Stories by Marwaan Macan-Markar / IPS Inter Press Service

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Saturday, November 07, 2009 21:09 GMT

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Thai-Cambodia Diplomatic Row Bares Decades-Long Rift
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Thailand’s swift and strong response to Cambodia’s decision to appoint ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic adviser exposed an emotional faultline rooted in decades of mutual suspicion and hatred.
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U.S. Mission’s Meeting with Ethnic Minorities Signals Hope

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - The United States government’s diplomatic foray into military-ruled Burma made early inroads into an area sealed off to United Nations envoys in recent years—meeting the country’s oppressed ethnic minorities.
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U.S. Mission to Burma Heralds Obama’s New Diplomatic Tack
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - An upcoming mission by senior United States government officials to military- ruled Burma points to Washington’s commitment that engaging with oppressive regimes—than spurning them—is the way forward for change.
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Karen Fear Military Offensive Near Planned Dam in Burma
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - With the annual monsoon rains ending, there is a growing fear among the Karen ethnic minority living along military-ruled Burma’s eastern border of a dry season offensive. The most vulnerable are villagers residing in the vicinity of the controversial Hat Gyi dam.
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Thai-Cambodian Tension Tests Claims of Regional Peace

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - The relationship between South-east Asian neighbours Thailand and Cambodia enters another uneasy stretch following a round of verbal salvoes fired before and during a just concluded regional summit, where much is made of strides in achieving unity.
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Rice Tariffs Snarl ASEAN Single Market
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
CHA-AM, Thailand - Rice, the staple dish across South-east Asia, has emerged as an apt symbol of the region’s commitment – or lack of it – to unveiling a free trade area for its 10 members when the New Year dawns.
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‘Undermining ASEAN Human Rights Body Will Be Act of Suicide’
Marwaan Macan-Markar interviews RAFENDI DJAMIN, a member of the ASEAN human rights commission
CHA-AM, Thailand - A South-east Asian human rights mechanism launched here at a regional summit should be used by victims of rights violations to end oppression at home, says a member of this new body.
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Civil Society Refuses to Cave in at ASEAN Summit
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
CHA-AM, Thailand - Civil society representatives from South-east Asia’s developing democracies delivered an unequivocal message to the region’s leaders at a summit held here – they will not succumb to the whims of governments that suppress political and civil liberties at home.
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‘Cambodia’s Penal Code Aims to Silence Gov’t Critics’
Marwaan Macan-Markar interviews MU SOCHUA, Cambodian opposition lawmaker
BANGKOK - To be an outspoken critic of the government brings a heavy price in Cambodia, the South-east Asian country struggling to put behind decades of war and brutality, including the Khmer Rouge genocide.
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No Welcome Mat for Civil Society at ASEAN Summit
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - A summit of regional leaders due to begin in Thailand on Oct. 23 has brought into relief a rift within the 10-member bloc about the space that should be given to civil society voices at such a gathering.
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UNESCAP Steps in to Help Burma’s Debt-ridden Farmers
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - A regional United Nations body dubbed by its critics as a "talk shop" and with limited concrete achievements to its name appears set to change that image by striking a deal with one of Asia’s recalcitrant regimes – the Burmese military government.
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Kyoto Protocol Is a Lifeline for Island Nations
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - "It was a little bit scary," says Dessima Williams, describing how the two weeks of United Nations climate change negotiations ended here on Oct. 9. "Our concerns need to be heard more."
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New Financial Scheme Turns Heat on Rich Nations
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - A new financial mechanism to help the developing world deal with the challenges posed by climate change looms as a major hurdle on the road leading up to a United Nations summit in Copenhagen in mid-December.
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Marwaan Macan-Markar - IPS's Bangkok correspondent provides essential reading on human rights, development, environment and politics in a dynamic region

Credit: Sayan Cheunodomsavad/Thailand for the Imaging Our Mekong programme

MEXICO: Women Package the Sweet Taste of Nostalgia

POLITICS: Thai-Cambodia Diplomatic Row Bares Decades-Long Rift

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