Prachatai English

Thailand and Cambodia signed a joint statement at the General Border Committee (GBC) meeting in Chanthaburi agreeing to a ceasefire starting from noon on Saturday (27 December).

Amid the intensifying tensions between Thailand and Cambodia, online nationalist sentiment in both countries has been growing stronger. Although netizens on both sides of the border are demanding tit-for-tat retaliation, many still reject the war.

A series of photographs and essay by Real Frame photographer Yostorn Triyos explores life in communities on the banks of the Salween River after the Covid-19 pandemic and the February 2021 Myanmar coup, such as Sop Moei and Mae Sam Laep where people continues to live in uncertainty amidst the war. Meanwhile, the Thai and Myanmar government's project to build 6 dams across the Salween River has been put on hold due to the pandemic and the war.

<p>Following the February 2021 coup in Myanmar and subsequent violence against protesters, a large number of people from Myanmar came to Thailand seeking safety and are now living as refugees in urban areas. Some came with valid visas, while some are undocumented, but all are unrecognised as refugees and unprotected under Thai law.</p>

<p>During the pandemic, Thai musicians and workers in the music industry faced unemployment as bars and entertainment venues were ordered to close. Many had to sell their instruments to keep themselves afloat, or make a living doing whatever else they could, while some left the industry altogether.</p><p>In &quot;Unplugged: Music in Crisis,&quot; Thai musicians talk about their lives during and after the pandemic, and the future of creative economy in Thailand.</p>

For decades, residents of Nong Phawa village in Rayong has depended on fish and vegatables in the Nong Phawa pond for food and income, but in 2013, an industrial waste recycling factory opened near the community. Its malpractice polluted the pond and damage rubber tree plantations. Meanwhile, villagers began to develop chronic kidney disease. But Nong Phawa is not the only community facing such a suffering. Data gathered by Ecological Alert and Recovery - Thailand (EARTH), a foundation that has long been monitoring environmental crime, found similar problems across the country, where the unchecked rise of waste treatment factories causes harm as they operate without accountability.

With PM2.5 pollution under increased public scrutiny, sugarcane farmers, often blamed as major polluters, have been under growing pressure to stop burning cane fields. Many growers have complied with new government measures, contributing to a marked reduction in open-field burning.  In the process, however, they have had to deal with higher costs, increased operational risks, labour shortages, and limited governmental support.

Thailand is set to introduce an amnesty bill for politically motivated cases aimed at unravelling two decades of political conflict, but this has fuelled another heated debate, particularly on royal defamation cases, which several political parties want excluded from amnesty.

To fix political problems arising from the conservative constitution imposed by military leaders after their 2014 coup, Thailand needs a new people’s charter. However, concerned parties are worried that procedural stumbling blocks will make it difficult to get one before the next election in 2027.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra assumes office after delivering a government policy statement to parliament last week in which she promised to increase economic opportunities and promote social equality. However, her government's policy statement drew criticism from both the opposition and civil society groups for failing to address political issues and establish priorities to meet the immediate needs of the public.

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke's debut feature film, A Useful Ghost (2025), the spirit of a woman returns to live with her husband by possessing a vacuum cleaner. The film, writes Lorence Lozano, the politics of history, memory, and forgetting.

In his latest piece, Harrison George muses about what happens to those who refuse to stay in their assigned place, particularly outspoken critics. The array of charges brought against a People’s Party MP reveals how the disobedient are treated in Thailand.

In the latest installament of Alien Thoughts, Harrison George muses about the idiosyncrasies of the justice system and how state officials can, hypothetically, get away with things.