NOTICE: There will be no board games on Tuesday this week, as we have a special event on, but they are on again next Tuesday (Sept 22).
Stephff's world
Environmental & human rights concerns over Japan’s new maglev rail line
Press conference, Monday, 14 Sept, 1pm
A group of civil-society campaigners and residents from the Oi River basin in Shizuoka, central Japan, will report on the construction of the Chuo Shinkansen — the country’s new magnetic-levitation (maglev) line — which, they say, threatens the natural environment of the Southern Alps and the water and human rights of downstream communities. The group is in Bangkok to speak at the UN Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum (for the Asia-Pacific).
The line, a government-backed project by Central Japan Railway (JR Central), is designed to run about 87 per cent underground. The cost of its Tokyo–Nagoya section alone is estimated at 11 trillion yen (US$71.35 billion). Its most difficult stretch passes beneath the Southern Alps, a UNESCO Eco Park and the headwaters of the Oi River, on which some 620,000 people depend for domestic, agricultural and industrial water. The speakers argue that tunnelling will drain groundwater — the company’s own assessment projects say the river’s flow could fall by up to two tonnes per second — and note that tunnelling has already dried up wells in other prefectures. They say residents’ concerns have been set aside, and that construction was approved in July.
The campaigners frame the case as a test of whether technological progress is matched by the legal and institutional safeguards needed to protect human rights, and hope it will inform debate on development across Asia. They call for a proper human-rights assessment, a review of the route where serious impacts cannot be avoided, and a legal duty on companies to respect human rights. JR Central maintains that the project’s environmental impact will be limited.
Speaker: Kiyoshi Matsuya, co-representative of the Shizuoka citizens' network on the Southern Alps and the Linear Shinkansen, and a Shizuoka city councillor.
He will be joined by residents of the Oi River basin.
The briefing will be in Japanese with English interpretation.
This is not an FCCT event. Free and open to all.
Bar and restaurant open.
Reporting Southeast Asia Today: Journalism at the Crossroads of Global Change
Panel discussion, Tuesday, 15 Sept, 5:30pm
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand is hosting a panel discussion on news reporting on Southeast Asia, joined by the 23 selected journalists from Asia and Europe under the 15th ASEF Journalists Seminar, to exchange views and share experiences on the role of journalism in fostering greater understanding of Southeast Asia.
Home to more than 650 million people, Southeast Asia sits at the intersection of global power competition, economic growth and political change. As the region undergoes rapid transformation, stories emerging from Southeast Asia increasingly resonate beyond its borders. In this context, the press plays a vital role in bringing greater attention and visibility to the region, while providing insightful reporting that reflects its realities and complexities.
This conversation brings together leading journalists to discuss how they report one of the world's most consequential regions, the challenges they face, and the opportunities for the next generation of international correspondents. Join us in the FCCT clubhouse to hear from:
Opening remarks by Ms Somrudee Poopornanake, director-general of Department of European Affairs of Thailand, Professor Dr Wilert Puriwat, president of Chulalongkorn University and Ambassador Beata Stoczyńska, executive director of ASEF.
Panelists:
Marwaan Macan-Markar, Asia regional correspondent at Nikkei Asia;
May Wong, Indochina bureau chief, The Straits Times;
Dominic Faulder, associate editor at Nikkei Asia.
Moderator: Panu Wongcha-um, Indochina senior correspondent for Reuters.
Free entry for members and non-members. Food and beverages, not including alcohol, are available to honorary guests of ASEF and MFA only. To book in advance, please call 02 652 0581, use the FCCT’s Facebook page or email info@fccthai.com.
This is not an FCCT event. Free and open to all.
Bar and restaurant open.
The Fossil Fuel Illusion: Uncovering corporate power, financial trails and hidden costs at Gastech 2026
Panel talks, Wednesday, 16 Sept, 10am
The devastating landslide and flash flood on the Nepal–Tibet border last month swept away homes, bridges, buildings and hydropower infrastructure, claiming hundreds of lives and leaving thousands missing. The scale of destruction is a stark reminder that the climate crisis is not a distant threat — it is already devastating communities, particularly in a country that has contributed little to global emissions. Nepal, responsible for less than 0.05% of global greenhouse gas emissions, is paying an enormous price for a crisis driven largely by decades of fossil fuel extraction and emissions.
Meanwhile, major oil and gas companies continue to make record profits while climate impacts intensify. Against this backdrop, Gastech 2026 in Bangkok will bring together governments, fossil fuel companies and financial institutions to promote gas and LNG as solutions for energy security and the energy transition. Yet continued gas expansion risks locking countries across Asia into decades of fossil fuel dependence, while communities bear the environmental, human rights and financial costs.
This event, taking place during Gastech, will bring together frontline communities, civil society and legal and climate experts to expose the political and financial forces driving fossil gas expansion, highlight people-led resistance across Asia, and ask a fundamental question: Who is driving Asia’s gas expansion — and who ultimately pays the price?
Join us for two panels with the following speakers:
Panel 1:
Connecting the dots: Unmasking actors cashing in on climate catastrophe and lifting community voices
Manun Wongmasoh, Greenpeace Thailand, will focus on ‘Corporate and political powers behind the gas lock-in’;
Dawon Hwang, Solutions for our Climate, who will look at ‘Money behind the gas expansion’;
Chiraphat Chamket, Chachoengsao Repower, Thailand, to talk on ’20 years of community resistance to fossil gas infrastructure’;
Phwat Kanchawong, Rayong Clean Energy Network, Rayong Artisanal Fisheries Association and EEC Watch, will talk on ‘Fishery communities forced to trade coastal livelihoods with an LNG terminal’;
Sumet Rianpongnam, Strong Prachinburi Community Network, to discuss ‘The wider footprint of industrial expansion’.
Panel 2:
Hope for our future: People-led resistance strategies and solutions for a liveable planet
Sutharee Wannasiri, Accountability Counsel, to speak on ‘Moving from resistance to remedy and accountability’;
Siti Aminah, Indonesia Legal Resource Center, Coalition for Monitoring Infrastructure Development in Indonesia, to speak on ‘Mobilising communities and legal strategies against Jawa 1 Gas-Fired Power Plant, financed by the Asian Development Bank’;
Trestito Fiel, Philippines Movement for Climate Justice, to talk about ‘Winning against gas expansion in Northern Mindanao’;
Yujung Shin, Solutions for our Climate, to discuss ‘A legal victory, a step closer to climate justice.’
Moderator Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul.
The panel will be conducted in Thai and English with simultaneous translation provided.
If you are interested, kindly register here
For more information, please contact:
In-person and online participants:
Attapol Puangsakul (James), Greenpeace Thailand
Tel. 08 9780-3661; email: apuangsa@greenpeace.org
Media and journalists:
Nattanicha Phuklai, Climate and energy associate communications campaigner, Greenpeace Thailand
Tel. 06 1232-4596; email: nphuklai@greenpeace.org
This is not an FCCT event. Free and open to all.
Bar and restaurant open.
Thailand’s momentum 2026: Society – human capital, AI adaptation and sustainable competitiveness
Panel discussion: Wednesday, 16 Sept, 7pm
Artificial intelligence offers Thailand significant opportunities to boost productivity and competitiveness, but it also poses challenges, including job displacement and widening inequality. This panel will examine how the country can strengthen AI literacy, reform education, reskill its workforce and promote public-private cooperation to support the responsible adoption of new technologies. By combining innovation with ethical governance and inclusive access to digital tools, Thailand can develop a future-ready workforce and achieve sustainable, broadly shared growth.
The discussion is part of the FCCT-Bitkub Thailand’s Vision series, which will continue with two further events: one on geopolitics in October and another on the economy in November.
Thailand stands at a strategic crossroads as the global order becomes increasingly fragmented. Building sustainable momentum will require structural reform, technological adaptation and strategic balance to strengthen economic resilience, restore investor confidence and position Thailand as a trusted regional connector—one capable of shaping, rather than merely following, global trends.
Speakers:
Yodchanan Wongsawat, Deputy Prime Minister and Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Minister;
Kobsak Pootrakool, director and senior executive vice president, Bangkok Bank;
Jirayut Srupsrisopa, founder of Bitkub Group.
Moderator: Panu Wongcha-um, president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand.
This is not an FCCT event. Free and open to all.
Bar and restaurant open.
‘Sherlock Holmes, My Friend, by Dr John Watson’
Stage performance, Friday 18 Sept, 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.
From Voices on the Boat to Change on Shore: Improving the quality of life for labor in the fishery sector
Panel discussion, Monday, 21 Sept, 10am
Workers in the fishery sector face serious risks to their health, safety, mental well-being and limited access to rights and services. Health is not just about treatment when we are sick, but also about safety, quality of life and human dignity.
This event, held on National Fisheries Day, will present and discuss ways to build a healthy system for fishing workers.
The Labour Protection Network (LPN), in collaboration with the International Fund for Fishing Safety (IFFS), will present the results of a research project that will provide voices from the field and research evidence, plus policy recommendations that aim to achieve real change in this important sector.
Speakers include:
Sompong Sakaew, Labour Protection Network director;
Pornphan Kanjanathiwat, independent researcher;
Patima Tangprachyakul, Labour Protection Network manager.
This is not an FCCT event. Free and open to all.
Bar and restaurant open.
The Salamander’s Tail – a spy novel by Michael Vatikiotis
Book launch, Wednesday, 23 Sept, 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 Sept, 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.
Wind of Change: Inside the defection wave & the future of Myanmar’s security sector
Report launch, panel discussion, Friday, 25 Sept, 10am
Join People’s Goal for the launch of a ground-breaking research report, which maps the ongoing structural rupture within Myanmar’s military apparatus. The report, Wind of Change, covers the emergence of the Civil Disobedience Movement and Myanmar military surrenders and defections from 2023 to 2026. It analyzes the unprecedented post-coup shift after ‘Operation 1027’, the major coordinated offensive launched by an alliance of ethnic armed groups in northern Myanmar that triggered a cascade of rank-and-file defections and mass surrenders, shifting the internal dynamic of the conflict.
In response to severe depletion of frontline personnel, the junta activated its mandatory Conscription Law—a policy that directly reflects its internal attrition, recruitment struggles and sagging morale. This report launch highlights People’s Goal’s core mission: mapping operational vulnerabilities to strategically mobilize soldiers inside the military to defect, align with the public, and choose the right side of history.
It highlights Operation 1027 and the military’s strategic rupture, how post-1027 defections and surrenders fractured military cohesion across multiple command levels; analyzes conscription as internal failure to show how the junta’s draft is evidence of severe manpower loss, forced recruitment, and institutional decay. It looks at frameworks to incentivize defections, support deserting personnel and weaken the war machine from within. And it reimagines blueprints for security sector reform, civilian oversight, integrating defectors alongside ethnic armed organizations to form a federal democratic armed forces.
Speakers:
Major Naung Yoe, Myanmar military defector;
Khun Kham Kaung, lead research consultant, Wind of Change report;
Nyi Thuta, research coordinator, Wind of Change report;
Thinzar Shunlei Yi, People’s Goal and civil society advocate.
Moderator: Phil Robertson, FCCT board, director, Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates.
Registration notice: Due to security protocols, prior RSVP is required for all non-FCCT members who attend or participate or watch via Zoom. Please contact People’s Goal at peoplesgoal.burma@proton.me to reserve your spot.
Free and open to all.
Bar and restaurant open.
Co-working at the FCCT
Tuesday, 15 Sept, 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 foreign correspondent Tommy Walker.
Free and open to all.
Bar and restaurant open.
FCCT pub trivia
Friday, 25 Sept, 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.