Southeast Asia Archive

BANGKOK, Thailand — The rekindling of formal diplomatic relations between Burma and North Korea this week completes a bizarre circle of skulduggery between two pariah states. The visit by Pyongyang’s deputy foreign minister, Kim Yong-Il, to Rangoon and the half-built new capital Naypyidaw is a formality, and certainly not the first visit by North Koreans since relations were formally severed in 1983. There have been persistent reports in recent years of North Korean technicians working in Burma, including isolated Naypyidaw — which means the abode of kings — 200 miles north of the old capital of Rangoon, a nine-hour train […]

BANGKOK, Thailand — The quaint 1956 Hollywood musical “The King and I,” which most people might regard as innocuous, probably would have been banned in Thailand under broadening definitions of “national security” now being cited by military coup leaders to justify their increasing censorship. But in any case, the movie, starring the late Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr, is already outlawed under another device that curbs public opinion, the increasingly catch-all “les majeste” rule. Brynner’s singing and dancing routine has long been considered by the authorities to insult the institution of the Thai monarchy, and to distort Thai history. The […]

DILI, East Timor — Australian and New Zealand troops and U.N. cops were on the streets in strength on April 9 when East Timorese voters hit the polls in their capital city to pick their next president. By evening, observers were predicting a win for interim Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta, a moderate, and expected clashes between rival political gangs had failed to materialize. Though allegations of polling irregularities have surfaced in the days following the election, the lack of violence was a welcome sign of progress in this troubled little country. On April 4, young thugs apparently in the pay […]

DENPASAR, Indonesia — On April 9, East Timor will choose who will replace ex-guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao as president. The vote is the first since the country restored independence on May 20, 2002. But there is little to celebrate, as poverty, social and political upheaval, and widespread violence plague Asia’s newest nation. Among the eight candidates, Nobel Peace Prize winner and current Prime Minister Jose Ramon-Horta is the overwhelming favorite. While the directly elected presidency is a largely symbolic post, Gusmao played a central part in running the country and the next president could have a significant effect on the […]

BANGKOK, Thailand — After the nightly curfew curtain comes down at 8 p.m. in parts of the southern Thailand city of Yala, only stray dogs and army patrols move about the streets. The eight-hour curfew has been in force since Muslim insurgents stepped up their bloodletting in the area, stopping a minibus and cold-bloodedly executing its eight Buddhist occupants, including women and children. But while people might sleep more easily in the curfew zones, the sectarian violence continues elsewhere in the Muslim-majority three southernmost provinces of Thailand. The death toll since a resurgence of violence began in 2004 has risen […]