Bangkok tourists caught up in shakedown

Published on Dec 14, 2014 by Luke Hunt

Foreign tourists are calling it the shakedown. A growing number are being stopped, searched and harassed in the main tourist precinct of the Thai capital.  Sometimes they are led to a service station toilet and asked to provide a urine sample, supposedly to determine whether they have consumed any illicit drugs.Read more from Lindsay Murdoch in The Age..

Maguindanao Victims Still Await Justice

Published on Dec 14, 2014 by Luke Hunt

It was perhaps the greatest crime in the history of journalism. Five years ago 58 people, 32 of them employed in the media, were horribly tortured and executed by gunmen who took their orders from a grimy, precocious warlord named Andal Ampatuan and his bullying son.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat. .

Bashar Al Assad wishes you a merry Christmas’

Published on Dec 7, 2014 by Luke Hunt

A barrel bomb from a Syrian army helicopter plummets to earth but, instead of exploding and killing scores, it bounces and spins to a stop, the first sign this is not what it seems. Dwarf-like ISIL fighters grab the barrel and roll it to a fortified compound as sinister music swirls, tiny feet pitter-patter and a black ISIL banner flutters overhead.Read more from Dan Boylan at The National..

Stunning Honesty From Sarawak's New Chief Minister

Published on Nov 30, 2014 by Luke Hunt

Finally, after decades of allegations and overwhelming evidence, the new chief minister of Sarawak in East Malaysia Adenan Satem, has called a spade a spade and denounced the state’s illegal timber merchants and some of its law enforcement officers as “corrupt.”Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Perhaps Its Time to Call It ‘Burma,’ Again

Published on Nov 23, 2014 by Luke Hunt

Myanmar, or Burma as some people prefer to call it, has been cut much slack in recent years with its supporters urging patience and understanding as it attempts to reform itself. This was highlighted by the recent visit of U.S. President Barack Obama, who had hoped to coax further reforms out of Naypyidaw and President Thein Sein during the recent East Asia summit.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..