Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia
  • Dr Kao Kim Hourn, ASEAN Secretary-General, on the Relevance of ASEAN

    Dr Kao Kim Hourn, ASEAN Secretary-General, on the Relevance of ASEAN

    On behalf of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) and as the editor of the Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia, Pavin Chachavalpongpun, professor at CSEAS, interviewed Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, ASEAN’s Secretary-General, on the topic, “Is ASEAN Still Relevant?” The interview was conducted on 19 December 2024 during which time Dr. Kao was invited to give a lecture on the said topic at CSEAS. [...]
David Koh

Vietnam and Foreigners: Aspects and Experiences

Migration and cultural exchange have been lodestones of the civilization and society in ancient, middle-ages, and modern Vietnam. The cradle of civilization of Vietnam in the BCE days would have been located in the northern Red River Delta. Even at the nascent stage of its civilization had, as historian Corsi pointed out, the region witnessed constant cultural exchanges in three directions – between northern migrants from northern Chinese kingdoms and the locals in the Delta, between the mountain tribes to the Delta’s west and northwest and the Delta, and between the Delta and areas south of it, which was known generally as Champa. In short, migration and cultural exchanges for Vietnam has [...]

Previous Issue #37

  • Urban Governance and Platform Dynamics in Southeast Asia

    The rapid digital transformation in Southeast Asian cities, largely propelled by homegrown platform companies such as Grab, Go-Jek, Lazada, and Shopee, has significantly reshaped daily life, economies, and urban environments. These companies have fundamentally altered how individuals interact with services and businesses, leaving an indelible mark on urban landscapes and economic structures across the region. In conjunction with the transformative force of these private-sector platforms, several issues regarding platformization and urban governance require in-depth exploration. This issue of the Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia comprises five articles that delve into various aspects of urban platformization in Southeast Asian cities. Andrew Stokols investigates how the notable shift toward “platform governance” is increasingly prominent in Thailand, with political actors embracing digital platforms [...]

Guest Editor’s Introduction – Decha Tangseefa, CSEAS

A border is a “contact zone” of people, culture, and capital. In an area like the Thai-Myanmar border, disease must also be included, as tuberculosis, drug-resistant malaria, and other illnesses have been prevalent since long before COVID-19 raged across the world. These transnational forces entwine and tremendously complicate the spaces in-between the two nation-states. As Burma/Myanmar has witnessed far more protracted armed conflicts than unarmed negotiations since its independence in 1948, this border region has become a space where hundreds of thousands have had to endure manifold sickness due to their marginal positionalities either as displaced peoples or voluntary migrants, many of whom become sources of unskilled or low-skilled cheap labor in Thailand. […]

Tomas Cole

Siu-hei Lai

Busarin Lertchavalitsakul

Vincen Gregory Yu, MD

  • The crime of caring

    What does it mean when your own country does not care about you? Among others, this question swirls in my mind when I recall the places that we visited during the 47th Southeast Asia Seminar. Roaming the vicinity of the new Kawthoolei Karen Baptist Bible School and College just across the stream from the Mae La “temporary shelter area,” I was intrigued by the rustic cadence of the place. En route to the school, [...]

Jeonghyeon Kim

Hattori Ryuji

Miriam Jaehn

Yi-Chin Wu

  • Enriching the land discourse from the Thai-Myanmar Border

    Throughout the 47th Southeast Asia Seminar, participants examined a diverse range of topics from health to border dynamics and marginalization. Amidst the rich discussions, one theme particularly captured my attention: how people residing in borderlands perceive land. [...]

Takahashi Tomoko

  • International relations research and borderland as inhabited space

    Researchers and practitioners from multiple disciplines gathered to learn about and discuss the situation in the Thai-Myanmar border region during the 47th Southeast Asia Seminar. Field trips to several locations in Tak Province, Thailand generated ideas about what research can be further pursued by positivist International Relations (IR) studies that address security [...]
Trendsetters

Limited language assistance for migrant workers in the Thai monolingual society

by Narongdej Phanthaphoommee in Issue 39

More than twenty years have passed since workers from Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia began migrating to Thailand under different bilateral agreements, and presently, they make up one of the largest groups of workers in the country. Their arrival in Thai territory has been undoubtedly crucial to driving the country’s economy forward. However, because Thai and Myanmar (including Mon, Karenni and Tavoyan) are not similar in terms of language family, workers from Myanmar are less likely to understand Thai than those from Laos or even [...]
Trendsetters

“Global South” and the Specter of History of Domination

by Ayame Suzuki in Issue 39

The 2020s have proven to be a tumultuous decade thus far, marked by a global pandemic and subsequent humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and Gaza. Against the backdrop, nations from the “global south” have emerged as vocal critics. In recent years, we witnessed vehement criticism against the uneven distribution of COVID vaccinations, rich countries’ culpability in exacerbating the climate crisis, and the perceived double standards employed by Western powers in international conflicts. Countries of the “global south” are [...]
TRENDSETTERS

Indonesia’s Future under Prabowo: Will be Better?

by Sumanto Al Qurtuby in Issue 39

Since October 20, 2024, Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country and Southeast Asia’s largest economy, has had a new president and a vice president: Prabowo Subianto (b. 1951, locally known as Prabowo) and Gibran Rakabuming Raka (b. 1987, locally known as Gibran). Having a strong military [...]

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