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What’s next for Myanmar’s quest for legitimacy? And where does that leave ASEAN?
Panel discussion: Thursday, 10 Sept, 7pm
Myanmar’s former military chief-turned President Min Aung Hlaing has already visited five countries since he took on his new role in April, two of which are ASEAN member states, Laos and Thailand. Soon he’s expected to visit more ASEAN neighbours, such as Cambodia and likely Vietnam. This circumvents a ban that the 11-member ASEAN grouping put on him since the 2021 coup and violent crackdown that spurred a civil war that has raged ever since.
Thailand has taken the first step and offered itself as a “bridge” by conducting its “calibrated re-engagement” to keep an open communication channel with Myanmar, ensuring Naypyitaw remains tethered to the regional bloc. But the aerial bombings and ground clashes with resistance forces continue on multiple fronts. ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus has been rejected by Min Aung Hlaing and the military-dominated parliament.
Five years on, how concerned is Min Aung Hlaing about the current ban on him participating in ASEAN talks? What leverage does ASEAN still have on Myanmar? Will we see a change in ASEAN’s dealings with Myanmar before the end of this year? And what can we expect when Singapore takes over as ASEAN chair next year in dealing with the Myanmar crisis? How will the protracted conflict continue to divide and destabilise Southeast Asia?
Speakers:
Kavi Chongkittavorn is currently a senior fellow at Chulalongkorn University’s Institute of Security and International Studies. He is a veteran journalist who has covered Thai and regional politics for more than three decades for The Nation. He also served as special assistant to the secretary general of ASEAN, editor-in-chief and executive director of Myanmar Times, after terms as the paper’s bureau chief in Phnom Penh and Hanoi. He was a Reuters Fellow at Oxford University, a Nieman Fellow at Harvard and an Asia Studies Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington DC. He now he writes a weekly column, “ThaI Pivot”, for The Bangkok Post.
Debbie Stothard is the founder and coordinator of ALTSEAN Burma, a non-government organisation focused on issues such as human rights, atrocity prevention and promoting democracy. She served as secretary-general of FIDH - the International Federation for Human Rights (2013-2019). She is the chair of ESCR-Net (International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), and a board member of the global feminist organization AWID. She also chairs the International Campaign for Rohingya and Innovation for Change.
Dr Lalita Hanwong is an assistant professor in the History Department at Kasetsart University in Bangkok. Her areas of academic interest include modern and contemporary history of Southeast Asia, with special emphasis on Myanmar. Dr Lalita also writes a column, Thai Phob Phama (Thailand Meets Myanmar) for Matichon newspaper and wrote a book titled ‘Hidden Myanmar’ that examines its contemporary political history through a foreign policy perspective, to grasp the root causes of problems that persist today. She has been a member of government committees on national security, border affairs, national strategy and national reform. She remains an advisor on parliamentary committees and is also a member of The Border Consortium that oversees aid to refugees in the border camps.
‘Anonymous’ is a Myanmar scholar based in Asia whose research areas include Myanmar and Asia-Pacific studies, Myanmar foreign policy, Myanmar-China and Myanmar-Russia relations and Myanmar migrant issues in Thailand. The scholar will join us via Zoom and will remain unidentified to allow him to share frank insights without compromising his safety.
Moderator: May Wong is the Indochina bureau chief for The Straits Times. She’s an FCCT board member and has been a journalist for almost 30 years, covering Myanmar, Thailand and the region for almost 15 years. She conducted one-on-one interviews with both Aung Sun San Suu Kyi and ex-military chief Min Aung Hlaing when she was stationed in Myanmar.
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 400 baht; students and local media with ID 150 baht.
Bar and restaurant open.
‘Sherlock Holmes, My Friend, by Dr John Watson’
Stage performance, Friday 18 September, 7pm
British actor Daniel Foley will perform 'Sherlock Holmes, my Friend by Dr. John Watson' at the club on September 18. He will play the role of Dr John Watson, friend and confidant of the great Sherlock Holmes, the finest detective the world has known, reflecting on his association with the complex, brilliant, reasoning machine and genius observer.
Dr Watson recalls his first meeting with Holmes, the early days of lodgings at 221B Baker Street and the numerous cases they both had worked on and solved. Dr Watson speaks at length of the events at the Reichenbach Falls and his shock at the demise of Sherlock Holmes as he watched his friend plummet on to the rocks and turbulent waters below.
He ruminates on the events leading up to The Empty House and his amazement at the culmination of the crime. This fascinating performance is very easy to stage and great entertainment for club members. The informative and very enjoyable Sherlock Holmes Quiz will end proceedings.
Tickets are available via this link.
Members 350, non-members 450 baht; students and local media with ID 150 baht.
Bar and restaurant open.
The Salamander’s Tail – a spy novel by Michael Vatikiotis
Book launch, Wednesday, 23 September, 7pm
Michael Vatikiotis, author of the best-selling Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia, is coming to the FCCT to launch his compelling new book, The Salamander’s Tail, a spy novel set along the Thai-Burma border that traverses a fault line of strategic sparring between the United States and China on the cusp of a new Cold War.
Inspired and informed by four decades of experience as a journalist and private diplomat covering conflict in Asia, Vatikiotis brings to life one of the world’s most dangerous contemporary conflicts. The novel centres around Lance Friend, a rootless English do-gooder working for an environmental NGO in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. Friend finds himself caught up in a high-stakes geopolitical contest between the US and China, using the long civil war in neighbouring Burma as a proxy battlefield.
Arrayed on either side of the Thai-Burma border is a cast of colourful characters escaping past lives to chase ideals, adventure and profit in the bad lands of Southeast Asia.
Praise for the book is already rolling in. “If Year of Living Dangerously was the classic Southeast Asian novel, The Salamander's Tail takes its place. A spy novel for the ages” says Jane Perlez, a former New York Times correspondent in Asia.
“A thoughtful and unsettling portrait of a region where environmental crisis, insurgency, and great-power rivalry intersect,” said Thant Myint U, author of The River of Lost Footsteps and The Hidden History of Burma.
Michael Vatikiotis has been a writer, broadcaster, journalist and private diplomat in Asia for nearly 40 years. His previous books include Indonesian Politics Under Suharto and Political Change in Southeast Asia, Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia and Lives Between the Lines: A Journey in Search of the Lost Levant. His novels include The Spice Garden and The Painter of Lost Souls. Vatikiotis also contributes regularly to podcasts, and to Nikkei Asia and other journals.
Vatikiotis is a graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), earned his doctorate, which was on Thailand, from Oxford University. He speaks both Thai and Indonesian. He will speak about the book and what inspired it, as well as real-world events that shaped the story.
The author will discuss his work with Keith Richburg, a member of the Washington Post’s editorial board since 2023, and a veteran observer of China and Southeast Asia. Richburg’s storied career as a foreign correspondent includes postings as the Post’s bureau chief in Beijing and Hong Kong. He was president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong from 2021 to 2023.
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 400 baht; students and local media with ID 150 baht.
Bar and restaurant open.
Understanding Aung San Suu Kyi: Power, politics and principle
Book launch, Thursday, 24 September, 7pm
For more than three decades, Aung San Suu Kyi has been a central figure in Myanmar’s political history. Her commitment to nonviolence, democracy and political change has made her one of the country’s most internationally recognized political figures.
In Aung San Suu Kyi: The Realities of Power in Burma’s Authoritarian Legacy, Mon Mon Myat examines Suu Kyi’s political thought and leadership through philosophy, political history and personal observation. Drawing on interviews and her study of Suu Kyi’s political journey between 2012 and 2020, the book explores the relationship between Western liberal ideas and Burmese Buddhist values, as well as questions of peacebuilding, moral courage and justice in Myanmar’s political landscape.
Join us for a conversation with Mon Mon Myat, an academic and journalist. She holds a PhD in Peace-building from Payap University in Chiang Mai, where her doctoral research focused on the philosophical foundations of Aung San Suu Kyi’s political thought. She has previously served as Bureau chief and senior management consultant for the Democratic Voice of burma and is the producer of A Long Way Panlong, a documentary chronicling Aung San Suu Kyi’s political journey from 2012 to 2016.
Mon Mon Myat will come to Bangkok to discuss Suu Kyi’s political philosophy, the evolution of her public role and the broader questions of power, leadership, peace-building and democratic change raised by her legacy. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
Moderator: Jeanne Hallacy, filmmaker with a long and deep interest in Myanmar, former 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 400 baht; students and local media with ID 150 baht.
Bar and restaurant open.
Co-working at the FCCT
Tuesday, 8 September, 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.
Free and open to all.
Bar and restaurant open.
Board games night
Tuesday, 8 September, 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 September, 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.
"As a foreign correspondent, you're an observer"
Jonathan Head
Dateline Bangkok podcast
Watch the full video at this link.