Stories by Marwaan Macan-Markar / IPS Inter Press Service

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Sunday, November 22, 2009 04:21 GMT

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Clinton Heralds Deeper U.S. Ties with South-east Asia

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - The United States government is attempting to deepen its ties with South-east Asia this week when Washington finally throws its weight behind a regional peace and security treaty.
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As H1N1 Spreads, Thais Take Cover Behind Surgical Masks
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Pattadol Piboonsak was gripped with fear last week when he fell ill with a high fever, displaying the usual symptoms of influenza.
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UN Chief Speaks Out Against Lack of Human Rights
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Using the power of his office, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon achieved a rare diplomatic feat during his recent visit to military-ruled Burma. He broke a taboo by delivering a public speech about the lack of democracy and human rights in the country.
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U.N. Chief Comes Calling with Politics on His Mind
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - The return this week of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to military-ruled Burma gives the mission an air of a high-stakes gamble. On the line is the world body’s credibility to make headway in a country where outside pressure to break a political deadlock is frequently ignored by the military junta.
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Regional Rights Body Dismissed as "Toothless"
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Southeast Asia is weeks away from getting its own regional human rights body, but not everyone is cheering the birth of this new mechanism due to be approved at a foreign ministers’ meeting here. Least of all the region’s vibrant human rights community, spread across the 10 countries that belong to the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN).
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Dams Across the Mekong Could Trigger a ‘Water War’
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - For now, the lower stretches of the Mekong River remain a symbol of peace and tranquillity in a region that was once bloodied by war. But for how long?
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Regional Railway Links Aim to Boost Trade, Cooperation
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - A train journey from Singapore to Shanghai may not be the stuff of dreams anymore. So too the prospect of travel by rail from Seoul to Samarkand.
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Tobacco Companies Have a Field Day in Indonesia

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - When it comes to smoking, Indonesia remains the last paradise for a puff in Southeast Asia. Those addicted to cigarettes can openly light up in public places without worrying about tough anti-tobacco penalties found in the rest of the region.
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Jurists Want Security Council to Open War Crimes Probe
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Thanks to support from China and Russia, Burma’s military regime has escaped harsh criticism at the U.N. Security Council. But this diplomatic deal could come under pressure following the release of a report commissioned by leading international jurists, accusing the regime of committing "war crimes."
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Courts to Military, ‘Deaths in Custody’ Are Okay
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - A verdict by a provincial court is poised to deepen the sense of injustice felt by Thailand’s Malay-Muslim minority in the country’s southern provinces, where an insurgency has been raging for over five years.
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Parliamentarians Turn Heat on Burma for Suu Kyi Trial
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - In a move reflecting growing anger towards Burma, parliamentarians from across Southeast Asia want the military-ruled country suspended from a 10-member regional bloc for the unjust treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s pro-democracy leader.
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New Probe into ‘Drug War’ Killings Takes a Stab at Impunity
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - A special investigative arm of Thailand’s criminal justice system is set to mount a fresh probe into a massacre of civilians during a brutal ‘war on drugs’ launched six years ago, when the authoritarian Thaksin Shinawatra was the country’s prime minister.
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Burma Gives ASEAN a Black Eye with Suu Kyi Case
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - By pushing ahead with a sham trial to prosecute the country’s pro-democracy icon, Burma’s military regime appears set to shatter the credibility of the new, rules-based Southeast Asian regional bloc, of which it is a member.
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Marwaan Macan-Markar - IPS's Bangkok correspondent provides essential reading on human rights, development, environment and politics in a dynamic region

Credit: Sayan Cheunodomsavad/Thailand for the Imaging Our Mekong programme

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