ARTICLES

15 Aug 2022

Piracy and the Pandemic: Maritime Crime in Southeast Asia, 2020-2022

Ian Storey

Contrary to expectations that the Covid-19 pandemic would result in a surge in maritime crime in Southeast Asia due to worsening economic conditions, 2021 saw the frequency of piracy and sea robbery attacks decline to pre-pandemic levels. However, the Singapore Strait remains a black spot.

12 Jul 2022

Booster Shot? Pao Tang Digital Payment and Thailand’s Domestic Consumption

Kanpunnarin Amphunan|Kevin Zhang|Fanzura Banu

Digital payment apps, while facilitating ease of consumption, do not tackle the fundamental issue: limited disposable income of Thais, particularly among those in lower-income groups.

COVID-19 Digitalisation Monetary Policy Thai Economy Thailand

27 May 2022

Can a Regional Public Health Emergency Centre Work for ASEAN?

Melinda Martinus

ASEAN’s plan to set up a regional public health emergency centre will support its efforts to reopen the region’s economy to tourism and to finally shed the pall that the Covid-19 pandemic has cast. However, the devil is in the details and ASEAN needs to ensure the plan is not dead in the water.

ASEAN COVID-19 Health

A woman carries an infant upon arrival from Jakarta

26 May 2022

Uncertainties in Malaysia’s Economic Recovery

Cassey Lee

The war in Ukraine and the de-coupling of Russia from major economies are expected to dampen economic recovery and generate inflationary shocks. If inflation in Malaysia worsens, policymakers may have to implement a more restrictive monetary policy combined with fiscal stimulus funded by debt and petroleum royalties.

COVID-19 Malaysia Malaysian Economy

19 May 2022

Cash Payments in Post-Pandemic Southeast Asia: Phasing Out or Coming Back?

Michael Schaper

The region paints a highly mixed picture, one that confounds the widespread assumption that cash is on a one-way path of inevitable decline, hastened by Covid-19.

COVID-19 Digitalisation Economic Development Monetary Policy

1 Apr 2022

Supply Chain Resilience and the Trumped-up Case for Reshoring

Jayant Menon

Regional or country-specific shocks are more likely to cause relocations to third countries than reshoring, driven by changes to competitiveness.

COVID-19 Economic Development International Trade Supply Chains

30 Mar 2022

The Race to Produce Covid-19 Vaccines in Southeast Asia

Tham Siew Yean

Several Southeast Asian countries are racing to produce home-grown Covid-19 vaccines, to reduce dependence on the vagaries of external sources. Local vaccine manufacturers face significant challenges as well as stiff competition. Nonetheless, the technology acquired and lessons learnt are helpful to prepare the region for future pandemics.

ASEAN COVID-19 Health

22 Mar 2022

Bangkok’s New Chinatown: Waiting for Another Ka-Ching

Aranya Siriphon|Fanzura Banu|Pagon Gatchalee

Bangkok’s ‘new Chinatown’ flourished when a steady stream of Chinese tourists visited the area. As the country prepares to re-open its borders, the question is whether the area will revisit its glory days.

COVID-19 Thai Economy Thailand Tourism

11 Mar 2022

School Closures and Child Labour: The Pandemic’s Social Cost

Thai Long|Phi Minh Hong

The disruption of face-to-face education and internet inaccessibility may cause children to drop out of school permanently. Children who leave school and start working face greater difficulty resuming their education in the future.

ASEAN Child Labour COVID-19 Education

16 Feb 2022

The State of Southeast Asia Survey

2022 State of Southeast Asia Survey: Diverse Perspectives and Hard Realities

Terence Chong

The US has gained ground against China in the contest for regional influence in Southeast Asia, according to the latest State of Southeast Asia Survey. ASEAN continues to be seen as ineffective in the eyes of respondents; at the same time, they are willing to give it credit when it is due.

ASEAN ASEAN-China Relations ASEAN-U.S. Relations Climate Change COVID-19 State of Southeast Asia Survey