News stories by Marwaan Macan-Markar, page 28

New cases of avian influenza across Asia in recent weeks confirm warnings that the deadly virus still lurks in the region and raise questions of gaps in efforts to contain it in affected communities.

Almost a year after his party suffered its third consecutive electoral defeat, Abhisit Vijjajiva rode to victory to become Thailand’s new prime minister, the third this year. It was not a choice of the voters, though.

Prateep Ungsongtham recalls a vastly different mood a decade ago when she tested the political pulse of the urban poor living in Klong Toey, Bangkok’s largest slum.

A group of leading politicians head for a secret meeting with the powerful army chief as part of a plot to form a new government. But their plans go awry when they get lost in the sprawling military compound.

Thanks to the callousness of its military rulers, Burma has aacquired another unenviable statistic. It has replaced Cambodia as the country with the highest annual number of landmine victims in the region.