Category: Southeast Asia

Last week, Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin made his first visit to the headquarters of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) at Ruen Ruedi Palace in Bangkok. In addition to serving as prime minister and finance minister,…

A very old idea has resurfaced in Thailand. In a direct pitch to Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Chinese investors at the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) held in Beijing last week, Thai Prime Minister Srettha…

While the conflict between Hamas and Israel has polarized public opinion, its effects on foreign policy in Southeast Asia have been minimal, for now. Reflective of ASEAN’s religious and cultural diversity, countries in the region…

In one of the worst acts of gun violence in Thailand in recent memory, a 14-year-old gunman opened fire at Siam Paragon, a high-end shopping mall in the heart of Bangkok, killing two innocent young…

Last week’s Asean summit in Jakarta came at a time when the geopolitical environment in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific continues to worsen with the growing polarisation of power. Aside from the challenges to its centrality vis-à-vis…

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is in crisis and it appears that key foreign leaders, despite the twin challenges of Myanmar and the South China Sea, are passing on this week’s ASEAN Summit…

Leaders of the ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states are meeting in Jakarta between now and September 7, with the 10-member bloc under fire from two major fronts—the lingering crisis in Myanmar that…

Predictions of a foreign policy reset following the upset of Thailand’s long-dominant conservative establishment in the May 2023 election have proved to be premature. The junta-appointed Senate, permitted by the Kingdom’s 2017 Constitution, has stonewalled Pita Limjaroenrat,…

If you touch it, you die. That’s the supposed result for politicians who confront highly contentious issues. Likened to grasping the “third rail,” the one that provides the electricity that powers a train or subway,…

In a span of hours yesterday, two events shook Thailand’s political landscape. First, after more than nine years in power, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha formally announced his retirement from politics and resigned as head of…