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It has been nine years since the scandalous hit-and-run case involving Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya first made headlines. Mr Vorayuth, a scion of the family behind the Red Bull empire, was charged over the fatal 2012 hit-and-run case and fled the country in 2017.
When I took up my role as the regional director of the International Labour Organization in Bangkok, domestic workers were at the forefront of my mind. Not only is the Asia Pacific region home to half of the world's domestic workers, but this group of workers exists at the nexus of so many areas of my own personal interest -- the rights of women workers, health and housing, international cooperation and migration governance.
The House of Representatives' recent passing of a controversial loan decree should make the Thai government rethink its post-coronavirus recovery plan.
It has been nine years since the scandalous hit-and-run case involving Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya first made headlines. Mr Vorayuth, a scion of the family behind the Red Bull empire, was charged over the fatal 2012 hit-and-run case and fled the country in 2017.
The House of Representatives' recent passing of a controversial loan decree should make the Thai government rethink its post-coronavirus recovery plan.
When I took up my role as the regional director of the International Labour Organization in Bangkok, domestic workers were at the forefront of my mind. Not only is the Asia Pacific region home to half of the world's domestic workers, but this group of workers exists at the nexus of so many areas of my own personal interest -- the rights of women workers, health and housing, international cooperation and migration governance.
Eighteen months on from its inauspicious Thai debut, Covid-19 has ultimately proven to be a formidable adversary.
In commemorating the 30th anniversary of Asean-China relations later this year at the summit level, it is expected that China will be represented by Xi Jinping, who has yet to attend an Asean-related summit under his presidency. Of course, this is just a plan for both sides, which still need further discussion to celebrate their "shared future" trajectory. After all, when Asean agrees on the upgrade of China's longstanding strategic partnership to a comprehensive one, there must be a very special li-you (raison d'etre) to do so. And the list is long.
A major hullabaloo is ongoing regarding the vaccine shortage. Yet, no-one can be held accountable. Isn't that a puzzling mystery?
Last summer, when most countries were cherishing the quiet before the second peak in Covid-19 cases, the non-profit I was volunteering at was bustling with activity. It had developed an open-source digital contact tracing system -- one of those smartphone apps that tracks one's whereabouts and sends notifications.
News that the Thai government may be considering implementing an internet real name law for social media platforms, to monitor so-called fake news and online harms, is alarming. I know because my country, South Korea, tried the same thing a decade ago and I was part of the process that lead to it being struck down by the Constitutional Court as unconstitutional in 2012.
Most critics sum up Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha government's performance in the management of vaccines procurement with one simple word: "suck". I couldn't agree more with that harsh summation and there is no need to further amplify that utter failure.
