91ÑÇÉ«

Migrant worker segregation doesn’t work: COVID-19 lessons from Southeast Asia

by Peter Vandergeest, Melissa Marschke, and Peter Duker Many public health researchers have looked to the Asia-Pacific region, including countries like Thailand, for lessons on successful pandemic management. These countries have demonstrated how it is possible to minimize community spread and thus also reduce the need for lockdowns. However, recent COVID-19 outbreaks in Thailand and nearby countries also offer warnings […]

Protests in Hong Kong and Thailand: A Politics of Hysteria or Perversion?

What is remarkable about the spate of protests in Hong Kong and Thailand in recent months is their tenacity. Despite state intimidation and violence in both places, demonstrators have kept up their fight, at least until lately. In Thailand, waves of demonstrations, composed mostly of high school and university students, have risked heavy-handed police tactics […]

The business case for a short, sharp shutdown and why it likely won't work in Canada

Peter Vandergeest, an Asia specialist at Toronto's 91ÑÇÉ« and founding director at the 91ÑÇÉ« Centre for Asian Research, is irritated that critics put the region's situation with the virus down to autocratic governments and an obedient population. He said that certainly doesn't apply to Thailand, a place he has often visited for his research […]