poorly Timed
Thailand is currently bidding for the third time for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), with the election for a three-year term for 2025-2027 being held at the U.N. headquarters in New York in October.…
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Thailand’s PM Misses the Forest for the Trees on the Country’s Pollution Problem
Thailand’s Chiang Mai now has airborne pollutants that are 20 times higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) standard. Last week, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin declined to designate the northern city as a disaster area…
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Firmer, less peaceful language on Taiwan reunification
It was less than two days into 2024 when Song Tao, the director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, called on all Taiwanese to promote “peaceful reunification” with the mainland. But down in the text, the…
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Japan’s Indo-Pacific Security Waiting Game in Cambodia
Amid China’s heavy investments in Cambodia, made evident by the vast sums of public and private cash flooding both the capital city of Phnom Penh and port cities like Sihanoukville, two Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) destroyers, the Suzunami and Shimakaze, each…
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The Self-Defeating Nature of Thailand’s ‘Soft Power’ Push
Thailand’s new government cannot get enough of “soft power.” It has become such a buzzword in the Kingdom that a Chiang Mai man on X (formerly Twitter) gasped at the extent of its use, mockingly noting,…
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Thai-Cambodian reset a symptom of a wider problem
On February 2, three political activists, including Lim Sokha, a senior member of the Candlelight Party, the once fledgling opposition party that was banned from participation in Cambodia’s sham July 2023 elections, were arrested in Thailand after…
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Thai Constitutional Court Decision on Move Forward is Judicial Overreach
Thailand’s nascent semi-democracy suffered a tremendous blow last week (31 January), when the Constitutional Court ruled that the Move Forward Party’s (MFP) campaign to reform Article 112 of the 2017 Constitution was tantamount to treason. The Court…
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Will Thailand Deport a Group of Dissident Musicians to Russia?
Members of a self-exiled Russian rock band that has openly opposed Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine were recently detained in Thailand and face deportation, but if returned to Russia could face severe consequences. Seven members of…
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Despite Maldives’ Embrace of China, India’s Sphere of Influence Remains Intact
When the new president of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu, took power less than four months ago, his anti-India stance altered the fragile state of India’s sphere of influence in its own backyard. Running on a firm…
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China set to dodge accountability at its UN human rights review
Since 2018, the human rights environment in mainland China and its associated autonomous regions has deteriorated. The evidence is overwhelming. The latest US State Department Report on China’s human rights record recognised ‘genocide and crimes…
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