The Bulletin

Stephff's world

Our astonishing future with AI

Panel discussion,
Thursday, 5 March, 7pm

America's tech giants are spending ten times the cost of the Apollo Project on chips and data centers to run the AI models they are developing at dizzying speed. Some claim this is a bubble ready to burst, while others think that AI will usher in utopia - or take our jobs and then kill us all. Who is right?

Former BBC World Service journalist Calum Chace is a co-founder of Conscium, an AI startup in London, and global keynote speaker on AI. He has been thinking, writing, and speaking about the future of AI for decades, and he offers a comprehensive account of why AI is so powerful, what it means for all of us in the near term - especially those of us in the media industries - and whether the dramatic forecasts about the longer term are simply science fiction.

Speaker: Calum Chace, co-founder, Conscium.

Moderator: Sebastien Berger, AFP bureau chief for Southeast Asia, and FCCT board member.

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; students and local media with ID 150 baht.Bar and restaurant open.

Impacts in South and Southeast Asia from Russia’s Illegal War in Ukraine: Atrocities, Exploitation, and Accountability

Panel discussion,
Friday, 6 March, 7pm

Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has triggered one of the gravest crises of our time. Since February 2022, Ukrainian authorities, international investigators and civil society organizations have documented widespread and systematic atrocities against civilians, including summary executions, torture, enforced disappearances, forced deportations, the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia and the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure. The war has destabilized global food supplies, strained energy markets, intensified geopolitical rivalries, and fuelled disinformation campaigns worldwide.

The consequences of this war are not confined to Europe. Its ripple effects are being felt across Asia and Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Bangladesh and Thailand. Since the coup in Myanmar in February 2021 and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine one year later, the Myanmar military junta and Russia have deepened ties, trading weapons used in war crimes, strengthening diplomatic protection at the UN and building increased economic ties. This has had significant often-ignored impacts on South and Southeast Asian nations.

Moreover, brokers and agents have deceived and trafficked Bangladeshi men into the Russian military and onto the front lines of the deadly war in Ukraine. In response to these widening impacts, Truth Hounds, a leading Ukrainian human rights organization documenting atrocity crimes in Ukraine, and Fortify Rights, an international human rights organization working throughout Asia and in Ukraine, will jointly convene a panel discussion.

The event will also include the launch of a new joint investigative report, “I Was Tricked into the War,” documenting how Bangladeshi civilians were deceived, recruited, and transported into Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine under false promises of employment — practices that may amount to human trafficking and other violations.

The panel will explore how the war in Ukraine is relevant to South and Southeast Asia and what regional governments should do, and not do, to address its harmful impacts.

Opening Remarks: Viktor Semenov, Ukraine chargé d'affaires to Thailand. [TBC]

Speakers:

Oksana Pokalchuk, co-executive director, Truth Hounds.

Matthew Smith, chief executive officer, Fortify Rights.

Sriprapha Petcharamesree, lecturer, Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of law.

Moderator: Phil Robertson, Fortify Rights’ leadership council, FCCT board member.

Truth Hounds works to ensure justice for victims of international crimes committed in armed conflicts, to prevent such violations in the future. Since 2014, the organization has been documenting and investigating international crimes and serious human rights abuses in Ukraine and across Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Fortify Rights is an award-winning team of human rights defenders working to ensure rights for all. We investigate violations, engage people with power on solutions, and strengthen human rights defenders. We believe in the influence of evidence-based research, the power of strategic truth-telling, and the importance of working in close collaboration with individuals, communities, and movements pushing for change. Fortify Rights is an independent nonprofit organization registered in the United States and Switzerland.

The event is free and open to the public. It will also be live-streamed on the Facebook pages of the FCCT, Fortify Rights, and Truth Hounds.

Free and open to all.
Bar and restaurant open.

A Rohingya Ramadan – A month inside the world’s largest refugee camp

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Documentary, panel discussion, gallery opening, Wednesday, 11 March, 7pm

The film ‘A Rohingya Ramadan’ offers a rare and intimate view of life inside the world’s largest refugee camp, seen through the eyes of several of its residents. Made in Cox’s Bazar during Ramadan 2025, this documentary is the result of a collaboration between director Jidi Guo and Rohingya human rights activists Ro Yassin Abdumonab and Sohel Khan, both whom reside in the camp.

The movie captures the texture of daily life during the Islamic holy month: families preparing iftar over open fires, children studying in overcrowded shelters, and youths searching for purpose amid uncertainty. The film will premiere on Al Jazeera Documentary. This screening at the FCCT will be its first outside the Middle East.

Following the screening, a panel discussion will give the audience insights into the production process and the realities of life inside the camps. The evening also includes a companion photo exhibition showcasing stills from the month-long shoot. Prints will be available for purchase, with proceeds donated to Mayyu Sunlight Community High School in Camp 1 East, Lambashia, Cox’s Bazar.

The panel will feature:

Jidi Guo, producer-director, A Rohingya Ramadan.

Abdullah Bawshore, Rohingya photographer featured in the film.

A representative from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. (TBC)

Other panelists (to be confirmed).

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

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; students and local media with ID 150 baht.

Bar and restaurant open.

What’s next for Thailand after Feb 8 election

Panel discussion,
Thursday, 12 March, 7pm

Thailand’s Feb. 8 general election delivered a decisive victory for Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and the Bhumjaithai Party, raising hopes that a more stable government may emerge after two decades of political turbulence marked by two military coups and street protests.

Bhumjaithai has announced plans to form a coalition with the third-placed Pheu Thai Party and several smaller parties — an alliance that would command a comfortable parliamentary majority.

Yet the aftermath has been far from seamless.

Allegations of electoral irregularities and potential legal challenges against the Election Commission have sparked debate over transparency and public trust.

Adding to the uncertainty, the National Anti-Corruption Commission has ruled one day after the election that 44 former Move Forward lawmakers breached ethical standards over efforts to amend the royal defamation law and will refer the case to the Supreme Court, where the politicians could face suspension and political bans if found guilty.

Join us at the FCCT Clubhouse as we unpack the post-election landscape and examine what lies ahead for Thailand and its new government.

Speakers include:

Tom Kruesopon, an independent political pundit.

Fuadi Pitsuwan, political science lecturer at Thammasat University.

Other speakers TBC

Moderator: Panu Wongcha-um, FCCT president and Reuters senior 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 450 baht; local media and students with ID, 150 baht.

Bar and restaurant open.

Lance Randolph Woodruff

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Wake:
Friday, 13 March, 7pm

The well-attended funeral of Lance Woodruff was held at Saint Peter's Church in Philadelphia on Saturday, 21 February. There will be a wake for him at the FCCT on Friday, 13 March, at 7pm. All are welcome, and those who cannot join in person can email the club office (info@fccthai.com) for the Zoom link.

Asia's security order in flux: the role of US allies

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Monday, 16 March, 2pm

As the global order shifts, longstanding security arrangements in the Indo-Pacific are under strain. Power balances are changing, alliances are being tested and key regional partners are rethinking how they deter threats and protect their interests. From Tokyo to Seoul, Canberra and Manila, the US’s Asian allies are reassessing their reliance on external security guarantees and their own deterrence capabilities. This panel brings together International Crisis Group analysts to unpack how defence postures across the region are evolving and what these changes mean for the future of the Indo-Pacific security order.

‍Comfort Ero, president and CEO of the International Crisis Group will deliver opening remarks.

Panelists:

Georgi Engelbrecht, senior analyst, Philippines.

Christopher Green, senior consultant, Korean Peninsula.

Huong Le Thu, deputy director, Asia Program.

Matthew Wheeler, senior analyst, South East Asia.

To attend this event, please RSVP here.

This is not an FCCT event.

Extreme travel – The challenge of visiting every country on earth

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Wednesday, 18 March, 7pm

The innate impulse to explore has been woven into the human story since day one. For some, it has evolved into the mission of a modern nomad – those driven by a compulsion to visit every country on earth – a mission now termed “extreme travel.” While these travellers might collect the physical markers of their journey, like magnets and ink-heavy passport stamps, their true pursuit is much deeper: the acquisition of indelible experiences that remain long after the borders are crossed.

This panel of three extreme travellers will explore this growing segment of travel, where these modern-day explorers travel to countries like Afghanistan, Libya, Haiti, and others. Why do they pursue this audacious quest? What counts as visiting a country? How do they get the most difficult visas? How do they assess security and risk factors? What were their most dangerous situations? What were their most cherished and least favorite countries? And finally, what were some of their unforgettable culinary experiences?

Speakers:

Ric Gazarian is the founder of the Extraordinary Travel Festival and a globe-spanning explorer, storyteller, and community builder whose work has centred on the pursuit of understanding the world through travel. Since 2009, Ric has been on a mission to visit every country on earth, a journey defined by deep curiosity, human connection, and unguarded experiences in places both extraordinary and overlooked.

Shigeki (Shagg) Makino worked for 20 years for investment management companies in Tokyo, Hong Kong, London and Boston. He has been to 164 countries so far, with extensive time living in 10 of them. He is focused on visiting the remaining UN member nations over the next few years.

Jenna Pava was born in Russia and moved to the United States with her family when she was six. She became a teacher, a career she loves for the impact she makes in the classroom, as well as the freedom it gives her to travel during school breaks. In 2023, she moved to Bangkok. Jenna has visited 188 UN countries and continues her pursuit of reaching all 193, blending her love of teaching with her passion for global exploration.

Moderated by Imtiaz Muqbil, executive editor of Travel Impact Newswire.

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 and local media with ID 150 baht.Bar and restaurant open.