Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia • STORY OF THE DAY • Feb 26, 2021 • 15 min read

Migration For Cambodian workers, obscure new border crossing makes for uncertain journey home

By Allegra Mendelson • Feb 26, 2021
As high numbers of Cambodian migrant workers repatriate due to Thailand's Covid-hit economy, many are grappling with brokers and fears of detention as they are redirected from well-known Poipet to an obscure, military-controlled crossing in rural Banteay Meanchey

Southeast Asia • STORY OF THE DAY • Feb 22, 2021 • 8 min read

Analysis Thailand’s rising tension between public and state relations with China

By Mark S. Cogan • Feb 22, 2021
As Thailand's economy has grown increasingly reliant on Chinese tourism and investment in recent decades, so too has public distrust of the Asian giant's influence in the kingdom – a tension that risks spilling over says columnist Professor Mark S. Cogan

Southeast Asia • STORY OF THE DAY • Feb 22, 2021 • 5 min read

Healthcare The Vietnamese enterprise offering amputees customisable prosthetics

By Sam Dart • Feb 22, 2021
Prosthetics for amputees are traditionally one-size-fits-all models that allow little, if any, customisation. But Saigon-based social enterprise Vulcan Augmetics is utilising 3D printing technology to create artificial limbs that can be adapted to individual needs

Southeast Asia • Feb 20, 2021 • 3 min read
Editorial

The Sino-Vietnam War and Myanmar’s politics of disaster

This week we’re marking the anniversary of the Sino-Vietnam War with a wonderful piece from first-time contributor Hoang Minh Vu, in which he lays out the short-lived conflict’s significance in shaping the Cold War. Our very own Kiana Duncan also looks at the Myanmar military’s track record of pouncing on disasters to make political gains, and ask, will the coup exacerbate the pandemic?
By Andrew Haffner • Feb 20, 2021

Southeast Asia • Feb 17, 2021 • 4 min read
Drugs

Thai meth barons look closer to home as pandemic curbs exports

Thailand has long been a global gateway for exports of meth, but the coronavirus pandemic's sudden disruption of international transport has seen a surge in cut-price "yaba" tablets in the local market
By Pitcha Dangprasith and Lisa Martin/AFP • Feb 17, 2021

Southeast Asia • Feb 15, 2021 • 9 min read
Analysis

As Philippine politicians do the Cha-Cha, is the constitution under threat?

Politicians in the Philippines, led by President Duterte, want to change the constitution to lift the country from an economic slump. But set to be discussed this month, opponents believe the move is a mere smokescreen for more sinister aims to weaken the opposition
By Oliver Haynes • Feb 15, 2021

Southeast Asia • Feb 12, 2021 • 5 min read

New Gold Dream

Citizenship by investment? An interview with the team at Bank of Nevis International Trust Services Inc (BONITS)
By Bank of Nevis International Trust Services Inc. • Feb 12, 2021

Southeast Asia • Feb 12, 2021 • 9 min read
Myanmar coup

How to squeeze Myanmar’s military without hurting its people

Boycotts are taking place across Myanmar as citizens attempt to hurt the military-affiliated firms embedded throughout the wider economy. But for those out of the country, the question now is how to hit the pockets of the Tatmadaw without harming the people
By Kiana Duncan • Feb 12, 2021

Southeast Asia • Feb 10, 2021 • 14 min read
Land disputes

In Cambodia, this village shows even the wealthy are vulnerable to land grabbing

While high-profile land grabbing disputes involving disempowered communities have made headlines in Cambodia in recent years, the case of Arey Ksat – a village of well-connected and wealthy residents near Phnom Penh – shows few are safe from the practice
By Andrew Haffner • Feb 10, 2021

Southeast Asia • Feb 03, 2021 • 5 min read
Myanmar coup

US designates Myanmar military takeover as a coup

The US on February 2 formally designated Myanmar's military ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy government as a coup, after the country's army chief General Min Aung Hlaing described the takeover as "inevitable"
By Agence France-Presse • Feb 03, 2021

Southeast Asia • Feb 01, 2021 • 4 min read
Sustainability

Sustainable Charcoal

Khmer Green Charcoal provides a sustainable alternative to wood charcoal for cooking
By Sopheavuthtey Borin • Feb 01, 2021