By James Klein

James Klein is The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Thailand. He can be reached in Bangkok at jklein@asiafound.org.

On December 2, 2008, Thailand’s Constitutional Court ruled to disband three core parties in Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat’s beleaguered ruling coalition government:  the People Power Party (PPP), Chat Thai (CT), and Matchima Thipataya (MT). The Court also revoked the voting rights of the executives of the three parties for five years, effectively banning them from politics for the duration.  Among those executives is Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat.  Although PPP spokesmen have protested that the Court refused to hear over 200 witnesses in the defense of the three parties, the testimony of witnesses would have had little bearing on the Court’s final decisions.
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By John Brandon

John Brandon is The Asia Foundation’s Director for International Relations programs. He can be reached in Washington, DC at jbrandon@asiafound-dc.org.

For one week, a group of anti-government protestors, known as the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), occupied Thailand’s two major airports in Bangkok. The PAD’s major demand was for Prime Minister Somchai Wonsawat and his cabinet to resign. The taking over of the airport wreaked havoc for over 100,000 passengers trying to leave the country — not to mention the thousands of others, be they Thais or foreigners, who were trying to fly into Thailand. 
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Meet Buddhist Monks, Ride an Elephant
By John Karr

John Karr is the Director of Digital Media at The Asia Foundation. He can be reached at jkarr@asiafound.org.

Budget travelers in search of inexpensive Southeast Asian vacation packages take notice: the Constitutional Court of Thailand has disbanded the ruling government party and barred the current Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat, from participating in Thai politics for five years.  In short, the occupation of Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi International airport by anti-government protestors is likely to end soon: you will once again be able to visit Thailand and expect to return home on schedule.   And, even better, in an effort to recoup what the Bank of Thailand believes will be close to U.S. $4 billion in lost tourism revenue, you can expect steep discounts.
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By Harry Harding

Harry Harding is a University Professor of International Affairs at The George Washington University and a Trustee of The Asia Foundation. He wrote “China Policy for the Next U.S. Administration,” a chapter in The Asia Foundation’s newly-released “America’s Role in Asia,” and recently attended a Thai-US Think Tank Summit in Bangkok where he spoke on the U.S.-Southeast Asia relationship.

Now that the U.S. presidential election is over, the incoming Obama administration will begin a reconsideration of American foreign policy.  Numerous urgent issues will compete for attention, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, and the parlous state of the global economy.  But consideration of these urgent matters should not come at the expense of issues that, while perhaps less immediate, are no less important.  One of these is the American relationship with Southeast Asia.

There is a widely shared view, both in Southeast Asia and in the Asian policy community in the U.S., that the United States has been paying insufficient attention to the region. In introducing the Southeast Asia section of the Asia Foundation’s recently-released America’s Role in Asia report at a press conference in Washington last month Tommy Koh, Ambassador-At-Large at Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies, complained that Washington has been treating Southeast Asia with “benign neglect,” perhaps because the region has presented the U.S. with neither significant challenges nor great opportunities.
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By John Brandon

John Brandon is The Asia Foundation’s Director for International Relations programs. He can be reached at jbrandon@asiafound-dc.org.

Earlier this week Thailand’s Supreme Court found former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra guilty on charges of abuse of power.  Although one protester occupying Government House proclaimed “we won!” upon hearing the Supreme Court’s ruling, the fact is the country’s political paralysis remains.  Tensions are indeed mounting.  Last week Thai army chief, General Anupong Paochinda, spoke on national television saying Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat (who coincidentally is Thaksin’s brother-in-law) should resign.  The thousands of protestors occupying Government House under the banner of the People’s Alliance for Democracy are saying they will settle for nothing less.  Prime Minister Somchai has ignored these demands saying he is too busy doing his job.

This comes at a time when Thailand is facing the threat of a border war with Cambodia over a disputed area around the 11th century Prear Vihar temple.
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By Robin Bush

Robin Bush is The Asia Foundation’s Deputy Country Representative in Indonesia. Below is a summary of remarks she delivered while on a panel Tuesday on Human Development and Social Change Dialogue at the 2008 U.S.-Islamic World Regional Forum in Kuala Lumpur, co-sponsored by The Asia Foundation, the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution, and ISIS. She can be reached at rbush@tafindo.org.

“Human Development” as a concept stands at the center of a vast array of development funding and policy initiatives – and in its broadest sense encompasses indicators of life expectancy, education, gross national product etc.., as well as environmental quality, effective governance, and freedom. For a full elaboration I refer you to the excellent discussion paper on this topic produced by Hady Amr for the 2008 Doha US-Islamic World Forum.

Let’s look at education, because, when one looks at Islamic schools and Islamic education in the region, one can observe a fascinating dualism: in many areas, Islamic education is the poorest in quality and serves the poorest demographics; at the same time, there are Islamic schools and institutions that are centers of excellence, which function as a bridge or vehicle for lifting the human development indicators of entire communities around them.
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By Tommy Koh

Tommy Koh is Ambassador-At-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, and Chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies and the National Heritage Board. He was one of the three Asian co-chairs for the recently released book, America’s Role in Asia: Asian and American Views. Below is an excerpt from his chapter, which provides recommendations for a new U.S.  administration’s foreign policy towards the Southeast Asia region.

The peoples of Southeast Asia are following the 2008 U.S. presidential elections with great attention and admiration, given the open and transparent primary processes. America’s real and vibrant democracy is reflected in the competing candidates’ travels to every corner of the country to win the hearts and minds of voters. This illustrates that the highest office of the land can neither be secured by wealth nor pedigree and, this year especially, neither race nor gender is an insurmountable obstacle. Consequently, in some parts of the world, including Southeast Asia, anti-Americanism has been balanced by a respect for America’s current exercise of democracy.

Thus, every region of the world wants America’s attention; the only question is whether American attention is positive or negative. Washington’s nature is to focus attention on the largest countries, regions, and economies, which can pose a threat to American interest or to international peace and security. By these standards, Southeast Asia — a region largely at peace — does not receive the positive attention it deserves. Read More…

By V. Bruce J. Tolentino

Bruce Tolentino is The Asia Foundation’s Director for Economic Reform and Development Programs. He can be reached at btolentino@asiafound.org.

Over the past few weeks, as the U.S. financial system has reeled from a shocking series of major “adjustments,” Asia’s economists and bankers remind themselves of the key lessons — painfully taught — by the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s:  (a) all markets are linked; (b) financial markets are much more volatile than others and thus require more stringent oversight and regulation; and (c) refocusing on economic fundamentals is key to long-term recovery and growth.

Taking the long view, the medium-to-long term impact of the U.S. financial crisis on Asia is likely to be muted.
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By John Brandon

John Brandon is The Asia Foundation’s Director for International Relations programs. He can be reached at jbrandon@asiafound-dc.org. For on-the-ground analysis of the situation in Thailand, click here for The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Thailand, James Klein’s, comments to the Christian Science Monitor. He can be reached at jklein@asiafound.org.

On September 8th, Thailand’s constitutional court rendered the decision that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej must resign after being found guilty of violating a ban on ministers for taking money from a private company.  Article 267 of the constitution prohibits ministers from taking money from outside interests.  In this case it was for accepting money from a TV station to appear on his popular cooking show, “Tasting and Grumbling.”   Some may argue that rule of law has won the day as Samak has become the first Prime Minister to ever have to resign by court order.  Most former Thai prime ministers have fallen from power by military coup.  To Samak’s credit, which he has earned little as of late, he has agreed to accept and abide by the court’s verdict.

But does the constitutional court’s decision end the political paralysis Thailand is facing? 
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By John Brandon

John Brandon is The Asia Foundation’s Director for International Relations programs. He can be reached at jbrandon@asiafound-dc.org.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is struggling for his political survival and is increasingly finding himself in a “no win” situation. For the past week, a group of well-organized, anti-government protesters known as the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has taken over and occupied Government House, Thailand’s equivalent of The White House. The protesters refuse to leave until Samak resigns. Since the occupation, the situation has worsened. On September 2nd, political tension erupted into violent street clashes between pro and anti-government supporters that left one person dead and more than 40 injured. These clashes are believed to have been instigated by members of the pro-government Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAAD). In response, Samak has declared a state of emergency in Bangkok.

Under normal circumstances, protesters taking over Government House would be removed and arrested for their civil disobedience. But these are not normal times in Thailand.
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