Southeast Asia, By the Week

Editorial • STORY OF THE DAY • Oct 09, 2020 • 2 min read

Editorial Thammasat and trash in Hanoi

By Andrew Haffner • Oct 09, 2020
This week Thailand marks the 44th anniversary of the Thammasat University Massacre, one of the darkest moments in the kingdom's modern history. Professor Mark S. Cogan reflects on the events of that day, that saw scores of unarmed student protestors murdered, and asks how Thailand reached that nadir. We also turn to trash in Hanoi, as the villagers of Nom San complain of pollution and cancer as they live besides an ever-expanding rubbish dump

Editorial • STORY OF THE DAY • Oct 02, 2020 • 2 min read

Editorial Contact tracing and internet blackouts

By Andrew Haffner • Oct 02, 2020
Vietnam has been lauded for its robust Covid response, part of which has been the rolling out of contact-tracing app Bluezone. But with few inside the tightly controlled communist state able to scrutinise the methods of those in power, it's been left to the Globe's fearless Sarah Kim to unravel concerns about the app and its potential implications for user privacy. We also turn to Rakhine State in Myanmar, where an internet blackout is leaving women even more vulnerable to sexual violence, and with limited means to report it when it does occur

Editorial • STORY OF THE DAY • Sep 28, 2020 • 3 min read

Editorial An island in the Mekong

By Andrew Haffner • Sep 28, 2020
The Globe's Andrew Haffner hit the water this week, as he waded into an underreported yet potentially huge story taking place on the banks of the Mekong in the Cambodian capital. As we speak, dredgers are shifting tonnes of sand and relocating it to an area set to form Koh Norea, a new island mega-project touted by developers as the next Koh Pich. While billions of dollars are at stake for investors, ecological harmony in the river is the most significant thing on the line – despite this, a publicly available environmental impact assessment remains illusive

Editorial • STORY OF THE DAY • Sep 21, 2020 • 3 min read

Editorial The biggest protest in years

By Andrew Haffner • Sep 21, 2020
The Globe team has been hard at work for another week of clips from around Southeast Asia. Our Thai bureau (also known as Globe reporters Wanpen Pajai and Tara Abhasakun) went deep this past week into #whatshappeninginthailand, delivering a major dispatch from the weekend protest outside the royal palace in Bangkok that organisers and local media have dubbed the biggest demonstration in years.

Editorial • Sep 14, 2020 • 3 min read
Editorial

Hardship and love

After some delay, we’re back on our regular schedule from today on, bringing the latest from across our corner of the Globe
By Andrew Haffner • Sep 14, 2020

Editorial • Aug 31, 2020 • 2 min read
Editorial

Youth protests and LGBTQ armed revolutionaries

This week, as protests continue unabated in Thailand, the Globe provides a platform for the the kingdom's student activists. First we serve up a piece of analysis by the Globe's eyes and ears in Bangkok Wanpen Pajai, before hearing from Mahidol student activist Francis Bunkueanun Paothong about his organisation's perspective on the movement. We also speak with former armed revolutionary Aung Myo Min on the 20th anniversary of Equality Myanmar, as he tells us about the state of affairs for the country's LGBTQ community.
By Andrew Haffner • Aug 31, 2020

Editorial • Aug 24, 2020 • 3 min read
Editorial

Unwind and relax

Last week the Globe was taking some downtime to celebrate Khmer New Year. But while our screens were dimmed and swivel-chairs empty, we've got a few quirky bits of history to tide us over until we resume normal service this week. We look at the life and legacy of little-known Karen revolutionary leader Saw Ba U Gyi, delve into the memoirs of British photojournalist Jon Swain from his time in Cambodia and Vietnam in the 1970s, as well as cast an eye to the anti-opium movement of the Straits Settlements in the 19th and 20th centuries
By Andrew Haffner • Aug 24, 2020

Editorial • Aug 14, 2020 • 4 min read
Editorial

Cambodia in Quarantine economic series

It's a big week at the Globe, as we publish the fruit of two months of labour. With Cambodia set to be among the hardest hit nations in the region due to the global economic downturn, we've spent recent months travelling the Kingdom, speaking with local communities and experts to report on the four pillars of the Cambodian economy – garments, agriculture, construction and tourism.
By Andrew Haffner • Aug 14, 2020

Editorial • Aug 07, 2020 • 3 min read
Editorial

A homage to Molyvann

This week we pay homage to one-time visionary Cambodian state architect Vann Molyvann, whose home is up for sale in the capital Phnom Penh. Rather than preserving the site as the cultural monument that it is, it is being sold off to the highest bidder – with no guarantees over its conservation. Our Lead Editor Alastair McCready advocates for its preservation as a museum, a tool to educate the Kingdom's generations to come.
By Andrew Haffner • Aug 07, 2020

Editorial • Jul 31, 2020 • 3 min read
Editorial

Election fever

This week we look at the insights to be garnered from pre- and post-election sentiment among the public in two very different countries across the region. In Singapore, historic gains for the opposition Workers' Party may signal a rising appetite for pluralism in the PAP dominated city-state, while in Myanmar, a recent jade mine tragedy may be the straw that breaks the camel's back for Aung San Suu Kyi's party in the country's ethnic minority-dominated areas.
By Andrew Haffner • Jul 31, 2020

Editorial • Jul 23, 2020 • 3 min read
Editorial

Vietnam’s receding hairline and Myanmar 2020

This week we peak under Vietnam's toupet and examine the causes behind the country's fast receding hairline. Among the fastest-ageing populations in the world, how will Vietnam handle its growing cohort of elders? We also look ahead to the recently announced Myanmar elections. Five years since her landmark 2015 victory, Aung San Suu Kyi has firmly fallen from grace in the eyes of the international community – will her domestic downfall be next?
By Alastair McCready • Jul 23, 2020

Editorial • Jul 17, 2020 • 3 min read
Editorial

Grab in the red, and Indonesia’s new capital on shaky ground

This week, we took a dive into the world of modern tech finance with an analysis of the uber-popular, very unprofitable Grab, a long-awaited legislative ban on torture and forced disappearances in Thailand and a new look at the devastating effects of mass snaring in Southeast Asia’s protected wildlife areas. This has been yet another week of diverse coverage from around the region, so scroll down and see what happened this week in the Globe
By Andrew Haffner • Jul 17, 2020