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Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

Countries across South and Southeast Asia are issuing extreme heat warnings for at least the next three days, though likely longer, as the region grapples with an extended heat wave, portending health risks, business and school closures, and strained electric grids, VnExpress reported on April 29. 

Southeast Asia: Extreme Heat Wave Creates Health and Business Risks, Stresses Energy Grids

Politics

The Thai Cabinet approved a plan to transition senators' selection process away from military appointment once the senatorial term ends on May 10, though the new process will not be a public vote, Bloomberg reported April 23.

Thailand: New Senator Selection Process Will Reduce Military's Power

Military & Security

The Karen National Liberation Army, one of the ethnic militias fighting the Myanmar junta, and allied People's Defense Force troops declared control over the Myawaddy township in Kayin state, Myanmar's main border town leading into Thailand, the Bangkok Post reported on April 11. 

Thailand, Myanmar: Rebels Claim Control of Key Border Crossing

The Thai Constitutional Court accepted a petition from the country's Election Commission recommending that the court dissolve the main opposition Move Forward party, or MFP, and bar its leaders from running for office for at least 10 years and possibly for life, The Bangkok Post reported April 5. 

Thailand: Court Accepts Petition for MFP Dissolution Case

A Thai court sentenced an X (formerly Twitter) user to 25 years in prison for royal defamation posts made online since 2020 in the latest of a string of similar arrests and sentences in the past few weeks, The Bangkok Post reported on March 14. 

Thailand: Defamation Arrests Rise, Election Commission Recommends Disbanding Opposition Party

Thailand launched a new initiative aimed at bringing peace to Myanmar that involves engaging key stakeholders -- including combatant groups, China, India and the United States -- as well as "trusted" third parties such as Japan and Norway, Nikkei Asia reported on Feb. 6.

Thailand, Myanmar: Bangkok To Take Lead in Myanmar Peace Process

The Thai Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that the opposition Move Forward Party's attempts to reform the lese-majeste law, which criminalizes criticism of the monarchy, are seditious and tantamount to attempting to overthrow the constitutional monarchy, the Bangkok Post reported on Jan. 31.

Thailand: Court Rules Against Main Opposition Party, Opening Door to Outright Ban

United States

China

Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is in San Francisco pitching a governmental land bridge project to foreign investors, The Bangkok Post reported Nov. 14. 

Thailand: Prime Minister Seeks Foreign Investment for Land Bridge

Assessments

Brunei Darussalam

Laos

An aerial photo taken on Sept. 25, 2022, shows solar panels at the Sao Mai solar energy plant in Vietnam’s An Giang province. 

Several ASEAN countries are on track to develop substantial renewable power capacities in the short term, but technical, political and financial constraints, coupled with incentives to keep burning fossil fuels, will impede long-term decarbonization goals.

The Challenges Facing Southeast Asia's Decarbonization

Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a speech at the gala dinner for the ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit in Tokyo on Dec. 17, 2023. 

Over the next year, Tokyo will provide ASEAN countries with military equipment and more infrastructure investment, which will raise threat perceptions and further deteriorate Japan's ties with China.

The Implications of Japan's Growing Interest in Southeast Asia

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) delivers an opening address at the start of a bilateral meeting with Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (L) at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 16, 2023.

Laos' vulnerabilities will weaken its ASEAN chairmanship, although the bloc's economic interconnectivity will likely continue to grow.

Laos' Limitations Portend a Lukewarm Year for ASEAN

Snapshots

Regional leaders pose for a group photo before the ASEAN-Australia summit, held as part of the 43rd ASEAN summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sept. 7, 2023. From left to right stand the Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan, Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indonesia's President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Brunei's Prime Minister Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

U.S.-China Relations

ASEAN's most recent summit underscored chronic passivity within the bloc that will only worsen in 2024. 

Amid ASEAN's Inaction, the Block's Members Look to External Partners for Security

Thailand's newly appointed prime minister, Srettha Thavisin (center), greets supporters at his Pheu Thai Party's headquarters in Bangkok on Aug. 22, 2023.

The government marks a compromise between erstwhile rivals and marginalizes the pro-democracy movement, but economic recovery will prove challenging.

After Months of Gridlock, Thailand Appoints a New Government

Media

Podcasts

Will Thailand's election winner be able to form a government?

Essential Geopolitics: Government Formation Gridlock in Thailand

France

Ukraine

The Chandrayaan-3 lander. The Indian Space Research Organization is scheduled to launch its Chandrayaan-3 moon mission July 14.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Macron Welcomes Modi for Bastille Day, a UPS Strike Looms

Brazil

Europe

French police officers in riot gear stand guard and hold tear gas canister launchers next to the facade of a damaged Apple Store in Strasbourg, eastern France, on June 30, 2023.

The Weekly Rundown: Riots Rage On in France, Brazil Assumes the Mercosur Presidency

A car with members of Thailand's opposition Move Forward Party (MFP), including leader Pita Limjaroenrat, drives through a large crowd of supporters during a rally in Bangkok on May 15, 2023, following the MFP's victory in the general election. 

As expected, Thailand's two main opposition parties dominated the May 14 general election. But the military establishment will seek to leverage its institutional controls to retain power.

Despite Their Electoral Victory, Thai Opposition Parties Will Struggle To Form a Government

Turkey

Russia

Supporters of AKP and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 12, 2023, in Istanbul.

The Weekly Rundown: A G-7 Summit in Japan, Significant Elections in Turkey

Thai flags March 4, 2023, on the side of the parliament complex in Bangkok. Thailand is headed for early elections that favor continued military-backed rule, but a resurgent opposition portends a highly contentious election process, potential unrest, and implications for alignment between China and the United States.

Thailand is headed for early elections that favor continued military-backed rule, but a resurgent opposition portends a highly contentious election process and potential unrest.

Thailand Braces for Potential Chaos as Early Elections Loom

A Chinese coast guard ship sails past anchored Philippine fishing boats in the Scarborough Shoal, in the disputed South China Sea, on Feb. 3, 2023.

A binding code of conduct in the South China Sea remains unlikely, despite the resumption of negotiations between claimant states.

With No Deal in Sight, South China Sea Claimants Continue to Militarize

Located in Southeast Asia, Thailand is bordered by Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. The core of modern Thailand lies on the flat, rich lowlands in the central Chao Phraya River basin. This basin is one of the world's most fertile agricultural areas, growing mostly rice and fruits. As a result, it became a political and economic center, where Bangkok, the country's capital, was founded.    Thailand’s strategic location between Indochina and the Andaman and South China seas, along with its agricultural resources, has historically made it a target of foreign invasion. Therefore, Thailand’s main geographic challenge is protecting its core from invaders while consolidating power in its diverse outlying regions.    Protected in the north by mountains and the Khorat Plateau, Thailand’s biggest external threats have come through the Tenasserim mountain range from Myanmar or from Cambodia to the east. But Thailand’s central location also helped prevent its colonization, as the French and British used it as a buffer between each other's empires.    Thailand’s geography has also presented internal challenges. In the northwest, mountainous terrain has prevented the area from being easily controlled, fostering political struggles in modern times between these provinces and Bangkok. Annexed in the early 20th century, southern Thailand has an ethnically Malay, Muslim majority and continues to resist Bangkok through low-level insurgency and violence. Although Thailand's size, location and arable land allow it to exert influence regionally, its unwieldy periphery and occasionally hostile neighbors will continue to present it with challenges.

SITUATION REPORTS

Southeast Asia: Extreme Heat Wave Creates Health and Business Risks, Stresses Energy Grids

Thailand: New Senator Selection Process Will Reduce Military's Power

Thailand, Myanmar: Rebels Claim Control of Key Border Crossing

Thailand: Court Accepts Petition for MFP Dissolution Case

Thailand: Defamation Arrests Rise, Election Commission Recommends Disbanding Opposition Party

Thailand, Myanmar: Bangkok To Take Lead in Myanmar Peace Process

Thailand: Court Rules Against Main Opposition Party, Opening Door to Outright Ban

Thailand: Prime Minister Seeks Foreign Investment for Land Bridge

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