⚡️Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (2 November 2025)
💬 Observed on November 2, the International Day to End Impunity for #CrimesAgainstJournalists was established in 2013 by the 68th session of the #UNGA.
Its original objective consisted of alerting the international community to the importance of protecting media professionals from criminal and terrorist attacks, while also stressing the fundamental principle where no crimes against journalists would be left unpunished.
❗️ However, this initiative has not lived up to the expectations of its initiators. In fact, the situation in this domain has been steadily deteriorating for over ten years since this day was established.
While all countries seem to recognise the need to ensure safety for journalists’ work without any distinction, at least by paying lip service to this principle, many countries of the so-called collective West have made a new normal out of segregating media professionals as friends and foes. And they have no qualms subjecting those whom they view as foes to repression and threats of all kinds in an effort to cleanse the information space from undesirable perspectives.
In fact, this is also a form of lawlessness and arbitrary political practices — something those who established this international day wanted to end.
👉 You can find more details about these arbitrary actions on the main page of the Foreign Ministry’s official website in the section titled Foreign Reprisals against Russian Journalists and Media.
In doing so, the West believes in its exceptionalism and unaccountability, and goes as far as allow its puppets in Kiev to step up these activities by encouraging its terrorist actions. This sense of impunity for killing journalists and carrying out terrorist attacks against them has prompted the Kiev regime to perpetrate more bloody crimes with the backing of its Western curators.
Since the beginning of this year alone, at least six members of Russian media outlets have perished. Alexander Martemyanov,Alexander Fedorchak,Andrey Panov, Anna Prokofyeva, Nikita Goldin, and Ivan Zuev joined the long list of civilian victims who fell at the hands of the Ukrainian Nazis <...>.
Those tasked with ensuring that journalists stay safe and have a mandate to respond to any reported attacks against media professionals bear their share of responsibility for these atrocities. However, multilateral human rights structures such as the UNOHCHR, the UNESCO Secretariat, the OSCE and other entities have been camping on politically biased positions by intentionally turning a blind eye to the violent deaths of media representatives <...>.
The scandalous UNESCO Director-General’s Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity for 2022-2023, published in December 2024, offers a telling example of how a selective approach to fulfilling this mandate can lead for deplorable consequences. This report knowingly ignores information about Russian journalists and frontline correspondents who were killed by the Ukrainian Banderites.
<...>
This report contained serious distortions in its assessments which undermined its reputation as a reliable and accurate source of information about the state of affairs in this domain, while also dealing a blow to the UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay’s reputation. We do hope that with the upcoming appointment of a new leader, UNESCO will be able to step up its efforts in protecting the safety of journalists by reaffirming its commitment to the basic principles of working in good faith in an equidistant and impartial manner.
☝️We reaffirm our resolve to stand up and assert the professional rights of Russian media abroad, and will be consistent in our efforts to ensure that they can work safely anywhere in the world, while ensuring that those guilty of committing crimes against Russian journalists get the punishment they deserve.
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🇹🇭#Thailand: A Chinese national was arrested on May 8th in Chon Buri province after a car crash led Thai police to what local media described as an entire “war arsenal” hidden inside his rented home.
Thai police seized a massive cache of weapons and explosives, including M4-style rifles, Glock pistols, hand grenades, anti-personnel mines, detonators, sticks of dynamite, C4, tactical gear, fuel containers, and large quantities of ammunition. At least one tactical vest rigged with C4 charges and remote detonators was also found.
Thai media further reported that investigators found alleged discussions related to sabotage and explosives on the suspect’s phone with ChatGPT, along with videos showing him training with firearms and grenades in Cambodia.
Authorities have not publicly confirmed any links to militant organizations. During questioning, the suspect reportedly claimed he suffered from depression and intended to use the explosives in a suicide attack.
(via Thai Examiner, Bangkok Post & amarintv)
🇹🇭Hormuz Crisis Revives Thailand's Land Bridge Push
Iran's partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz has renewed pressure on Bangkok to advance its proposed land bridge — a road and rail corridor connecting a Gulf of Thailand port to an Andaman Sea port roughly 90km away, bypassing the Malacca Strait. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has indicated his government will pursue special legislation in the coming months to secure financing, with the route crossing Chumphon and Ranong provinces.
The Malacca Strait remains the dominant chokepoint for East Asian trade with the Middle East, and the Hormuz disruption has sharpened focus on alternative routing. Thailand's land bridge has been a recurring proposal for years, but economists and environmentalists have consistently questioned its financial viability and ecological cost — conditions that have not materially changed.
Political momentum is building, but the absence of a credible business case means the project remains aspirational rather than investment-ready.
#Thailand
@asianomics
🇹🇭44 Thai Opposition Figures Face Trial Over Lèse-Majesté Push
Thailand's Supreme Court accepted a case on April 24 against 44 current and former opposition lawmakers, setting trial proceedings from June 30. Defendants include People's Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, four deputy leaders, and former Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat — already serving a 10-year political ban. Each faces a maximum penalty of a lifetime ban from office if convicted of ethics violations.
The charges stem from a 2021 parliamentary bid to amend Thailand's lèse-majesté law, which carries up to 15 years imprisonment and is among the world's strictest. The attempt followed mass youth-led protests calling for monarchy reform. The People's Party and its predecessor Move Forward have now faced two party dissolutions and multiple adverse court rulings — a pattern reflecting sustained pressure from Thailand's conservative establishment.
The trial marks another institutional blow to Thailand's progressive opposition ahead of an expected electoral cycle, further narrowing its legislative room for maneuver.
#Thailand
@asianomics
🇹🇭Thailand to Form New Government Next Week
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said a cabinet member list will be submitted for royal endorsement on Monday, with a policy statement to parliament expected around April 7–9. The statement will be largely based on Bhumjaithai Party election pledges, including the next phase of a consumer subsidy scheme.
Anutin addressed the management of oil prices during the first half of March, when the government held prices steady for 15 days before reversing course. The government has since ended the price cap and is planning an oil tax cut alongside other support measures, with the Oil Fund running a deficit of approximately 38 billion baht ($1.16 billion).
Thailand's Foreign Ministry has contacted Brazil, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan to secure oil supplies, with all expressing readiness to cooperate. The ministry also coordinated with Iran to ensure safe passage of Thai vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, and coordination is continuing for a vessel owned by SCG Chemicals.
#Thailand
@asianomics
🇹🇭 Thailand orders bureaucrats to use stairs and work from home in energy saving drive
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered civil servants to conserve energy amid an energy squeeze brought on by the conflict in the Middle East, a government spokesperson said, with measures including suspending overseas trips and using stairs instead of elevators.
"The prime minister ordered that starting from today civil servants will work from home," spokesperson Lalida Periswiwatana told reporters, adding that exceptions would be made for officials who must serve the public.
Southeast Asia's second-largest economy has around 95 days of energy reserves left, and it has been seeking additional sources of liquefied natural gas from the United States, Australia and South Africa
#Thailand
@asianomics
🇹🇭 Thai PM Anutin seals new coalition after February election
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, whose party won the election in February, has finalized his new coalition to form a government that will steer the nation.
The leader has secured a 15-party alliance in the 500-seat House of Representatives after the Feb 8 election. The shape of the new coalition emerged after the Election Commission last week certified results of the vote, confirming seats for 191 officials from Anutin’s ruling Bhumjaithai Party, the first conservative party to win an election in decades.
Anutin’s new 36-member Cabinet will reserve 26 ministerial positions for Bhumjaithai officials across some of the top 14 ministries. Its key ally, Pheu Thai Party, with 74 seats, will be allocated nine Cabinet positions, including a deputy prime minister and minister of agriculture.
#Thailand
@asianomics
🇹🇭#Thailand: Recent images (March) reportedly show a training exercise involving combat engineers and a Thai Army M60A3 TIFCS tank.
Notably, the tank appears fitted with a makeshift overhead mesh structure, more often referred to as a "cope cage".
This adaptation likely reflects lessons learned from the December clashes with Cambodia, where both sides made extensive use of drones equipped with explosive payloads.
Thailand now appears to be among the first militaries in the region to visibly adopt this kind of improvised counter drone protection, another clear example how drone threats are reshaping battlefield adaptations.
(📸 via @wuthi11_ on X)
🇹🇭Thailand PM Anutin consolidates power with dominating election win
Thailand’s ruling Bhumjaithai Party scored a decisive victory at last weekend’s general elections, routing progressive and populist parties to put leader Anutin Chanvirakul in the running to become the first prime minister voted back to office in 20 years.
Bhumjaithai grabbed and retained a sizeable lead in early vote counting, despite opinion polls that favoured the liberal People’s Party, whose leaders, along with those of the Pheu Thai party, had conceded early.
Although Bhumjaithai lacks an outright majority, its 192 seats give Anutin plenty of bargaining power. Clearing away one obstacle, the People’s Party said on Feb 8 it would not form a competing alliance.
The size of Bhumjaithai’s win consolidates power to enable better governance if Anutin can manage Thailand’s stuttering economy and balance the interests of big business groups and powerful institutions.
#Thailand
@asianomics
Chiang Paradise, #Thailand🇹🇭
Chiang Ray is the capital of the northernmost province of Thailand, a city with a population of more than 100,000 people. It is in Chiangrad that you can plunge into a true Thai culture and discover the other side of Thailand, close to its origins. Of course, the first thing that is associated with Chiang Paradise is the most unusual temples collected in one place, namely: white, black and blue.
🇹🇭 Thailand’s Parliament is dissolved for new elections early next year
Thailand’s Parliament was dissolved Friday for new elections early next year in a country engaged in deadly fighting with Cambodia.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dissolved the House of Representatives after getting approval from King Maha Vajiralongkorn, whose endorsement became effective Friday with its publication in the Royal Gazette.
The election must be held 45 to 60 days after the royal endorsement, a period during which Anutin will head a caretaker government with limited powers that cannot approve a new budget.
#Thailand
@asianomics
Chiangmai, #Thailand🇹🇭
The perfect place for meeting dawn and sunset ☀️
Chiangmai (or Chiang May) - the second largest after Bangkok Thai city.
Once upon a time he was the capital of the separate kingdom of Lann. Now Chiangmai is a cultural and student center, which is ideal for remote work and non -banal tourism.
A great place for rebooting is the SkyView monjam hotel.
🇹🇭 Thai Prime Minister is suspended
Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office, saying it was deliberating a complaint that could result in her permanent removal from the job.
A group of senators has accused Paetongtarn of ethical violations in talks over a simmering border dispute with Cambodia’s ex-leader, Hun Sen. She appeared to take a deferential tone with Hun Sen in the conversation, which was private but was released online by him to gain leverage.
The move created a spiraling crisis for Paetongtarn. For more than a week, she has faced heated calls to step down, with thousands of protesters gathering in Bangkok on Sunday to demand her resignation. Her governing coalition has suffered a major defection and her government could soon face a no-confidence vote.
#Thailand
@asianomics