LINES OF THOUGHT ACROSS SOUTHEAST ASIA
Editorial

Future predictions

Southeast Asia’s future is in a precarious place.

Julija Veljkovic
January 10, 2020
Future predictions

This week we looked at how the marginalised community of Khlongtoey in Bangkok is in danger of becoming victim to the city’s rapid gentrification project, how Cambodia’s future of governance and law looks bleak unless lasting change occurs, the Cambodian men behind the US sanctions, and more.

The relentless gentrification of Bangkok looks like it will soon swallow the fabled community of Khlongtoey – a working class area which has housed communities near the city’s port since the 1950s. Photographer Tim Russell has spent the last four years advocating for these communities, capturing their everyday lives and trials and tribulations. Here’s what he saw.

“I don’t think that a government unable to admit there’s a problem can really begin to deal with it,” Ear Sophal says. “Taking this first step and admitting you have a rule of law problem can be difficult and scary, but it is foundational.”

In our sixth article of our Future Forum series, we examine Cambodia’s shaky future in law and governance. In the decades to come, will the Kingdom move beyond the corruption and nepotism that currently underpins the workings of government?

Oknha Try Pheap and General Kun Kim are the latest Cambodians to face the wrath of US sanctions – known as the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List – but what does this really mean?

As a new decade dawns, Southeast Asia is a region on the brink of dramatic growth and change. Looking at our four pillars – Power, Money, Life and Earth – we outline some of the biggest stories, trends and events to watch out for in the region this year.

“If 2C [earth warming] does not sound like much, it is worthwhile remembering that only 5C separates us from the last ice age. The global mean sea level has risen by 10 to 20cm in the past century – roughly ten times the average rise of the past 2,000 years.”

In a Top Read from 2007, we asked the big question – what will the weather bring us fifty years from now? Today, we revisit this piece to see how our earlier predictions hold up in 2020.



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