Southeast Asia

Southeast Asian cities will play a critical role in the unfolding of the ASEAN Economic Community, which is to be launched at the end of 2015. A discussion of the inter-linkages among economic growth, urbanisation, consumption, and the environment.

Our office in Phnom Penhh is working with civil society organizations to create a critical dialog on environment, gender, social justice and inclusion within the general public and communities.

The Foundation's Southeast Asia program, being restructured in 2015, will focus on highlighting how globalization and integration in the ASEAN countries have an impact on people’s lives.

The definition of "good life" depends mostly on political, economical and cultural circumstances, but due to the effects of climate change and global warming, it also depends on issues of nature and environment. Georg Koessler investigates the relationship between climate change and living conditions.

Six months have passed since Yingluck Shinawatra was elected to the first female Prime Minister in Thailand. Since her election she provoked a variety of debates, which are connected to her femininity. 

Due to political conflicts in Thailand over the last few years, new media have been widely used as tools in public discussions. The Heinrich Böll Stiftung Southeast Asia Regional Office organized a public discussion forum to stimulate discussion between representatives of different groups about the protection of freedom of expression and access to information.

Under the impression of the Fukushima I nuclear accidents, our regional office in Bangkok organized a forum together with other organizations to exchange knowledge and draw conclusions for the local situation in Thailand.

With the general elections and the release of  Aung San Suu Kyi, November 2010 was a remarkable month full of emotional ups and downs for Burma/Myanmar. The Burmese student Ma Hnin Moe tells her view of the situation.

In November 2010 Myanmar went to the polls for the first time in 20 years. While the elections have been written off by the west and welcomed in Asia, the issues around this seminal event are far more complex on a closer look. This article will aim to shed some light on the background to the elections, what changes the new structure is likely to engender and what Myanmar’s main future challenges will be.

In the three years since its enforcement, the Thai Computer Crime Act has led to 117 court orders to block access to 74,686 Internet URLs. A situational report supported by our Southeast Asia office concludes, that "no one can deny that the Thai people’s right to freedom of expression and opinion in the online world is in crisis."

The conflict in Thailand between "Red Shirts" protesters and the government turned violent in May with over 80 people killed. The Thai NGO networks "Coordination Network of NGOs" and the "Anti Civil War Network" condemn the violence and propose solutions to the conflict.

Climate change is not at the top of Thailand’s national agenda. So far, changes in policy not been made to prevent climate change but in order to economise. Yet, there are hopeful developments at a grass roots level.

Some of the Offices of of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Asia describe their work in the following short films.

China has emerged as Cambodia’s leading investor and donor and an increasingly important trading partner. Will the close relationship with China help Cambodia weather the global financial crisis? Or can we expect the economic slowdown in China to spill over into the Cambodian economy?

When emerging Asia’s boom turned to bust in 1997, Thailand was famously on the vanguard of the regional collapse. Now with the United States and Europe repeating several of those same mistakes - albeit on a larger and more expensive scale – Thailand’s post-1997 crisis experience is back in the spotlight.

The film by Nana Yuriko describes the experiences of 5 single women in the Joint Land Titling process in Cambodia. By giving voice to these women, the Heinrich Böll Foundation hopes to contribute to improvements in the recognition and registration of women's land rights in Cambodia.

This short film by Ian White delivers insight into a women radio programme in Cambodia. Together with the Solidarity and Community Development Association the Heinrich Böll Foundation designed a training and radio programme to encourage women's participation in politics.