Thailand made international headlines recently for detaining refugee footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi. Hakeem was a former Bahraini national youth player who was granted refugee status in Australia after fleeing charges in Bahrain connected to the Arab Spring protests. He was arrested at Bangkok’s main airport at Bahrain’s request in November last year when he arrived in Thailand for his honeymoon.

Philippine journalist Maria Ressa was freed on bail on Thursday following an arrest that sparked international censure and allegations she is being targeted over her news site's criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Thailand's constitutional court on Thursday said it would hear a case to dissolve the party which proposed a princess for prime minister, an ill-fated candidacy which threatens to sink the election strategy of the powerful Shinawatra clan.The Thai Raksa Chart party nominated Princess Ubolratana for premier last Friday, a bombshell move bringing Thai royalty to frontline politics for the first time since the 1932 establishment of a constitutional monarchy.Hours later the princess's b

When it was announced last year that the upcoming Indonesian presidential elections would be a rematch between Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, there have been endless analyses over Indonesia’s identity politics. The usual narrative was that Jokowi represented a more liberal approach to Islam while Prabowo was more conservative, and that issues surrounding religion could be the deciding factor of the elections.

Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, whose news site has repeatedly clashed with President Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested at her Manila office on Wednesday in what press freedom advocates branded an act of "persecution".Her detention on a charge of "cyber libel" is a dramatic escalation in government pressure bearing down on Ressa and her website Rappler, which was already facing tax evasion charges that could shut it down.It comes after Duterte has cracked down on high-profi

Thailand's election commission on Wednesday asked the constitutional court to dissolve a party that proposed a princess as candidate for prime minister, a potentially serious blow to the political aspirations of the kingdom's powerful Shinawatra clan.Junta-ruled Thailand has sunk into political chaos since Friday, when Princess Ubolratana's name was submitted by Thai Raksa Chart, a party allied with the divisive billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.Her unprecedented bid to

Allies of Thailand’s exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra are seeking to woo voters with a plan to revive economic growth after a failed bid to run King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s sister as a prime minister candidate in next month’s election.Kittiratt Na Ranong, a former finance minister and deputy leader of Pheu Thai – one of several parties backed by Thaksin along with Thai Raksa Chart – said his colleagues are “going forward in full gear” ahead of the 24 March vote.

Cambodian premier Hun Sen warned against interference in the country's affairs on Tuesday, his first comments since the European Union (EU) launched steps to cancel trade benefits that would hammer the local garment industry.The bloc announced Monday it would begin a process of intensive monitoring to decide whether to suspend duty-free preferences under the "Everything But Arms" (EBA) deal.The move would deal a crippling blow to Cambodia's robust garment and footwear indu

Thailand was recently taken by surprise when news broke that its princess, Ubolratana Rajakanya, had been announced as prime ministerial candidate for the Thai Raksa Chart Party – a party reportedly affiliated to Thaksin Shinawatra.