Adam Bemma

  • Bangkok Says Goodbye to Cheap Pad Thai – CBC The World this Weekend

    BANGKOK – The Queen of Thai street food, Bangkok’s Jay Fai, was awarded a Michelin star last year. But for the rest of the city’s hawkers, they may be forced out of work in a push by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to clear the streets. 17,000 Bangkok hawkers have lost their licenses since 2014. The…

    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

  • Thailand’s New Media Protest Leader – CBC The World this Weekend

    BANGKOK – Bow Nutta Mahattana wears a cartoon t-shirt mocking Thai Prime Minister, and junta leader, Prayuth Chan-ocha with a nose like Pinocchio. The 39-year-old mother and teacher is facing a lengthy prison sentence for staging anti-junta protests – and harnessing the power of Facebook Live – to demand elections in Thailand. “The message is…

    Adam Bemma

  • Rohingya Refugees are Rushing to Escape Monsoon Season

    Experts fear a return of the kind of desperation that fed the 2015 boat crisis as the storms hit Bangladesh’s coast. BANGKOK, Thailand – Torrential rains along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border are threatening to make an already grim situation for the nearly 700,000 Rohingya refugees who fled genocidal violence back home even worse as the monsoon storms…

    Adam Bemma

  • Thailand: No Internet Freedom with new Computer Crime Act

    BANGKOK, Thailand – The sound of cicadas spread as the sun sets in the northeastern city of Khon Kaen. Payu Boonsophon, 23, stares down at his smart phone. He hesitates before beginning to type a message on Facebook. He knows his online activity is being monitored by Thai authorities. “We will meet outside of the…

    Adam Bemma

  • Thailand’s Computer Crimes – CBC The World this Weekend

    BANGKOK, Thailand – Thai netizens are outraged as amendments to the Computer Crime Act came into effect in 2017. It’s meant to take Thailand’s draconian sedition and royal defamation laws online. The current regime has made it a far-reaching act since its inception 10 years ago — targeting its critics online anywhere in the world.…

    Adam Bemma

  • Thailand’s War On Sex Tourism – CBC The World This Weekend

    PATTAYA, Thailand – Thai authorities are cracking down on the commercial sex industry. The country’s tourism minister, Kobkarn Wattanavrangku, said she wants to stop human trafficking, especially of women and children. Prostitution is visible everywhere in Thailand, from massage parlours to go-go bars. Some of these areas are tourist attractions. Women and underage girls are often…

    Adam Bemma

  • A Plan to Resolve one of Asia’s Longest Refugee Situations

    MAE SOT, Thailand – The UN refugee agency field office in Mae Sot has been working for the last 15 years in nine refugee camps along Thailand’s western border. These camps are home to 102,777 refugees from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Iain Hall is senior field coordinator at UNHCR in Mae Sot. He’s been doing…

    Adam Bemma
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