Apiwat Ratanawaraha

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 [...]

Andrew Stokols

Gerard McCarthy

A. Septarizky & H. N. Thamrin

Akkanut Wantanasomb

Previous Issue #36

  • Much of Southeast Asia’s political domain has long been dominated by authoritarian/semi-authoritarian regimes. Part of their success in maintaining power was the ability to control the mainstream media, shaping the way in which information is shared, circulated, and manipulated. For a long time, both print and broadcast media were exploited to serve a variety of political purposes of these states. Because of the need to justify their existence, the media became an important component in guaranteeing their political staying power. Alongside other powerful tools, such as education and state propaganda, the media has been used to strengthen political regimes, and this sometimes dampens or stokes political conflicts particularly when used to alienate those thinking differently from the regimes. Over the [...]

Message from the Editor

KRSEA has achieved its new milestone both in terms of greater global reach and its continued promotion of indigenous languages of Southeast Asia. It is now time to celebrate our achievement with the launch of this book. At the Crossroads unravels a critical juncture in Southeast Asia, from 2017 to 2021, a juncture replete with changes, contestations and challenges facing the region, from different viewpoints: political, economic, social, and cultural. This time, we bring together all the English articles published from January 2017 to December 2020 into one volume.
DOWNLOAD AT THE CROSSROADS (pdf – 57 MB)

Trendsetters

Holding the Reigns: Steering development in Thailand

by Praween Van Rysselberge in Issue 37

A scholar portrayed Thailand’s growth as being contentious, with the main issue driving the discussion being who Thailand’s legitimate development actors are (Cogan, 2021) Amnesty International has made headlines and has been accused of being a tool of foreign meddling, despite the fact that there is little solid evidence to support these allegations. This has reignited interest in the topic. Misinformation of [...]

Book Reviews

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