While the results of Thailand’s March 24 elections are somewhat undetermined, the advent of a new progressive pro-democracy voice has ruffled the feathers of the ruling class. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the multimillionaire leader of the upstart Future Forward Party (FFP), which took third place overall is under fire from his political opponents.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen repeatedly lashed out at opponents last week in an attempt to respond to critics or potential rivals that could upend him in a coup d’etat.
In December, Thailand’s military junta lifted the ban on political activities in the country– including as gatherings of over five people–ending some of the most draconian assembly laws in Southeast Asia.
In recent weeks, Thailand’s ruling military junta has taken a number of steps to host the country’s first election since 2014, with the Election Commission announcing that they would roll back restrictions on political speech and the announcement that Parliamentary elections would take place on February 24.
As Thailand’s 2019 election approaches, some in the country have begun to call for foreign observation of the country’s polls, scheduled for February 24. In a partisan split, Thailand’s Election Commission has somewhat supported the notion of foreign observers, partially because the country has had observation in the past.
Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry has announced that it had offered to resume cooperation in an effort to search for remains of Americans killed during the bloody Vietnam War, resuming a program that ended more than a year ago as diplomacy cooled between the two countries.
In late July, Cambodia participated (sort of) in the General Election, without having the option to choose the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which had been dissolved by the Supreme Court last November. The landslide victory by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) all but assures Prime Minister Hun Sen of near total control of the country.
Earlier in July, the news media extensively covered the rescue of 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach from the flooded Tham Luang in northern Thailand. After an elite group of divers brought the Wild Boars soccer team safely to dry land, reports surfaced that three of the children were stateless.
The international community has all but abandoned support for Cambodia’s national elections, scheduled for July 29. A string of events have outraged Western governments and unnerved already strained relations. Last September, the Hun Sen-led government arrested opposition leader and Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) president Kem Sokha, a tainted Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP a month later and banned 118 opposition leaders from politics for up to five years.
When the American strategic ‘pivot’ to Asia collapsed, China took the mantle of hegemonic leadership in Southeast Asia. The question of how to respond to an assertive and confident China is a conundrum shared by small states and regional powers alike. One of the remaining bright spots of Obama’s so-called pivot, was the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which was supposed to significantly boost trade in three Southeast Asian states, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore–while excluding or checking China. Donald Trump’s election in 2016 radically altered the fortunes of TPP beneficiaries.