VOLUME 17 NUMBER 1

Author: Romeo B. Lee

From the Editor

Year: 2017, Volume 17 Number 1

Pages: 1-24

This article describes various aspects of the Thai military as a power bloc and introduces five case studies in countries facing similar situations in order to obtain lessons for military reform. I propose that the army is the main barrier to democratization, and thus, the next transitional government must undertake military reform as its first task. To support this objective, the article introduces relevant literature and background, describes the historical development of the Royal Thai Army (RTA), describes and explains the key characteristics of the RTA, especially the unchecked nature of its power. It then addresses one of the key ways in which the RTA demonstrates its power, through violence. I then review the mechanisms of democratization in South American, Asian, and Eastern European countries that achieved democratic consolidation through various means, including military reform. I suggest that in Thailand, comprehensive military reform will bring about additional institutional reforms, creating professionalism, preventing the situation of a (military) state within a state, and strengthening the supremacy of civilian authority over the military institution. I recommend that military reform can be achieved through demobilization, downsizing, a reduction in conscription, a reduction and auditing of the military budget, abolition of martial law, changes in legislation to severely punish military coups d’état, legislative changes that give people rights to military information, education for the military on non-violent methods of engagement, and reform of the National Security Council as well as the National Intelligence Agency, among other methods. If this can be achieved, a consolidated democracy and sustainable reconciliation may be viable in Thailand.

Keywords: Military Bureaucratic Authoritarianism, Democracy, Civilian Supremacy, Military Reform, Thailand

Pages: 25-33

How are sexual minorities like lesbians, gay men, and their sexualities viewed in the different societies of Southeast Asia? Previous studies have been limited by the reliance on data from university students and other non-representative samples, with little comparability across countries in the region. This research brief addresses this gap by comparing attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and about lesbian and gay sexualities in six Southeast Asian countries using nationally representative survey data. Combined data from the World Values Survey (total n = 9,182 respondents from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) indicated that many Southeast Asians reject lesbians or gay men as neighbors, with the most homonegative attitudes to be found in Indonesia (66%) and Malaysia (59%), compared to relatively less rejecting nations like Thailand (40%), Singapore (32%), Vietnam (29%), and the Philippines (28%). Same- sex sexuality was least acceptable, based on a moral justifiability measure, among Indonesians, followed by Vietnamese and Malaysians. Singaporeans, Thais, and Filipinos were the least rejecting of lesbian and gay sexual orientations in the region. We also explored a number of established correlates of homonegative attitudes in each country, including gender, age, educational attainment, and religiosity.

Keywords: social attitudes, homosexuality, homonegativity, anti-gay prejudice, Southeast Asia

Pages: 34-51

Premarital sex (PMS) is a worldwide issue that calls for a holistic treatment instead of looking at it exclusively as an immoral and sinful act based from the traditional Catholic teaching. The perspectives of cultural, sociological, philosophical, and progressive Catholic are essentially considered for its moral evaluation. As a result, a multifaceted approach called sociotheological is used to take into consideration these different aspects from the teens’ worldview. This research highlights the voices of teens regarding sexuality in general and compared them to the different perspectives that resulted to the crafting of a sexual ethic that is relevant and appropriate for them. Thus, the formation of a moral community that is characterized by virtues of kabutihang-loob, freedom, temperance, prudence, and malikhaing pagtitis or creative patience serves as an antidote against the widespread of this sexual practice.

Keywords: premarital sex, perspectives, sociotheological, community, virtues

Pages: 52-65

The debate over the gap between theory and practice in international relations has been neglected by the vast majority of scholars. This paper is aimed to examine whether or not constructivist consideration has a place within ASEAN policy-making process regarding the Rohingya crisis. The absence of ASEAN’s role in managing Rohingya’s refugee crisis post-sectarian conflict in Myanmar has raised criticism on its effectiveness in dealing with regional problems. Despite the fact that ASEAN has already had a number of human rights instruments such as the ASEAN Charter, ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and ASEAN Declaration of Human Rights, the organization arguably, did not do much to intervene in and try to overcome the Rohingya crisis. This paper offers possible contributions of constructivism in diagnosing and providing policy recommendations for ASEAN to solve such problem. From the constructivists’ standpoint, ASEAN did not do much intervention due to the lack of collective identity among its member states. As a consequence, there has not been enough “institutional commitment” to carry out collective action. Furthermore, constructivists’ perspectives may also provide strategic measures by suggesting that all member states should give priority to the process of collective identity building before any institutional arrangements are made.

Keywords: constructivism, theory and practice, ASEAN, collective identity, Rohingya crisis

Pages: 66-79

With the scarcity of scholarly works on the area of governance on lakes in the Philippines, particularly on small lakes, and the recent notable development on the three small lakes in the Laguna de Bay region, this article examines the faces of governance in Sampaloc Lake, Pandin Lake, and Tadlac Lake. Specifically, it explores the administrative practices and challenges in the formulation of the Master Development Plan (MDP) for each lake. The article contends that the governance of the three lakes is collaborative but centralized, as the community stakeholders are given platform for involvement and actively participates in the initiative, yet the institutional actors make the decisions on the MDP’s timeline, funding, and path forward. It further contends that the move to have an MDP only came about after some successes were achieved by the community stakeholders in each lake, and the Plan’s formulation was steered by the pursuit of ecotourism, which was in turn underpinned by: the determined efforts of the local government unit in Sampaloc Lake, the success of the ecotourism enterprise in Pandin Lake, and the change of leadership in the administrative agency in Tadlac Lake.

Keywords: Governance, Philippines, Development Plan, Sampaloc Lake, Pandin Lake and Tadlac Lake

Pages: 80-87

As two unique and independent variables, smoking and alcohol drinking among university students have been substantively examined in systematic research. Despite evidence showing that they are linked, in that both are complementary and have common causes, smoking and drinking are not well understood as concurrent behaviors in university students. Data suggest that there are high numbers of students who both smoke and drink, or who are smokers–drinkers. Information as to who among these students are more inclined to smoke–drink is important for risk-reduction research and program development. Using survey data and logistic regression analysis, this study explores a set of characteristics of Filipino university students who smoke–drink. Our analysis explored the associations between the dependent variable (i.e., smoking- drinking) and eight independent variables (i.e., age, sex, religion, weekly allowance, grade-point average, physical exercise, level of closeness with parents, and level of closeness with peers). Results revealed that the Filipino university students who smoked–drank tended to be older, male, and Catholic; to have a big weekly allowance, a low grade-point average, and a strenuous exercise; and to have a low level of closeness with their parents, and a high level of closeness with their peers. Among these characteristics, age, weekly allowance, and level of closeness with peers were the most important. Sex was not a correlate. These findings need testing and validation in other local university student samples, using predictors with more nuanced measures, and other independent variables. Data are intended to trigger local discourses towards the development of research and intervention on university students’ lifestyle activities.

Keywords: smoking-drinking, correlates, characteristics, Filipino university students

Pages: 88-104

This study aims to examine the situation and trend of suicide in 76 provinces in Thailand during 2006–2013 and also to investigate the relationship among suicide, economic development, and economic problems by utilizing the feasible generalized least square (FGLS) regression analysis. The findings reveal that the average suicide rate in Thailand during the study period was 5.98 per 100,000 populations and exhibited a slight upward trend. Moreover, Lamphun province had the highest average suicide rate while Pattani province had the lowest rate. Gross provincial product per capita is found to have a curvilinear relationship with total, male, and female suicide rate. That is, suicide rate is likely to decrease as gross provincial product per capita increases but only up to a certain point, thereafter as gross provincial product continues to increase, suicide rate is likely to increase. Additionally, the findings reveal that industrialization and unemployment have the negative effect on suicide rate. In terms of other factors, divorce, having diabetes, and having high blood pressure significantly determine total, male, and female suicide, whereas urbanization affects only male suicide and educational attainment affects only female suicide.

Keywords: Suicide, Economic Development, Economic Problems, Thailand

Author: Dennis V. Blanco

Research Brief

Year: 2017, Volume 17 Number 1
Pages: 105-111

Author: Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan

Research Brief

Year: 2017, Volume 17 Number 1
Pages: 112-120

Author: Vikas Dixit

Research Brief

Year: 2017, Volume 17 Number 1
Pages: 121-127

Authors: Luz Suplico Jeong and Rechel Arcilla

Research Brief

Year: 2017, Volume 17 Number 1
Pages: 128-140

Author: Teguh Dartanto

Research Brief

Year: 2017, Volume 17 Number 1
Pages: 141-152

Authors: Marcus Antonius Ynalvez* and Ruby Ynalvez

Research Brief

Year: 2017, Volume 17 Number 1
Pages: 153-163

Author: Brendan Howe

Book Review

Year: 2017, Volume 17 Number 1
Pages: 164-168