1) Protests and Sandbag Sabotage in Continue in Bangkok
Protests and sabotage of Bangkok’s Big Bag floodwalls, which are responsible for saving much of central Bangkok from flood damage, have become a major source of controversy in the Northern Bangkok areas of Don Muang, Pathum Thani, and Nothanburi. The residents of these three areas have found themselves and their homes sacrificed in the Thai government’s bid to save the central area of Bangkok and the city’s major roads; these residents are not, however, suffering their fates in silence. Sabotage of Big Bag barriers has become commonplace, as residents attempt to drain stagnant water away from their homes, while protests (allegedly fueled by encouragement from national and local politicians) have most recently taken places across Don Muang and Nothanburi. The woes of those living “behind the Big Bags” have highlighted a major moral dilemma in the battle to save Bangkok. Should Bangkok residents stand with the citizens who have watched their homes and possessions be sacrificed for the greater good, or should they stand with the Thai government, as the destruction of sandbag barriers only slows the city’s overall recovery from flood damage?
2) Thailand a Likely Transit Point for New Zealand Fugitive
Twelve years after fleeing drug charges in New Zealand, Kiwi Robert Graham was convicted in New Zealand courts on November 18th of performing a paid hit on a Scottish legal executive in 2006. Graham, originally known as Paul Francis Magee, was arrested as part of an Auckland drug ring in 1999, but is believed to have fled New Zealand by hitching a ride on a fishing boat to Thailand. We’ve written before on the role that Thailand plays as a place of refuge for international fugitives. Thailand, with its huge volume of foreign tourists, its plentiful amounts of karaoke bars and red light districts, its access to oceans and sea travel, and Suwanabumi airport’s 45–second time limit for examination of foreign passports, is an ideal transit country for criminals like Graham, who find it easy to slip into the Kingdom’s shadows. Graham’s case only further highlights the problems faced by Thai law enforcement agencies as they seek to rid Thailand of its reputation as a haven for foreign criminals.
Democracy in Burma: Genuine Reform, or Jumping the Gun?
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s spokesperson has informed the press that the Nobel Laureate plans to run in Burma’s upcoming parliamentary elections; the same day, November 18th, Daw Suu’s party, the National League for Democracy, announced that it would be reregistering as a political party in Burma, after its decision to boycott the 2010 elections last year. However, the biggest news of the day was the announcement from the US’s Obama Administration that Secretary of State Hilary Clinton would bevisiting Burma in December.
Clinton’s trip is potentially the beginning in a major change of US policy towards Burma; indeed, her trip will represent the first time in 50 years that a US Secretary of State has visited the isolated military dictatorship. The US has imposed economic sanctions against Burma since 1997, and has been an outspoken critic of the country’s military rule and the elections held in 2010. However, the government that took power after the elections has taken a series of very small steps towards correcting the country’s many ills – halting construction on the Myitsone Dam project in Northern Burma, removing exiled activists from its blacklist, and releasing a nominal amount of political prisoners. Such steps are indeed an improvement from the earlier status quo in Burma, but do they merit any great change in US policy towards Burma? Before Burma can be internationally recognized as a democracy, the country must take more than “baby steps” towards change: the ruling government must take strides to release all of the country’s political prisoners, and stop the multitude of human rights abuses committed by its military forces, especially in ethnic-minority populated border areas.
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