In a Bangkok Post article about Thai politics and the current political divide, The Asia Foundation’s 2009 Thailand survey is extensively cited. Read the full article: “Are there two elephants in the dark, crowded room?”
In a Voice of America article about Thailand’s economic recovery strategies following the recent unrest there, The Asia Foundation’s Director of International Relations John Brandon is quoted on the possible negative effects the protests could have on tourism in the country. Read the full article: “Recent Thai Unrest Poses New Concerns For Economic Recovery.”
WAMU Radio interviews The Asia Foundation’s Director of International Relations John Brandon on continued protests in Thailand, and what is at stake as the military increases its pressure on the protesters. Listen to the interview: “Protests in Thailand.”
Radio Australia features a broadcast about the conference on regional migration in Asia held in Phnom Penh last week. Quotes from The Asia Foundation’s Program Officer for Counter Trafficking in Persons Project Louise Rose on the issue of Cambodian men being trafficked onto fishing boats in Thailand and Malaysia are featured. Listen to the interview or read the full transcript: “The dangers in trafficking Cambodian men.”
In a Phnom Penh Post article about report findings presented at a conference on regional migration, The Asia Foundation’s Program Officer for Counter Trafficking in Persons Project Louise Rose is quoted on the statistics surrounding Cambodian migration to Thailand. Read the full article: “Poverty and family debt fuel male migration to Thailand.”
In an article in The Christian Science Monitor about latest developments on the unrest in Thailand and the red-shirts acceptance of the government’s plans for reconciliation and a possible November election, The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Thailand James Klein is quoted. Read the full article: “The fuel behind Thailand red-shirt protesters’ fire.”
As the international community searches for new ways to deliver aid and assistance in places affected by conflict and state fragility, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and The Asia Foundation have formed a strategic partnership to enhance current approaches and explore new methods for supporting development, building peace and prosperity, and improving aid effectiveness. The agreement was signed at the Australian Embassy in Washington, D.C. on March 26, 2010 by Peter Baxter, Acting Director General of AusAID, and Douglas Bereuter, president and CEO of The Asia Foundation.
“This partnership is formed to bring together our collective experience in order to better address some of the most challenging questions facing the international community today,” said Douglas Bereuter, president and CEO of The Asia Foundation. “How can we think differently, and act differently, to improve conditions for those in turbulent, fragile societies, where people live in constant threat and development cannot take hold? The combined experience of our two organizations includes nearly every conflict-affected and fragile country in the Asia-Pacific region. I believe that this partnership has the potential to transform the way we work together across the region—and will contribute to global efforts to improve aid effectiveness.”
The goal of the partnership is to deepen and expand the strategies of AusAID, The Asia Foundation, and the international community to deliver aid and security in regions where the pace of development has fallen dramatically, especially where conditions have deteriorated. The partnership will include regular dialogue, collaboration, and joint program activities in Asia through June 2013. This new international effort builds on AusAID’s expertise in post-conflict reconstruction and The Asia Foundation’s recognized strengths in working on protracted sub-national conflicts, and building extensive networks in conflict-affected nations and regions.
Engagement between AusAID and The Asia Foundation has increased significantly in recent years, and the partnership agreement covering the next 39 months is designed to complement existing agreements at the country level by promoting greater sharing of knowledge and strategic concepts between the two organizations.
ABOUT AUSAID
AusAID is the Australian Government agency responsible for managing Australia’s overseas aid program. The objective of the aid program is to assist developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development, in line with Australia’s national interest. In 2009–10 Australia will provide $3.8 billion worth of official development assistance. Australia’s aid program focuses on the Asia Pacific region. The international community recognises Australia’s leading role in the region, particularly in PNG and the Pacific. The geographic focus of Australia’s aid program also makes sense given that two thirds of the world’s poor, some 800 million people, live in the Asia Pacific, yet receive less than one third of total aid flows. Australia’s broadened aid program provides assistance to Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean and South America, primarily through scholarships and by working through international and non-government organisations.
For more information, please visit our Press Room.
In a Toronto Star article about the continued unrest and declaration of a state of emergency in Bangkok, The Asia Foundation’s International Relations Director John Brandon is quoted. Read the full article: “Thai prime minister declares state of emergency.”
In a USAID press release announcing the religious leaders conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on “the role of religious and community leaders in advancing development in Asia,” The Asia Foundation is credited for co-hosting the three-day event March 21-24. Read the full article: “U.S. Sponsors Bangladesh Conference for Religious and Community Leaders on Advancing Development in Asia.”
In a feature in The Economist detailing the current unrest in Thailand, as well as fears surrounding the royal succession, The Asia Foundation’s 2009 Thailand survey findings are cited. Read the full article: “Thailand’s succession: As father fades, his children fight.”
The global financial crisis has had a sharp, negative effect on the export-dependent economies of Asia, threatening to undermine gains made in recent years. Conditions continue to worsen for the working poor and migrant laborers whose hours and wages have been cut, forcing scores to return to their family homes. Rural communities are struggling to absorb returning laborers and make due without worker remittances. Data indicates that migrant workers, one of the most socially fragile groups in developing economies, have been severely affected, particularly women workers in the garment, textile, and electronics industries. Today, The Asia Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation announced a new initiative to alleviate the impact of the recession on the most vulnerable populations in Thailand and Vietnam. The new project will respond to the dire need for social services, training programs, and legal aid education as well as provide small emergency grants to civil society organizations.
Civil society organizations in Thailand and Vietnam are ideally positioned to help struggling workers weather the impact of the global economic downturn. Serving as a voice for society’s marginalized groups, these organizations have also suffered a decrease in funding and are operating with fewer resources needed to improve public services and respond to their communities’ most urgent needs. The project will provide financial support to these organizations and focus on sustainable solutions that address practical and effective community-based recovery.
For instance, in Thailand, the new project will facilitate emergency economic support and social services through the establishment of a Labor Crisis Center. The Center will provide pro bono legal aid and information to workers who have been laid off from their jobs or are facing imminent dismissal. Counseling will be provided through office consultations and through a 24-hour telephone hotline. To advance public policy advocacy, the Center will create an economic and labor information data base. And in Vietnam, project activities will focus on working with civil society groups to help migrant workers access critical public services such as health and legal aid, and to support select rural cooperatives as they respond to the development needs of their communities. The project will also convene representatives from civil society, government agencies, the National Assembly, research institutes, the private sector, and the media for a national dialogue. Participants will discuss key challenges to equitable and sustainable development and share innovative and practical solutions to address these problems.
The Asia Foundation will implement this two-year, $1,750,000 project with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.
For media inquires, please visit our Press Room.
Read press release in the Thai language.
A new weekly TV talk show premiered this week in Thailand. Let’s Talk Rights will feature debates between policymakers, government officials, academics, and citizens on important and sometimes sensitive issues, such as land disputes, human rights, community rights, and gender equality. The one-hour program will air every Thursday on Thai PBS at 10 a.m. in the Thai language and is supported by The Asia Foundation.
“We will tackle subjects that are controversial in nature,” says former National Human Rights Commissioner Sunee Chaiyarose, who will moderate the program. “To address challenging issues, differences need to be openly discussed in a respectful way, and not ignored.” Ms. Sunee was a member of the Constitution Drafting Assembly and played a significant role in bolstering the human rights agenda in the 1997 Constitution drafting process. She is also a respected authority on community rights and labor law issues.
The show’s debut episode, on November 5, centers on the contentious Article 67 of the 2007 Constitution, which has made national headlines. Following a court injunction, 76 industrial projects worth 400 billion Baht located in Rayong province were put on hold. Representatives of disgruntled communities adversely affected by these mega-industrial projects will meet face-to-face with relevant government officials to voice their grievances and try to find a common solution. The November 12 episode will convene law enforcers and victims of the southern unrest to debate the efficacy of special security laws in curbing the ongoing insurgency.
Content from Let’s Talk Rights will also be available on YouTube.
An article in The Nation (Thailand) about discussions among Thailand’s government representatives on amending the Constitution, Bangkok Senator Rosana Tositrakul is mentioned as having referenced findings from The Asia Foundation’s 2009 survey Constitutional Reform and Democracy in Thailand: A National Survey of the Thai People to substantiate her proposition to take into consideration the public’s opinions before proceeding with a charter rewrite. Read the full article: “Government Awaiting Advice from Council of State on Charter Changes.”
In a TIME Magazine article about the challenges that Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva faces, including continued anti-government demonstrations, findings from The Asia Foundation’s 2009 survey Constitutional Reform and Democracy in Thailand: A National Survey of the Thai People are cited. Read the full article: “Man in the Middle.”
In an article in The Economist magazine about Thailand’s history of coups on the occasion of the third anniversary of its 2006 coup, findings from The Asia Foundation’s 2009 survey “Constitutional Reform and Democracy in Thailand: A National Survey of the Thai People” are cited. Read the full article: “Coups are such an old-fashioned way of running things.”
A Reuters wire story about Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s request to lawmakers to resolve the political crisis surrounding the debate on constitutional reforms cites findings from The Asia Foundation’s survey “Constitutional Reform and Democracy in Thailand: A National Survey of the Thai Electorate.” Read the full article: “Thai lawmakers debate constitution change to end deadlock.”
Read the Thai language version of this press release.
See the Thai language version of the survey.
Thailand continues to struggle for political stability three years after the Sept. 2006 coup. Contentious factions have organized numerous protests and counter-protests, some leading to violence, and even derailing a high-profile summit of Asian leaders. Calls for constitutional reforms have competed with demands for recovery from the global economic crisis. In May 2009, Thailand’s National Assembly convened a parliamentary committee to receive suggestions for reform and to study potential changes to the Constitution that would facilitate national reconciliation. To ensure that opinions from Thai citizens are represented during this time of political turmoil, The Asia Foundation conducted a nationwide opinion poll in 26 provinces that gauges the national mood toward election reform, participation in politics, amending the constitution, and more. Today, the results of that poll, Constitutional Reform and Democracy in Thailand: A National Survey of the Thai People, were released.
The survey reveals that the Thai electorate is pessimistic about the overall direction of the country, with less than a third saying the country is moving in the right direction. At the center of the national debate is the current Constitution, which voters approved in an August 2007 referendum, replacing the 1997 Constitution.
“The survey results shed light on emerging trends and changing attitudes of Thai voters, including compelling insights into controversial issues surrounding the calls for revisions to the 2007 Constitution, as well as hot button topics like political amnesty and impunity,” said Dr. James Klein, the Foundation’s Country Representative in Thailand. An overwhelming majority (84 percent) believes that a new or revised Constitution should be ratified through a referendum.
The survey also asked respondents their views on vote buying, influences on them in the voting process, their allegiance to political parties, and their level of trust in institutions. Thais give the courts by far the highest integrity rating, with two-thirds (64 percent) assessing them positively. The army has the second highest positive rating at 44 percent, while the police are seen as the least-trusted institution. Only 35 percent gave the election commission high marks, and just 21 percent felt the media has high integrity.
Decentralization was also a key focus of the survey. “As politicians and other stakeholders debate the future of the political process in Thailand, it was interesting to note that a substantial majority (69 percent) of our survey respondents are in favor of shifting some power from the national to the local level, and directly electing provincial governors,” said Tim Meisburger, The Asia Foundation’s Regional Director for Elections and Political Processes and the author of the survey.
Conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,500 respondents nationwide, the survey allows lawmakers, politicians, academics, and the media to assess the process of democratization and measure Thai voters’ knowledge of and attitudes toward democracy and political reform. Due to the current security situation preventing in-person interviews in some areas, the three southern border provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala were not included in the random sampling selection process. Survey fieldwork was conducted by MI Advisory, a professional Thai survey firm, between June 13 and July 5, 2009.
The complete findings from Constitutional Reform and Democracy in Thailand: A National Survey of the Thai People is available on our website. The report is also available in Thai.
For more information please visit our Press Room.
The Asia Foundation announced the appointment of Pauline Tweedie as Deputy Country Representative in Thailand. She succeeds Gretchen Kunze, who served as Deputy Country Representative from 2006 to June 2009 and now heads the Foundation’s office in Laos. Ms. Tweedie most recently served as the gender advisor for the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in Afghanistan.
Ms. Tweedie first joined The Asia Foundation in 2003 as a Program Officer for the Information and Communications Technology program in Cambodia where she helped launch a nationwide network of 22 community centers which provided communities in many provinces with their first access to computers and the Internet. From 2005 to 2008, she was the Foundation’s Election Program Advisor in Nepal and Bangladesh and a Consultant with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Afghanistan.
With over 10 years of international development experience in South and Southeast Asia, Ms. Tweedie has served in diverse roles including as a research consultant for Japan International Cooperation Agency Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs Support Program, a consultant with USAID’s Afghanistan Rule of Law Project, a Project Manger for KPNQwest in the Netherlands, and a Project Coordinator for Oxfam Quebec in Vietnam.
Ms. Tweedie received her B.A. in administrative and commercial studies from the University of Western Ontario and her M.A. in international affairs from Tuft University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Read more about The Asia Foundation’s projects in Thailand. For media inquiries, please visit the Press Room.
An Agence France-Presse wire story about Hillary Clinton’s trip to Thailand to attend the ASEAN security forum, features quotes from a July 22 In Asia post by John Brandon, Director of The Asia Foundation’s International Relations programs. Read full article: “Return of prodigal US pleases Asia.”
Luncheon Discussion:
Challenges to Political Development: What’s Next for Thailand
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
12:00-1:30 p.m.
Butler Room, Ground Floor
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Building
1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
The Asia Foundation is pleased to invite you to a luncheon discussion with Dr. James Klein, the Foundation’s Country Representative for Thailand. Dr. Klein’s presentation will provide first-hand insight and analysis of recent developments in that country, in particular political developments since the appointment of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in December of 2008, as well as Thai perceptions of their country’s political divisions.
Dr. Klein has been a long-time Southeast Asian specialist having lived in the region for over 25 years. Since 1996, Dr. Klein has been the Foundation’s resident Representative in Bangkok. Before then he served as The Asia Foundation’s Representative to Cambodia and Malaysia. His introduction to Asia came when he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Khon Kaen, Thailand from 1973 to 1976. Dr. Klein has a Ph.D. in History and Southeast Asian Studies from Northern Illinois University.
As seating is limited, please RSVP by Friday, June 5, to Ms. Hope Stewart at hstewart@asiafound-dc.org or call her at 202-588-9420 ext. 1306. If leaving a message, please include your name, title, affiliation, and contact details. Or fax your RSVP to 202-588-9409.
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