Prachatai English

Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow says that the door for Thailand-Cambodia land border talks has closed after Cambodia brought the maritime dispute to UNCLOS. Meanwhile, Cambodia argues that engaging the UNCLOS process should not be treated as grounds for suspending negotiations on the land border.

Activist and conscientious objector Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal has been found guilty of draft evasion for protesting military conscription by refusing to participate in the draft in April 2024.

This report examines the Thai military’s operations on the digital battlefield during the two rounds of heavy fighting through web-scraped data collected from social media communications and hashtag usage. The analysis covers 6,404 posts published between July 12, 2025 and January 2026 by the official Facebook pages of the Royal Thai Army, the Royal Thai Navy, and the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters—the three military institutions that were most active during the clashes.—as well as a number of unofficial pages.

It has become clear that the Thailand-Cambodia maritime demarcation dispute will be subject to an international mechanism as Cambodia has recently invoked UN-backed compulsory conciliation in response to Thailand’s unilateral cancellation of a 25-year-old maritime MoU. Here’s all you need to know about the long-standing maritime dispute and the compulsory conciliation process.

Military conscription law in Cambodia has once again come under global media attention after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet stated that the Cabinet had approved a draft conscription law at the Peace Palace on 23 April 2026. All Cambodian citizens aged 18–25 will be required to serve in the military, while women may be recruited on a voluntary basis under the new law. A Thai activist calls it a threat to democracy.

Communities along the Kok River say that their livelihood are being affected by water contamination. To raise awareness about water contamination in six rivers and demand action from the Thai government, monks, community members, and civil society workers participated in a six-day ‘peace walk’ along the Kok River.

This report examines the Thai military’s operations on the digital battlefield during the two rounds of heavy fighting through web-scraped data collected from social media communications and hashtag usage. The analysis covers 6,404 posts published between July 12, 2025 and January 2026 by the official Facebook pages of the Royal Thai Army, the Royal Thai Navy, and the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters—the three military institutions that were most active during the clashes.—as well as a number of unofficial pages.

Two developments on opposite sides of the world, in Thailand and the United States, underscore a troubling reality: some governments continue to embrace the death penalty regardless of the global movement to abolish state-sanctioned killings.

Since the launch of its first internet connection in 1987, Thailand has significantly expanded its digital infrastructure, which now includes the rollout of a 5G network nationwide. Its public digital infrastructure now includes the Government Data Center and Cloud Service (GDCC), Digital ID platforms, e-government service portals, online tax systems, and digital welfare registration mechanisms.However, access remains difficult for many citizens, particularly in remote areas and among the elderly.

Formal peace talks between the Thai government and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani (BRN) will resume in June 2026. This comes despite a recent spike in violence in the far South, which the insurgents are using to demand deeper political discussions to address their demands for “self-government”.

59 civil society organizations have signed a joint statement calling on the Thai authorities to refrain from forcibly returning Chinese journalist Bai Zhaodong to China, where he would face a risk of political persecution, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and other serious human rights violations.

The Thai government should not forcibly return detained Chinese dissidents to China, Human Rights Watch said on 13 July. At least four Chinese dissidents detained at the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok face possible deportation to China. The Chinese government has increasingly pressured Thai authorities ahead of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s scheduled visit to China from July 16 to 20, 2026.