Word: thailand
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Cambodia has been a haven for foreign sexual predators since the U.N. brought peace to the war-ravaged country in 1993, and more recently, since its neighbor Thailand started its own crackdown on child sex abuse over the last couple of years. But the arrest of at least eight alleged foreign pedophiles since the beginning of this year may signal that Phnom Penh is finally getting serious about stopping the sexual abuse of children...
...bested a fellow Harvard alum in his secretary-general bid—Surakiart Sathirathai, the deputy prime minister of Thailand. Surakiart received a master’s degree from Harvard Law School in 1982 and a doctorate in juridicial science three years later. He garnered four “yes” votes yesterday and two vetoes from permanent Security Council members...
...Thailand's 18th coup d'?tat since 1932, bloodless for a change, and its leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin was at pains to present it as the kindest, cuddliest one yet?a "soft coup," it's being called. While smiling Thais handed flowers to soldiers, their Asian neighbors had more somber anniversaries to consider. Eighteen years to the day before the Thai coup, Burmese soldiers shot dead hundreds of prodemocracy protesters in Rangoon; 16 years before that, late dictator Ferdinand Marcos put the Philippines under martial law; and another seven years earlier, a general called Suharto seized power in Indonesia. Burmese...
...worry is real. Indonesia faces many of the same problems, such as rampant corruption, cited by Thailand's coupmakers as pretexts for seizing power. And like their Burmese counterparts, the Indonesian armed forces present themselves as the only institution that can hold a nation together?in this case, a fractious archipelago of 220 million people. Despite reforms designed to keep it out of politics, the Indonesian military remains highly resistant to the principle of civilian control...
...That soldiers now run Thailand?and are powerful political players in Indonesia and the Philippines?doesn't prove (as Burma's generals might gloat) that democracy is dead, but that many Asian democracies are immature and fragile, with political systems incapable of guaranteeing smooth and legitimate transfers of power. Even if General Sonthi keeps his promise and returns power to civilian hands, the damage is done. Neither the dictatorial style of Thaksin's rule, nor the manner of his departure, are worth celebration. Sukma believes the Thai coup will embolden "antidemocratic forces" across the region. "They are all laughing...