News stories by Marwaan Macan-Markar, page 15

Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s list of political firsts has one more entry. He is now wanted as a 'terrorist,' becoming the first former Thai leader to be slapped with that charge.

With monsoon rains beginning to sweep across mainland south-east Asia, mobile phones are being put to further use as part of a plan to protect communities living on the banks of the Mekong River from flash floods.

She sang till the very end on a stage she could never call her own.

When Wipas Raksakulthai was arrested last month for violating this kingdom’s draconian lese majeste law, he could have consoled himself with the thought that at least his case was readily picked up by the local and foreign media.

Thailand may have earned praise for meeting national targets to slash poverty and hunger ahead of a global deadline, but the two-month long street protests in Bangkok exposes a troubling fact — economic inequality.

In her newspaper-strewn office on the ground floor of a quiet apartment complex, Chiranuch Premchaiporn surveys the options before her in case the government’s censors come calling again.

Local civil society organisations and community groups who rushed to help victims after the powerful Cyclone Nargis tore through military-ruled Burma two years ago are reaping rewards for their risky and tireless labour.

When shareholders of the multinational company Chevron gather for their annual meeting in the U.S. city of Houston in late May, they will come face to face with Naing Htoo, whose community has suffered due to the exploits of the energy giant in military-ruled Burma.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva appears set to gamble his reputation as an urbane cosmopolitan symbol of modern Thailand after shutting the door to a reconciliation offer by anti-government protesters who have occupied the upmarket shopping heartland of Bangkok since Apr. 3.

Burma’s military regime is facing a formidable challenge from ethnic rebel groups that are refusing to kowtow to its order that they join the South-east Asian country’s army as border guard forces.