A trip down the 1970s hippie-trail led the American author to a lifelong relationship with the country and its people.

A logistics specialist discusses economics, poverty and the nuts and bolts of climate change in Southeast Asia.Why do Southeast Asian farmers get paid so little? How can people respond to the immediate impact of climate change? What must governments in ASEAN do if they’re serious about cross-border trade? Why is Cambodia building a 180-kilometer canal at a cost of $1.7 billion? Chris Catto-Smith is a logistics specialist, a career which began with the Royal Australian Air Force in the 1970s....

What happened in Myawaddy as the junta saddles up with China.Jason Tower is the country director of the Burma Program at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), where he closely follows Myanmar’s civil war, human trafficking, and the industrialization of scam compounds, which have spread across Southeast Asia in recent years. He holds unique insights into what is happening on the ground in Myanmar and has authored several reports for USIP over recent years, which include dire warnings...

A new book by Leslie Lopez details the unfolding of one of the world's largest financial scandals.

The journalists discuss the Rohingya persecutions: How did it start and when will it end?

How the "best laid plans" of Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government went awry.

The veteran Bangkok-based photojournalist takes aim at the World Press Photo awards. [caption id="attachment_272822" align="alignright" width="173"] Irish photojournalist Nic Dunlop. (Photo supplied)[/caption]

A conversation with Lars Olsen about Cambodia’s hybrid tribunal and lessons for prosecuting war crimes elsewhere.

Michael Martin of CSIS discusses the progress of the conflict, and the possible impact of the U.S. presidential election.

"Even in a forgotten war, everyone has a right to a home," says the veteran aid worker.Fr. John Murray is an Australian Catholic priest with Caritas Thailand who has worked extensively with refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) since arriving in the northwest border regions almost 20 years ago. He says the war inside Myanmar remains forgotten in a world overwhelmed by conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine but more has to be done for the IDPs, which the says number around 3 million...

A veteran editor reflects on five decades on the front lines of the Thai media.

Greening says anti-regime forces could capture the Irrawaddy Basin and eventually declare victory over the junta.Paul Greening has worked as a political analyst and a specialist consultant with civil society organizations covering Myanmar since the military ousted an elected government in early 2021, pushing the country into a bitter civil war. He says unprecedented battlefield success by anti-regime forces during their latest dry season offensive has turned the war decisively against the...

Horror tales from inside Myanmar’s cyber-scam cities.

With the world's relief efforts focusing on Gaza and Ukraine, Africa is missing out.

The veteran editor speaks about the media's changing role and declining influence in both Australia and Southeast Asia.The media industry has changed enormously since David Armstrong began his career as a junior reporter for The Australian newspaper in Sydney in 1969, and not for the better. Superficiality and a “gotcha” mentality by too many journalists, he says, has lowered the bar in Australia. But he also says there are bright spots in Southeast Asia among newspapers that have a strong...

The veteran editor on winning awards, breaking news, and managing journalists.

How to save thousands of lives by preventing STDs.Mechai Viravaidya has spent the last 50 years at the helm of family planning in Thailand, and has been credited with saving countless lives through his safe sex campaigns, which rose to the fore when the HIV/AIDS virus took hold in 1981. From his flagship restaurant Cabbages and Condoms in Bangkok, Mechai spoke with The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt about fulfilling his social obligations, inherited from his Thai father and Scottish mother, both...

A conversation with Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch ahead of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit.

A conversation with war crimes lawyer Michael Karnavas.Michael Karnavas is an American-trained lawyer licensed in Massachusetts and Alaska with 40 years of experience focused largely on war crimes and charges of genocide at tribunals in Cambodia, Rwanda, and the former Yugoslavia. He has worked as a criminal defense lawyer, in state and federal courts in the United States, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Tribunal for Rwanda, the Extraordinary...

Jonny Edbrooke speaks about his various media ventures and the importance of being nice in Southeast Asia.

Luke Hunt interviews Suwanna Gauntlett from the environmental group Wildlife Alliance.

Luke Hunt interviews German filmmaker Nico Mesterharm about arts funding in Southeast Asia and his latest documentary.

Luke Hunt talks with Chris and Anya Minko about volleyball, wars, and Bachelors from Prague