Thailand: Defending Human Rights in Political Upheaval

With:
Sunai Phasuk
Researcher, Human Rights Watch

Moderator:
Derek Mitchell
Senior Fellow and Director for Asia
International Security Program, CSIS

Thailand, long known as a strong protector of political freedom and human rights in Southeast Asia, has recently been scrutinized for its treatment of Rohingya migrants from Burma. Concern has also been raised regarding the conduct of the Thai military in its counterinsurgency operations in Thailand’s southern provinces. Sunai Phasuk will discuss these hot-button issues, as well as the impact of Thailand’s current political dynamics on human rights and the role that Thailand will play as ASEAN chair in 2009 to shape an ASEAN human rights body.

Sunai Phasuk is a Human Rights Watch researcher for Thailand and Burma. He has an academic background and professional expertise in political, security and foreign policy analysis in the context of human rights and democratization in Southeast Asian countries, especially Thailand, Burma and Cambodia. Before joining Human Rights Watch, he was an advisor to the Thai Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2004. During that period, he also worked extensively in Southeast Asia with a wide network of civil society organizations and international agencies, especially through the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL). From 1998 to 2001, he was a fellow at the Bangkok-based Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University.