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Southeast Asia links: Myanmar's startup culture, Prayuth's 'jokes', LKY funeral and more

Elliot Brennan
Southeast Asia links: Myanmar's startup culture, Prayuth's 'jokes', LKY funeral and more
Published 31 Mar 2015     Follow @elliotbrennan
  • A wonderful collection of bizare gaffes from Thailand's junta leader, General Prayuth. This week he wryly joked that he could 'just execute' journalists that don't 'report the truth'. Australian journalist Alan Morison is among those  currently fighting charges of criminal defamation. 
  • In Myanmar, KIA General Gun Maw said 'signing the ceasefire does not mean achieving peace'.
  • After last week's comments about China's nine-dash line, Jokowi this week clarified Indonesia's position, emphasising that it remains neutral in the South China Sea dispute. 
  • The Economist looked at how, almost a year on, Thailand's reforms are faring; there's also a series of infographics on the Thailand's volatile politics. This week, Thailand brought in the death penalty for human trafficking.
  • A Philippines Senate Committee Report on the botched police operation that left 44 police dead  (police report here) indicated that the US had a role in the operation. Gregory Poling wrote on the impact the failed raid may have on the US. Meanwhile, Malaysia says it is prepared for an influx of refugees if the peace process in the south breaks down.
  • Vietnam ramped up defence spending by 113% between 2004 and 2013. Murray Hiebert and Phuong Nguyen examine the increase.
  • A Justice Trust report accuses Myanmar's hardliners of being the 'hidden hand' behind the 2014 Mandalay riots.
  • The BBC examines Myanmar's one hundred languages in this podcast, while The Economist looks at Myanmar's burgeoning startup culture. 
  • The week was dominated by coverage of Lee Kuan Yew's death. There was a steady stream of obituaries (including this excellent piece by Milton Osborne) and some LKY contrarianism (h/t Sam). The Straits Times reported on the tens of thousands that joined the three-hour queue to pay their final respects to him in Singapore. This is what it looked like (hyperlapsed):

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