Stephff's world

Talking tariffs and Thai politics: An evening with Jakrapob Penkair -- a former and possibly future government spokesman

Wednesday, 30 July, 7pm

With Thailand confronting Trump’s tariffs, political paralysis and a stagnant economy, the FCCT is pleased to welcome Jakrapob Penkair back to speak to our members about numerous issues of public interest.Jakrapob is a former government spokesman and long-time ally of Thaksin Shinawatra, whose touted return from exile to that role is now much discussed. He went into exile in 2009 after being charged with lese-majeste over comments made during a memorable evening at the FCCT in 2007, and did not return to Thailand until last year, although the charge was dropped in 2011.Jakrapob is well-briefed on the challenges facing Thailand’s trade negotiators as they try to reduce a threatened US tariff rate of 36% on Thai exports.Moderator: Jonathan Head, FCCT board member and the BBC’s Southeast Asia correspondent.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 300 baht.Bar and restaurant open.

Coworking at the FCCT

Tuesday, 22 July, 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 July, 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.Bar and restaurant open.

FCCT pub trivia

Friday, 25 July, 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.Free and open to all.Bar and restaurant open.

FCCT’s new podcast: Dateline Bangkok

For this week's episode of the Dateline Bangkok podcast, Tommy Walker speaks with Chokwan 'Kitty' Chopaka. Kitty is a cannabis rights activist and entrepreneur.Nicknamed the “Queen of Cannabis,” Kitty’s advocacy has seen her protest for the regulation and legislation of cannabis in Thailand. She has also been an advisor to the Thai government and the European Union on issues surrounding cannabis.A former law professional, Kitty spent her youth in Australia before returning to Thailand. Kitty opened up the Chopaka shop in 2022, the same year Thailand de-listed the cannabis flower as a narcotic, effectively decriminalising it.Chopaka was closed as of 2025.Kitty speaks to Tommy about her early years in cannabis advocacy, her own hopes for the use of cannabis in Thailand and the challenges the industry faces today.Watch the full episode on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Paper airplane

Film screening,
Friday, 8 August, 7pm

Step into the frontlines of the conflict in Myanmar and see the real toll on the lives of the people in Moses Marks’ new film, Paper Airplane. Set in the war-torn Karen State, Paper Airplane follows the life of a Karen girl, Naw Mi, her mother, and her younger brother as they are forced to flee their home amid the violence of the country’s ongoing civil war.

After a harrowing nighttime escape, they manage to seek refuge in an internally displaced persons camp hacked out of the jungle. Living in a makeshift tent, they struggle with the harshness of their new reality without a home or land to call their own, while continuing to have constant concerns for their safety. Despite the hardships, Naw Mi's younger brother finds solace in watching airplanes soar overhead, not recognizing they are Myanmar Air Force jets responsible for terrorizing and bombing civilians.

In a tender moment, Naw Mi folds a paper airplane for him, symbolizing their shared hope and longing for a brighter future in a country where airplanes can be marveled at, not feared. This poignant story of one family’s struggle to survive, and remain united in face of all challenges, signifies much of what is at stake in the war in Myanmar. Paper Airplane is also accompanied by two short films to complete the narrative of the story, and the FCCT will show all three films.

‍Moses Marks is a writer, producer, and director. He graduated from the Ngee Ann Polytechnic, School of Film and Media in Singapore. He started his career as an editor for the Singaporean film Masala Mama, which was shot on super 16mm film format. This film won several awards at various festivals and was featured in Singapore cinemas.

In 2010, Moses joined Myanmar International Television (MITV), and produced numerous TV shows for MITV, leading production and post-production teams.

While television played a significant role in his career, Moses’s true love has always been films. He has written, produced, and directed several short films whenever he had the opportunity. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he moved back to Singapore in 2020. After the 2021 coup in Myanmar changed the film and media landscape, Moses became involved in several film projects including Broken Dreams: Stories from the Myanmar Coup (2023).

‍Paper Airplane has been screened in Singapore, and for Burmese audiences in Mae Sot district, Tak province, and makes its Bangkok screen debut at the FCCT.

After the films are shown, there will be a panel discussion with the filmmaker and other experts.

‍Moses Marks, director, Paper Airplane.

‍Sompong Srakaew, founder and executive director, Labor Rights Promotion Network.

Additional panelists to be announced

Moderator: Phil Robertson, FCCT board member and director of Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates (AHRLA).

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 200 baht.
Bar and restaurant open.

Is the end of Thailand’s weed wonderland?

Panel discussion,
Wednesday, 20 August, 7pm

Photo credit: BBCThree years after decriminalising marijuana and unleashing a raucous weed business, Thailand is now trying to put the genie back in the bottle.New regulations introduced by the health ministry now require a doctor’s prescription to buy cannabis products, and for every dispensary to become a registered clinic with a trained medic in attendance.Campaigners in favour of liberalisation complain that this will force many smaller growers and sellers to close down, leaving the industry in the hands of big business. But the Thai government argues that the industry is out of control, with too many growers and sellers depressing prices and encouraging smuggling to other countries.The FCCT is inviting Tom Kruesopon, the businessman who played a central role in decriminalising marijuana, but who now supports the government’s efforts to regulate it, to debate with Kitty Chopaka, perhaps the best-known campaigner for liberalisation, who believes this is the wrong way to deal with problems in the industry.Moderator, Jonathan Head, FCCT board member and BBC Southeast Asia correspondentMembers 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.

Still here: Post-coup Myanmar in photographs

Call for photo submissions by July 20
Photo exhibition 13-29 August

Presented by the International Crisis Group and the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand

‍We are inviting photographers, journalists and media outlets from Myanmar to submit work for a curated photo exhibition at the FCCT in Bangkok. This will be launched at an International Crisis Group panel event on 13 August, and remain on display until 29 August.

‍Selection: The top 10 images will be exhibited. Selected photographs will be credited, and any sales will go directly to the Myanmar photographers or their media outlets.

‍What we are looking for‍

‍Still Here will document life in Myanmar after the 2021 military coup, shifting the focus from conflict headlines to the everyday realities of people across the country. We are looking for photographs that highlight how daily life continues amid the crisis: images that capture quiet strength, adaptation and resilience in the face of ongoing hardship.

Submissions may include scenes of work, household, family, community, worship, protest or other routine moments that show how people are navigating life under extraordinary circumstances. We are especially interested in photos that tell untold stories: images that offer a local, human perspective on what it means to live in Myanmar in the midst of civil war. Whether taken in cities, conflict zones or rural areas, your photos should help bring attention back to the people of Myanmar -- those who are still here.

‍What to submit

‍Up to three high-resolution photos in black and white or colour

‍Captions with date, location and brief context

Photographer's name or outlet for credit

‍Deadline for submission: 20 July 2025‍

‍Send here.

‍For more information please write to: mclarey@crisisgroup.org

On the frontline of Cambodia’s environmental battles

Documentary screening, panel discussion
Thursday, 4 September, 7pm

In July 2024, Cambodia jailed five activists from the award-winning environmentalist group Mother Nature Cambodia for plotting against the government, after they had sounded the alarm about river pollution and land reclamation projects. The Clearing, a film produced with support from the Pulitzer Center and Mongabay, follows activist Ly Chandaravuth -- one of the group’s most outspoken members -- and his colleagues in the months leading up to their incarceration. The film captures their relentless fight to expose state-sanctioned environmental destruction as they continue on their collision course with Cambodia’s rulers. and refuse to buckle under pressure.

The human rights situation in Cambodia has been deteriorating year on year, with dozens of activists and journalists facing ever-growing threats of arrest and sometimes even death. As the crackdown continues, the future of environmental activism in Cambodia looks to be hanging in the balance.

Join us for the showing of this amazing film and hear from a panel of experts who will discuss the film and the issues facing Cambodia’s environmental and rights activists.

What’s happening in the forests and neighboring communities in Cambodia? How does the deepening government crackdown affect environmental defenders and their organizations? What is happening to media reporting about forest destruction amid the rapid decline of press freedom in the country? And how are regional and international actors responding to the crisis facing Cambodia’s forests, and the attacks against the country’s activists? These and other questions that speak to the current state of activism in Cambodia under PM Hun Manet will be discussed.

Join us in the FCCT clubhouse to hear from the team behind The Clearing, alongside experts working on environmental and human rights issues in Cambodia. Speakers include:

‍Andy Ball, co-director, The Clearing.‍

‍Gerald Flynn, Southeast Asia staff writer, Mongabay.‍

‍Lisa Mean, campaigner, Mother Nature Cambodia.

Other panelists to be confirmed

Moderator: Jonathan Head, FCCT board member and BBC Southeast Asia correspondent.

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 300 baht.
Bar and restaurant open.

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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.

Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) is looking for an experienced communications manager

Use your skills to promote world leading tropical medicine research. Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) is looking for an experienced Communications Manager.A science degree is not essential but the candidate must be able to understand basic terminology and methodologies in academic research and be fluent in English and Thai.For more information, click the following link MORU communications manager.To apply, please e-mail a cover letter and CV to application@tropmedres.ac

Two job opportunities in Beijing at China's top university

The global business journalism program at Tsinghua University, founded in 2007, is looking for both a lecturer for one semester and a full-time director.For more details: https://www.icfj.org/about/jobs/global-business-journalism-program-international-co-director-and-faculty-member

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