ARTICLES

The ‘People’s Court’ Supports and Celebrates Marriage Equality in Thailand

Alexandra Dalferro

Amidst greater popular awareness of the struggles faced by LGBTQIA+ individuals in Thailand, activists are challenging Thai laws restricting marriage to heterosexual couples as being unconstitutional. While significant progress on human rights is unlikely to occur under the current government, Thai citizens are using their voices to call for change.

In Denial Against Democracy: Thailand’s Royalists see Putin as a ‘Decoloniser’

Janjira Sombatpoonsiri

Thai royalists’ online narratives echo the line that Russia’s war in Ukraine is succeeding. There are indications that this rhetoric is driven by anti-western anti-democratic sentiment, especially against the United States. The royalists are using the debate over the war as a proxy fight with opposition movements, whom they see as being supported by western pro-democracy forces.

Decoding Phuket Province’s Demand for Autonomy

Tita Sanglee|Michael J. Montesano

There are growing calls in Phuket, Thailand’s tourism powerhouse, to become more autonomous from the central authorities in Bangkok. While such an idea has not gained traction outside Phuket, the province might need to think deeper about what autonomy entails, and in what form.