@CelloMomOnCars Nusantara needs to be understood not as a reaction to climate change, but as a combination of two different trends, both negative: the Transmigrasi program sending out Javans to the rest of Indonesia to act as, essentially, settlers amidst the local population; and the general hostility of both nationalists and populists to large cities, which violate their sense of rural-national values. "We must decentralize, the capital city is too big" has been a common trope for generations.
@CelloMomOnCars (A third reason to move the capital in some countries is to insulate an authoritarian government from popular pressure; Naypyidaw and the planned new capital for Egypt are both designed for this. The urban planning in such cities is designed to make it hard to protest and easy for the military to repress protesters. Nusantara has the same urban planning, but I don't know if that's part of its purpose or just convergent evolution in bad urban design.)
Women and LGBTI activists in Thailand have been unlawfully targeted with digital surveillance and online harassment, including the use of Pegasus spyware, by state and non-state actors, in an effort to silence them
"Amnesty International expresses its deepest condolences following the death of Netiporn ‘Bung’ Sanesangkhom, who had gone on hunger strike in protest at her and others’ arbitrary detention, including for peacefully exercising their human rights.
"This is a shocking reminder that Thai authorities are harshly denying pro-democracy activists their freedom in an apparent bid to silence the peaceful expression of dissent"
Jailed 28-yr old activist weakened by 3-month hunger strike dies in a #Thailand prison.
“The lese-majeste charge the former tutor was facing stemmed from her participation in an opinion survey on royal motorcades in February 2022.” #tootsea
Amnesty International calls on Thai authorities to drop charges against two young activists accused of lèse-majesté and "computer crimes"
“Today’s indictment shows that Thai authorities are continuing to weaponize spurious charges to silence critical voices of young people who want to speak about their human rights,” said Amnesty International’s Thailand Researcher Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong.
Walking around Sriracha #Thailand to get breakfast this morning, some 60%-90% of folks in mostly #KF94 respirators. It was just the Thai New Year's celebrations here over the weekend, maybe folks are seeing an uptick in sickies and responding appropriately, or just taking a simple effective precaution to avoid illness.
Fwiw, I've encountered very few coughers or wheezers in shared indoor spaces compared to what's been normalized in the US. Go figure 😒 #CovidIsNotOver#MaskUp
In the Netherlands I am a social outcast for wearing an FFP2/FFP3 mask. Sometimes I am wondering whether I would fit in better in an Asian country, despite not speaking the language and being of a different race.
@ABScientist I was just thinking about it this morning. Honestly, even with the language barriers at times, it has been so nice to not be a social outcast for wearing PPE during an ongoing pandemic. It's stupid how politicized it is in the West.
Even if it isn't the plague, there's so many fertile walking incubators for other bugs (rhinovirus, coronavirus, strep a, measles, mpox, etc.) right now, I am taking steps to minimize my exposure to any of them on this trip.
Rebels claim they drove out last junta battalion in Myanmar border town
> Anti-junta rebels and allied forces on the #Thailand-#Myanmar border have driven out the military’s last battalion from a major trade hub in Myanmar’s Kayin state,
About 200 #Myanmar military personnel withdrew to a bridge to #Thailand on Thursday after a days-long assault by the #AntiJunta resistance, which declared it had won control of the critical border town of #Myawaddy, the latest in a string of rebel wins. The military has already lost control of areas along Myanmar's borders with #Bangladesh, #China and #India, while suffering a significant loss of manpower. #MyanmarCrisis
Thailand says it is prepared to receive 100,000 people fleeing Myanmar
> Thailand is prepared to accept 100,000 people fleeing Myanmar, its foreign minister said on Tuesday (Apr 9), as fighting near a crucial border town rumbled on.
#Senegals neuer Präsident gilt als Hoffnungsträger für demokratischen Wandel 🇸🇳 #Thailand beschließt als erstes südostasiatisches Land die Ehe für alle 🌈
und die Zahl der #Bio-Höfe in Deutschland wächst weiter 🚜
