Adam Bemma

  • Weaponising the Internet in Thailand

    BANGKOK – Thailand’s ruling regime, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), looks ready to set aside its whistle and zebra stripes amid chatter that the country is about to take tentative steps towards limited democracy, with an election looming as early as next February. Former Royal Thai Army General and Thailand’s current Prime…

    Adam Bemma

  • Vietnam’s rap queen and traditional society’s changing voice

    Emerging star Suboi ‘pushing the limits’ as one of the few female rappers in socially conservative Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – “Life is happy, so what?” sings Vietnamese artist Suboi in her new hit single N-sao. The song has resonated with disaffected young Vietnamese and can be heard on smartphones and laptop speakers…

    Adam Bemma

  • Digital Dictatorship in Vietnam seeks to silence dissidents

    Activists fear new cyber law will allow authorities to crack down harshly on those promoting freedom of expression. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – Pham Doan Trang strums softly on an acoustic guitar. She’s performing the Vietnamese folk song Water Ferns Drift Clouds Float Far. It’s a song permitted by Vietnam’s government. The authorities keep…

    Adam Bemma

  • Thai street food sellers battle Bangkok’s clearance campaign

    City officials want to prioritise pedestrians and complain about hygiene but traders want to protect famed tourist spot. Bangkok, Thailand – Every evening Bangkok’s Khaosan Road comes alive as bars open, blaring music to tourists and Thais on the hunt for cheap eats and drink. Mobile food carts clog the arteries of the famed backpacker…

    Adam Bemma

  • Overcoming a government crackdown on social media in Laos

    Influential Facebook users, pejoratively referred to as net idols, are facing retribution for their online posts. Vientiane, Laos – Inside a packed lecture hall at the American Centre in the capital Vientiane, 60 National University of Laos students sit surrounded by framed posters featuring inspirational quotes by American icons Martin Luther King Jr, Maya Angelou…

    Adam Bemma

  • Malaysia detains Hassan Al Kontar after removing him from airport

    Al Kontar, 37, had been living in Kuala Lumpur International Airport since March, after being denied entry to Cambodia. Bangkok, Thailand – Syrian refugee Hassan Al Kontar was arrested on Monday by Malaysian police for remaining in a “forbidden area” of Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s terminal two. Al Kontar, 37, had been living inside KLIA’s…

    Adam Bemma

  • Cambodian Writers Tackle Taboo Topics: A Khmer Literary #MeToo Movement

    PHNOM PENH – “Chbab Srey! Chbab Srey! Chbab Srey! Ahh! ” Catherine Harry exclaims on her weekly video series, A Dose of Cath. Harry, 23, is referring to the Khmer women’s code of conduct, a set of traditional proverbs, or poems, that promote an extremely conservative view of women in Cambodia. Her vlog, A Dose…

    Adam Bemma

  • ‘I used to talk about politics on Facebook, but now it’s scary’

    As Cambodian critics are targeted online, an offline forum provides space to discuss issues such as a cybercrime law. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Samoeurth Seavmeng sits at a conference table wearing black horn-rimmed glasses. Meng – as she’s known online and to friends – glances at her smartphone and begins to speak to 10 other…

    Adam Bemma

  • Myanmar’s Anti-War Generation

    YANGON – “Without ending war we can’t move forward as a nation,” said 23-year-old Myanmar peace activist Esther Naw. Naw is under constant surveillance by Yangon’s Special Branch of the police, run by Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs – one of the three ministries under Tatmadaw, or military control. “They came to my church three…

    Adam Bemma

  • Thailand to Myanmar Refugee Repatriation Goes Ahead Despite Concerns

    BANGKOK – With the UN signing a memorandum of understanding in negotiations to repatriate nearly 700,000 Rohingya refugees from camps in Bangladesh to Myanmar’s Rakhine state, its refugee agency has already begun facilitating returns from camps in Thailand to southeast Myanmar. Ninety-three refugees returned in May from Thailand’s camps to Yangon, Bago and Sagaing regions…

    Adam Bemma
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