The Bulletin

Stephff's world

FCCT pub trivia

Friday, 18 April, 7pm

Gather your friends and colleagues for a night of pub trivia at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand.

Come for a bite and a beverage and test your knowledge. 1,000 baht bar tab up for grabs for the winning team, to be redeemed on the night.

Advanced table bookings encouraged here.

Global implications of scam centres and cybercrime in the Mekong reach inflection point

Panel discussion,
Monday, 21 April, 7pm

Transnational organized crime groups in East and Southeast Asia have emerged as global market leaders in cyber-enabled fraud, money laundering and underground banking. Probably, the most important factor enabling the exponential growth of organized crime groups in the region is the proliferation of industrial-scale scam centres.

But these are reaching an inflection point. Amidst heightened awareness and enforcement action taken to address the threat, Asian crime syndicates have sought to hedge their risk and ensure business continuity by expanding operations deeper into many of the most remote, vulnerable, and underprepared parts of the region – and beyond.

This trend has been consistent with continued reports of crackdowns targeting Asian-led scam centres with major ties to networks based in Southeast Asia, including those found operating in Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific islands. These centres have also been identified for money laundering, human trafficking, and recruitment services that go as far as Europe, North America, and South America.

How these criminal groups expand their operations will have global implications as the technology and infrastructure enabling their development continuously changes and develops.

This panel will bring together experts on transnational organized crime, cryptocurrency and technological innovation within the regional criminal ecosystem to discuss the evolving challenges and threats, and to examine the outlook for the coming years.

Speakers include:

Benedikt Hofmann, deputy regional representative, UNODC regional office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

John Wojcik, regional analyst, organized crime and threat monitoring, UNODC regional office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Jennifer Soh, cyber investigation lead, Group-IB.

Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau, speaker TBC

Moderator: Laura Gil, Head of Communications, UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

This is not an FCCT-organized event.
Free and open to all.

Frontline poets: The literary rebels taking on Myanmar’s military

Book talk,
Thursday, 24 April, 7pm

In Myanmar, poetry and popular uprisings have long been intertwined, from anti-colonial movements to pro-democracy protests. But who are the poets? Why have they played such a unique role throughout Myanmar’s history? And why does poetry still resonate in Myanmar's political scene while it fades into irrelevance elsewhere?

The book talk, ‘Frontline poets: The literary rebels taking on Myanmar's military,’ seeks answers to these questions, and features many extraordinary but sorely overlooked Burmese poems published in original English translations for the first time.

In a work of narrative non-fiction published by River Books, ‘Frontline poets’ explores these topics through detailed profiles of five Myanmar poets. Intermixed with poems, illustrations and photography, the book charts their paths from youthful bards to the dramatic upheaval after the 2021 coup in Myanmar, documenting how they responded differently to seismic events in life and on the page.

Aung Naing Soe is a Burmese filmmaker and journalist. As a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at Arizona State University, he covered immigration, the coronavirus outbreak, and the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2020, he went home for the general election and witnessed the military coup. He now covers civil unrest in Myanmar from his base in Thailand.Joe Freeman is an American writer and researcher who has worked across Southeast Asia for more than a decade, reporting from Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines. From 2017-2020, he was the Southeast Asia correspondent for Agence France-Presse. Since 2021, he has worked for Amnesty International’s regional office, with a focus on Myanmar.Moderator: Verena Hoelzl, independent journalist. Books will available for sale on the night. Attendees can also make a donation at the event for a Myanmar quake relief charity.Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580 with the membership numbers.Non-members can use this link.Members free, non-members 200 baht; Thai media media or students with ID, 150 baht.Bar and restaurant open.

Coworking at the FCCT

Tuesday, 22 April, 10am

Need a change of scenery from your home office? Join us for a coworking day at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) -- a perfect space for working professionals, digital nomads and anyone looking to break free from the home-office routine.

Enjoy a spacious, comfortable workspace with dedicated tables, a full restaurant, café and bar and exclusive lunch specials just for this event.

Whether you're tackling deadlines or networking with like-minded professionals, this is an opportunity to be productive in a collaborative, social environment. Come work, connect, and enjoy great food because working remotely doesn’t have to mean working alone.

Hosted by Nick Bernhardt, FCCT treasurer and managing director of Khayan Consultants.

Free and open to all.

Board games night

Tuesday, 22 April, 7pm

Join us for a chilled night of board games with The Boring Club. Try your luck with classics like chess and backgammon or modern games including Catan and Pandemic.The bar and restaurant will be open. Try our pizzas from the new pizza oven. The Boring Club meets at the FCCT clubhouse for games every Tuesday at 7pm.

Free and open to all.

The fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge 50 years ago: An evening with Roland Neveu, eyewitness to history

Wednesday, 30 April, 7pm

Khmer Rouge forces enter Phnom Pen, the Cambodian capital, on 17 April 1975 without resistance. That was the start of over three years of genocidal misrule by Pol Pot's Democratic Kampuchea regime that would leave over 1.8 million people dead.Accredited to Gamma, one of France’s legendary photo agencies, Roland Neveu was just 25 and one of 22 foreign journalists listed by the French embassy in Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975. That day, the Chinese-backed Khmer Rouge finally entered the riverside Cambodian capital after weeks of shelling and heavy fighting that just days before had cost future Prime Minister Hun Sen an eye. The city was bloated with people in search of food and security who hoped the Vietnam War would finally end and give Cambodians a chance to recover their normal lives and common humanity.  But the conquering communist forces who entered quietly enough proved ruthless and unforgiving. Government troops were disarmed and executed, officials rounded up and dispatched, even monks were slaughtered and dumped in the swimming pool of Le Cercle Sportif.Within days, the entire city was emptied on the spurious pretext that U.S. bombing, which had already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, would resume. The sick, elderly, pregnant women and infants were marched off into the war-ravaged countryside.US Ambassador John Gunther Dean and other Americans had mostly been evacuated five days earlier by marine helicopters in Operation Eagle Pull -- an abandonment that haunted the veteran diplomat to his dying day.

Prince Sirik Matak, who would die a slow, painful death on 21 April, famously declined a ticket out. “I cannot, alas, leave in such a cowardly manner,” he wrote to Ambassador Dean. “As for you, and in particular for your great country, I never believed for a moment that you would have this sentiment of abandoning a people, which has chosen liberty.”The harrowing scenes at the French embassy, where many were turned away to hopeless futures or death, have been recorded in the books of French anthropologist Francois Bizot (‘The gate’) and Jon Swain (‘River of time: A memoir of Vietnam’), as well as the Oscar-winning film ‘The killing fields’.It was Year Zero, Cambodia was about to endure a three-and-half-year holocaust under the Democratic Kampuchea regime of Pol Pot, and over 1.8 million Cambodians would die by execution, overwork, starvation or medical neglect. One of the darkest experiments in political history anywhere was about to begin.Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.

Non-members can use this link.

Members free, non-members 450 baht; students with ID, 150 baht.
Bar and restaurant open.

Democrats Abroad Thailand (DAT) annual general meeting

Thursday, 22 May, 6.30pm

Democrats Abroad Thailand Annual General Meeting will begin with a discussion of President Trump's first 100 days. This will be followed by DAT officer elections and other business matters.This event is a private meeting open to all members and prospective members of DAT; membership requires American citizenship. Free pizza will be provided to all attendees.

This is not an FCCT-organized event.

Democratic jungle: The invisible struggles of the workers who power our world

Photo exhibition and panel discussion,
Friday, 23 May, 6.30pm

We live in a world where everything we need -- products, services and workspaces -- is readily available. Yet, it has become all too easy to overlook the hidden struggles of those who make it all possible. As technology connects us across vast distances, it has also distanced us from the individuals who power our daily lives.Their reality, often marked by exploitation, inequality and suffering, is overshadowed by the corporate language of "ethical sourcing," "fair trade," "social impact," and "sustainability."These words fill boardrooms and marketing campaigns, crafting a vision of progress. But what about the workers behind the scenes -- those whose well-being is rarely considered in the definitions of "wellness" or "eco-friendly" labor conditions?Too often, we hear: "At least they have a job" or “It is cultural.” But would that answer be enough if it were your daughter, your mother or your grandfather working under these conditions?This exhibition challenges us to rethink the systems we participate in, to confront the human cost of convenience and to ask: How can we create a more just and equitable world for those who remain unseen?Nathalie Jamois is a French photojournalist based in Bangkok since 2008, documenting the social, cultural and political landscapes of Southeast Asia. With a sharp documentary approach, her work captures the complexities of human stories -- focusing on resilience, identity and the forces shaping contemporary society. Whether immersed in the energy of city streets or sharing quiet moments with her subjects, her images reveal both the visible and the unseen, inviting viewers to engage with the deeper narratives behind each frame. Covering everything from social movements to corporate and cultural events, she strives to create visual stories that inform, challenge perceptions and spark dialogue. Her work has been featured in Forbes, The Guardian, Le Figaro, Rolling Stone and by groups like Amnesty International, and more, bringing attention to the intricate realities of the region through a lens of authenticity and depth.Panel will include Nathalie Jamois, and additional persons to be announced.Moderator: Phil Robertson, FCCT board member.

Members who wish to book in advance should email info@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.

Exhibition duration -- May 24 to June 20, 2025 (free and open to all).

Free and open to all.Bar and restaurant open.

The FCCT is grateful for the support of corporate sponsor Bitkub. For more information about the club's corporate sponsorship program contact: info@fccthai.com.

The FCCT expresses appreciation for the support provided by corporate sponsor Bumrungrad International Hospital. For more information about the club's corporate sponsorship program contact: info@fccthai.com.

Heart valve disease: A possible hidden danger!

The heart consists of 4 chambers with the valves opening and closing to let blood pass through between the upper and the lower chambers in one direction, and not backward.

Heart valve disease occurs when one or more of the heart valves do not open or close properly. This causes the heart muscles to work harder to pump blood for the body’s requirements. This can result in heart failure and death.

What are the symptoms of heart valve diseases?

• Fatigue, tired when doing daily activities.
• Difficulty breathing while doing activities or lying down.
• Rapid weight gain.
• Swelling in various organs such as the abdomen, legs, ankles and feet.
• Cardiac arrhythmia such as fast or irregular heartbeat.
• Fever and body aches, if due to infection.
• In severe cases, too much fluid in the lungs, difficulty breathing and loss of consciousness.

What is the treatment for heart valve disease?

There are many ways to treat heart valve disease. Currently, Bumrungrad Hospital has the technology for heart valve replacement without surgery, offering good results and highly safe.

Learn more about heart valve disease and treatment option here.

Send us an enquiry today by clicking here.

FCCT’s new podcast: Dateline Bangkok

For this weeks episode of the Dateline Bangkok podcast, Tommy Walker speaks with Michael Sheridan.Michael Sheridan is a veteran foreign correspondent spending decades working in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and formerly of The Sunday Times, spending over 20 years as the newspaper’s Far East Correspondent.Sheridan reported from China in 1989 following the Tiananmen Square crackdown, as well as the 2014 and 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Sheridan is also a best-selling author, with his latest work a biography of China President Xi Jinping titled, The Red Emperor: Xi Jinping and His New China.In part 1 of this episode, Sheridan discusses his own career and venture into journalism, his experiences in Hong Kong and China, a famous photo, and the three eras of China rule since 1949.

Watch the full episode on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

New to Bangkok? Under 35?

Are you under 35? Check out our special offer below! For further details, please contact info@fccthai.com.

New FCCT merchandise

Advertise in the FCCT's Bulletin at special discount rates

Individuals and organisations are welcome to take out advertising in the weekly FCCT Bulletin which reaches nearly 4,000 people in the club’s network. Guidelines

• Write a catchy headline, followed by a maximum of three sentences + contact email/phone number/ link to a website for further details if applicable.

To book an ad please email: info@fccthai.com