President Barack Obama’s trip to Southeast Asia provides a critical opportunity to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to human rights and democracy in the region.  His stop in Jakarta should be used to recognize the potential of Indonesia in particular as a long-term partner of the U.S. in promoting respect for human dignity throughout the region.

One of the concepts of Dr. Somkiat Tangnamo, former Rector of Midnight University, which was repeatedly emphasized during our regular discussion was Deliberative Democracy. Members of the Midnight University see the problem of Representative Democracy as focusing on only the election which usually results in getting the persons who are not genuine representatives of people in the society.

The construction of Thailand’s new 12-billion baht Parliament Building is scheduled to be completed in 2012.  The design, which was chosen by a parliamentary committee from among 5 finalists, is said to represent the Thai identity.  It focuses on the concept of Buddhist morality to govern mundane politics, according to the designers. However, Chatree Prakitnonthakarn, an architecture lecturer at Silpakorn University and expert on historical architecture during the post-1932 revolution era, questioned the relevance of the idea.

On 16 Sept, The Asia Foundation released findings from its first national survey of the Thai electorate. The survey, Constitutional Reform and Democracy in Thailand: A National Survey of the Thai Electorate, was conducted through face-to-face interviews with a random, representative sample of 1,500 voters from all regions of the country (except the three southern border provinces) between June 13 and July 5, 2009.