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Science & Technology

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck near Mandalay, Myanmar, leading to widespread destruction and killing at least 25 people, including at least three across the border in Thailand, with the death count still rising, The New York Times reported on March 28.

Myanmar: Largest Earthquake in Over a Century Kills Dozens, Imperils BRI Projects

Cambodia

Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia have escalated over the disputed Ta Moan Thom temple complex, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet warning that Cambodia is prepared to use military force if Thai troops enter the site, BenarNews reported on March 18.

Thailand, Cambodia: Reinvigorated Border Dispute Risks Resumption of Clashes

United States

Indonesia

Malaysia

Europe

The United States imposed visa sanctions on Thai officials for the Feb. 27 forced repatriation of 40 Uyghurs to China, The New York Times reported on March 15.

Thailand, U.S.: Washington Imposes Unprecedented Visa Sanctions for Uyghur Deportations

Two separate attacks in Thailand's restive southern provinces killed five and wounded 13 others, Agence France-Presse reported on March 8. 

Thailand: Dual Attacks in Deep South Deadliest Since 2019

Brunei Darussalam

Laos

Philippines

Singapore

Five diplomats with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations said China was increasingly likely to agree to make the long unrealized South China Sea code of conduct legally binding, The Straits Times reported on Feb. 28.

ASEAN, China: Expectations Rising for South China Sea Code of Conduct

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra met Xi Jinping in Beijing, where the Chinese leader endorsed Thailand's crackdown on Myanmar-based scam hubs while agreeing to deepen cooperation in law enforcement, infrastructure and tourism, the South China Morning Post reported Feb 6. 

Thailand, China: Thai PM's Visit to Beijing Highlights Deepening Security, Supply Chain Ties

The Myanmar junta and ethnic armed organization Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, signed a China-brokered ceasefire agreement, halting conflict in northern Shan state along the Chinese border, Reuters reported on Jan. 21. 

Myanmar: Ceasefire, Scam Crackdown Highlight Growing Regional Congruence

Energy

Thailand and Cambodia restarted negotiations to resolve their decades-old territorial dispute over a 27,000-square kilometer (about 10,425-square mile) area in the Gulf of Thailand called the "overlapping claims area," or OCA, Nikkei Asia reported on Dec. 13. 

Thailand, Cambodia: Countries To Renew Talks Over Petroleum-Rich Disputed Area

Snapshots

The Ta Moan Thom temple is seen on the border between Thailand and Cambodia.

While full-scale military conflict is unlikely, the dispute risks spurring localized border clashes, as both Cambodia and Thailand maintain entrenched military positions with no clear legal resolution.

Thai-Cambodian Tensions Flare Over Disputed Temple, Raising Fears of Clashes

Assessments

Timor-Leste

The flags of the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, are seen on display.

U.S.-China Relations

Malaysia's chairmanship will be pivotal in navigating security risks as well as those from U.S. trade restrictions, potential Chinese economic coercion, and supply chain realignments that threaten ASEAN's cohesion and strategic autonomy.

Previewing Malaysia's 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship

The Geopolitics of Water

Amid pressing energy and geopolitical needs, the accelerating construction of upstream dams will exacerbate the Mekong River region's water shortages and environmental degradation.

The Geopolitics of Water: National Interests Sideline Environmental Concerns in the Mekong River Region

Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (center) and other ASEAN leaders take part in the 2024 ASEAN summit in Vientiane on Oct. 9, 2024. 

The deals signed at the summit reflect an increasing focus on economic integration amid the Southeast Asian bloc's continued failure to find consensus on security issues.

Reviewing the 2024 ASEAN Summit

The flags of ASEAN members are displayed at a naval base during the ASEAN Solidarity Exercise in Batam, Natuna regency, Riau Islands province, Indonesia, on Sept. 20, 2023. 

ASEAN's economic and geopolitical diversity will impede significant progress toward deeper integration, despite members' intention to collaborate more closely.

Economic and Geopolitical Diversity Hinders ASEAN's Path to Deeper Integration

Former Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin addresses the media after the Thai Constitutional Court removed him from office Aug. 14 in Bangkok.

The removal of the Thai prime minister represents the military establishment's latest attempt to impose its influence on the government, which in the coming months and years will continue to constrain Thailand's economic growth while stoking social unrest.

The Thai Military Establishment Replaces Another Prime Minister

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin watches a race during the F1 Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, on May 19, 2024.

Three legal cases against prominent political figures portend renewed protests and policy paralysis that will weigh on Thailand's fragile economy.

Thai Politics Undergoes Another Round of Instability

An aerial photo taken on Sept. 25, 2022, shows solar panels at the Sao Mai solar energy plant in Vietnam’s An Giang province. 

Several ASEAN countries are on track to develop substantial renewable power capacities in the short term, but technical, political and financial constraints, coupled with incentives to keep burning fossil fuels, will impede long-term decarbonization goals.

The Challenges Facing Southeast Asia's Decarbonization

Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a speech at the gala dinner for the ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit in Tokyo on Dec. 17, 2023. 

Over the next year, Tokyo will provide ASEAN countries with military equipment and more infrastructure investment, which will raise threat perceptions and further deteriorate Japan's ties with China.

The Implications of Japan's Growing Interest in Southeast Asia

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) delivers an opening address at the start of a bilateral meeting with Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (L) at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 16, 2023.

Laos' vulnerabilities will weaken its ASEAN chairmanship, although the bloc's economic interconnectivity will likely continue to grow.

Laos' Limitations Portend a Lukewarm Year for ASEAN

Regional leaders pose for a group photo before the ASEAN-Australia summit, held as part of the 43rd ASEAN summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sept. 7, 2023. From left to right stand the Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan, Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indonesia's President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Brunei's Prime Minister Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

ASEAN's most recent summit underscored chronic passivity within the bloc that will only worsen in 2024. 

Amid ASEAN's Inaction, the Block's Members Look to External Partners for Security

Thailand's newly appointed prime minister, Srettha Thavisin (center), greets supporters at his Pheu Thai Party's headquarters in Bangkok on Aug. 22, 2023.

The government marks a compromise between erstwhile rivals and marginalizes the pro-democracy movement, but economic recovery will prove challenging.

After Months of Gridlock, Thailand Appoints a New Government

Located in Southeast Asia, Thailand is bordered by Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. The core of modern Thailand lies on the flat, rich lowlands in the central Chao Phraya River basin. This basin is one of the world's most fertile agricultural areas, growing mostly rice and fruits. As a result, it became a political and economic center, where Bangkok, the country's capital, was founded.    Thailand’s strategic location between Indochina and the Andaman and South China seas, along with its agricultural resources, has historically made it a target of foreign invasion. Therefore, Thailand’s main geographic challenge is protecting its core from invaders while consolidating power in its diverse outlying regions.    Protected in the north by mountains and the Khorat Plateau, Thailand’s biggest external threats have come through the Tenasserim mountain range from Myanmar or from Cambodia to the east. But Thailand’s central location also helped prevent its colonization, as the French and British used it as a buffer between each other's empires.    Thailand’s geography has also presented internal challenges. In the northwest, mountainous terrain has prevented the area from being easily controlled, fostering political struggles in modern times between these provinces and Bangkok. Annexed in the early 20th century, southern Thailand has an ethnically Malay, Muslim majority and continues to resist Bangkok through low-level insurgency and violence. Although Thailand's size, location and arable land allow it to exert influence regionally, its unwieldy periphery and occasionally hostile neighbors will continue to present it with challenges.

SITUATION REPORTS

Myanmar: Largest Earthquake in Over a Century Kills Dozens, Imperils BRI Projects

Thailand, Cambodia: Reinvigorated Border Dispute Risks Resumption of Clashes

Thailand, U.S.: Washington Imposes Unprecedented Visa Sanctions for Uyghur Deportations

Thailand: Dual Attacks in Deep South Deadliest Since 2019

ASEAN, China: Expectations Rising for South China Sea Code of Conduct

Thailand, China: Thai PM's Visit to Beijing Highlights Deepening Security, Supply Chain Ties

Myanmar: Ceasefire, Scam Crackdown Highlight Growing Regional Congruence

Thailand, Cambodia: Countries To Renew Talks Over Petroleum-Rich Disputed Area

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