Hello, Globe readers!
As national elections approach in several Southeast Asia countries including Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia, the citizens are making their hopes and concerns heard.
As Thailand considers legally recognising sex work, Indonesian digital rights experts are cautioning the population about online “buzzers”, or paid influencers who flood social media with political content to sway the electorate ahead of national elections.
Also, Indonesia has been in the eye of the storm as a Globe investigation reveals the involvement of U.K. forces in the conflict between Indonesia and the Free Papua Movement.
That’s all for this week.
May you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the features!
1 – Thailand’s new draft law could mean better safety for sex workers
Globe’s Beatrice Siviero,
Artwork by Emilie Languedoc
A team of legal experts is working on a new draft law to decriminalise sex work in Thailand aiming at ensuring sex workers’ legal protections from abuse, access to labour rights, healthcare, and social security.
2 – As Indonesia’s elections approach, buzzers jeopardise democracy
Globe’s Nisya Kunto
As national elections in Indonesia are approaching, digital rights experts are expecting a new wave of political content on social media from government buzzers to influence the electorate.
3 – More looted Cambodian relics returned from the United States
Globe’s Leila Goldstein
Culture officials and staff unpacked ancient artefacts at the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh last weekend. Local Buddhist monks blessed the Angkorian icons as they returned the country after being looted decades ago.
4 – U.K.’s murky entanglement in Papua independence conflict
Rory James
A Globe investigation delves into the key role that the U.K. has had in the ongoing conflicts in Papua as a captured New Zealand pilot was found being surrounded by armed Papuan independence fighters.
