The Bulletin, Volume 1166, December 08, 2025
The Bulletin is published weekly by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand
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In this week's bulletin:
- Stephff's world
- “Shoot, Ask ... and Run!” – Photographing Asia with Chris Stowers
Show and tell with the author, Wednesday 10 December, 7pm
- Launch of the Sham Election Tracker (SET): Monitoring the Myanmar junta’s illegitimate election and human rights violations
Press conference, Wednesday, 10 December, 11 am
- The upcoming election in Myanmar: Democratic opportunity or farce?
- RESPECT Myanmar survey
Thursday, 11 December, 10am
- Christmas dinner — save the date
Friday, 12 December, 7pm
- Gofundme appeal for Al Rockoff
- Co-working at the FCCT
Tuesday, 9 December, 10am
- Board game night
Tuesday, 9 December , 7pm
- Wednesday, 17 December, 7pm
- From construction sites to battlefields: The migrant workers crisis from temporary to a never-ending problem
Thursday, 18 December, 10.00am
- Beyond the badge: Crime, justice, and the FBI in Thailand
Book discussion and Q&A, Wednesday, 21 January, 7pm
- Advertise in the FCCT's Bulletin at special discount rates
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“Shoot, Ask ... and Run!” – Photographing Asia with Chris Stowers
Show and tell with the author,
Wednesday 10 December, 7pm
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“Shoot, Ask ... and Run!” The advice given to aspiring British photographer Chris Stowers at the start of his travels has never seemed so valuable. Buffeted by the tempestuous forces of both personal and international affairs, he flees from the Jakarta mafia through the jungles of Borneo, is tear-gassed by riot police in Manila, and crosses an imploding Soviet Union by train, only to be abducted by a group of heavily-armed Serb militia.
In these pages, recalled from diaries kept at the time, Stowers paints a harsh, humorous and very human picture of media life in Asia -- and beyond -- during the boom years of the early 1990s. Based in Hong Kong in the dying days of both empire and analog photography, he finds himself constantly on the road, in trouble and out of film. A natural-born observer and nomad, the question arises: where is home?
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Chris Stowers left England in 1987 fresh out of high school, clutching a one-way ticket to Karachi. He has lived in Asia ever since. For ten years before the 1997 handover to China he was based in Hong Kong where he was a photographer for Asiaweek magazine.
His love of photography began right at the start, hanging out with impoverished freelance photojournalists in war-torn Peshawar, Pakistan, where he was – fleetingly – Official Poet of The Frontier Post.
He joined the prestigious Panos Pictures Photo Agency in 1992. Photography assignments and wanderlust have taken Chris to well over 70 countries, so far, and his work has appeared in all manner of publications, including Time, Newsweek, The Economist, Forbes, Businessweek, National Geographic Traveller and The New York Times.
He has photographed numerous guidebooks for Insight Guides and Dorling Kindersley, is co-author of the Insight Guide's book of Travel Photography, and has hosted several TV travel documentaries.
His newly released book ‘Shoot, Ask…and Run!’ is the second in his on-going series of travel memoirs published by Earnshaw Books.
Copies of “Shoot, Ask ... and Run!” will be available on the night.
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Members free, non-members 300 baht, students and Thai press with ID 150 baht.
Bar and restaurant open.
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Launch of the Sham Election Tracker (SET): Monitoring the Myanmar junta’s illegitimate election and human rights violations
Press conference,
Wednesday, 10 December, 11 am
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Amid its ongoing airstrikes and atrocity crimes against the people of Myanmar since its illegal military coup in 2021, the Myanmar junta is planning to hold a sham election with the first phase on 28 December, followed by the second and third phases in January 2026.
There is a clear need for the international community and key stakeholders -- including governments, parliaments, civil society and the media -- to have access to a reliable, evidence-based platform that monitors and documents the junta’s sham electoral process and exposes its associated human rights violations.
Meeting this need, like-minded Myanmar youth activists formed the Sham Election Tracker Working Group (SET WG) in collaboration with Myanmar civil society groups to create a transparent and accessible tool that combines real-time reporting and data visualization, as well as campaign and advocacy activities.
SET WG will launch its Sham Election Tracker at the FCCT on 10 December, International Human Rights Day. Representatives from the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) and the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) will also join the launch to share findings and recommendations from their recent reports on the military junta’s sham election.
Panelists:
Khin Ohmar, Sham Election Tracker Working Group.
Pai, Sham Election Tracker Working Group.
Yanghee Lee, former UN Special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M).
Amael Vier, election analyst, Myanmar program, Asian Network for Free Elections
(ANFREL).
Moderator: Phil Robertson, director, Asia Human Rights & Labour Advocates (AHRLA) and FCCT board member.
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Gofundme appeal for Al Rockoff
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Al Rockoff, left, strolling with John Gunther Dean, the US Ambassador to Cambodia when it fell to the Khmer Rouge in April 1975. The ambassador was shown in The Killing Fields fleeing Phnom Penh on a Marine helicopter with the Stars and Stripes folded under his arm. The pair had a cordial reunion in 1991 at Angkor Wat, when it was finally declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after their more fractious relationship during the war years. (Photo by Dominic Faulder)
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After American military veteran and war photographer Al Rockoff appeared to have lost control of the archive he risked his life so often to create, friends in the US set up a Gofundme appeal to help with his rent, moving and legal assistance.
Vicki Bornas, Rockoff’s longtime partner, is his unpaid caretaker. She has had to forego work in order to look after him, and is overseeing use of the funds.
Graham Bowley recently spent four days in Florida with Rockoff preparing a detailed report on his plight for The New York Times entitled ‘Al Rockoff’s war is still being fought’.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rockoff was a regular visitor to the FCCT, and there has been much concern among his many friends here over his unexplained absence in recent years.
Rockoff has never completed the book of his life’s work so often discussed. He was portrayed by John Malkovich in The Killing Fields, the 1984 Oscar-winning film about the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge in 1975. It was a complimentary depiction he never liked.
Rockoff’s Gofundme has so far raised over $3,500 and can be found here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-al-rockoffs-housing-and-archive-battle
Please consider donating.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/arts/design/al-rockoff-war-photography-killing-fields.html?unlocked_article_code=1.208.1KYU.cMe4thRscKTz&smid=url-share
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Co-working at the FCCT
Tuesday, 9 December, 10am
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Need a change of scenery from your home office? Join us for a coworking day at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) -- a perfect space for working professionals, digital nomads and anyone looking to break free from the home-office routine.
Enjoy a spacious, comfortable workspace with dedicated tables, a full restaurant, café and bar and exclusive lunch specials just for this event.
Whether you're tackling deadlines or networking with like-minded professionals, this is an opportunity to be productive in a collaborative, social environment. Come work, connect, and enjoy great food because working remotely doesn’t have to mean working alone.
Hosted by Nick Bernhardt, FCCT board member and managing director of Khayan Consultants and Tommy Walker, FCCT board member and digital nomad.
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RESPECT Myanmar survey
Thursday, 11 December, 10am
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SEM would like to invite you all to join the press conference on the RESPECT Myanmar Survey – Findings from Myanmar Migrants in Thailand on the 2025 Military-Planned Election conducted and presented by Burma Affairs & Conflict Study.
Please register at https://forms.gle/37qswR5qqEWWJGXy7
Let's come to hear these voices firsthand, understand the humanitarian and political stakes, and report on a story of regional and global significance. The findings are urgent. The implications are profound. The voices behind them demand to be heard!
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Christmas dinner — save the date
Friday, 12 December, 7pm
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At this time of year, there are few things better than sipping fine wine and feasting on well roasted turkey, baked ham and tender vegetables with Christmas pudding, pies and more to follow. Waste no time -- mark the date. Seats are limited!
Get your tickets here.
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Board games night
Tuesday, 9 December, 7pm
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Join us for a chilled night of board games with The Boring Club. Try your luck with classics like chess and backgammon or modern games including Catan and Pandemic.
The bar and restaurant will be open. Try our pizzas from the new pizza oven. The Boring Club meets at the FCCT clubhouse for games every Tuesday at 7pm.
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The upcoming election in Myanmar: Democratic opportunity or farce?
Wednesday, 17 December, 7pm
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On 1 February 2021, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and the Myanmar military launched a coup that prevented the newly elected National League for Democracy government from assuming office, claiming that the NLD’s landslide win was plagued by electoral irregularities. Now the Myanmar junta is planning its own election, with the first round of polls set to take place on 28 December, followed by a second round on January 11, and a final round due at the end of the month.
What’s the likely outcome of this electoral exercise, and will it be free or fair? How will polls even be held, given the fact that fighting continues across many parts of the country between the military and an array of ethnic armed organizations and peace defense force militias? Given the resistance’s serious opposition to the polls, will conducting elections result in a further uptick in violence and possibly even worsen the situation? Finally, will the elections result in any changes to Myanmar’s current governance, its political future, and its international standing? These and many other questions are being asked by government officials, diplomats, journalists, civil society groups and others who will be watching the elections closely.
Join us for a pre-election discussion with a panel of Myanmar experts who are watching these developments:
Confirmed panelists:
Khin Ohmar, veteran Burmese political activist.
Amael Vier, election analyst, Myanmar program, Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL).
Debbie Stothard, coordinator/founder, ALTSEAN-Burma.
James Rodehaver, chief, Myanmar team, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Moderator: Phil Robertson, director, Asia Human Rights & Labour Advocates (AHRLA) and FCCT board member.
Members who wish to book in advance should email in...@fccthai.com or call the FCCT office on 02-652-0580.
Non-members can use this link.
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Members free, non-members 450 baht, students and Thai press with ID 150 baht.
Bar and restaurant open.
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From construction sites to battlefields: The migrant workers crisis from temporary to a never-ending problem
Thursday, 18 December, 10.00am
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Press briefing: Key issues facing migrant workers in 2025 and emerging concerns for 2026
- Summary of migrant workers situation in 2025
Speaker: Roisai Wongsuban, Migrant Working Group (MWG)
- Cambodian workers returning to their home country and the economic value of longans in the Eastern region
Speaker: a representative of Kasikornthai Research Center (TBC)
- Life of migrant workers after the dust settles: Result of the collapse of the Office of the Auditor General construction building
Speaker: Worachai Sanansuk, Raks Thai Foundation
- One year of the government and the order to shut down migrant learning centers — more gain than loss, or more loss than gain?
Speaker: Laddawan Lakkaew, Foundation for Rural Youth (FRY)
Panel discussion: “Thailand’s Opportunities Through a Comprehensive Management Strategy for Migrant Workers”
- The Minister of Labour and the never-ending migrant-worker management system
Speaker: Adisorn Kerdmongkol, Migrant working Group (MWG)
- Migrant workers and Thailand’s seafood industry in the Blue Economy
Speaker: Nattawut Kasem, Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF)
- Employers’ ordeals from failed policies and corruption
Speaker: Nilubon Phongpayom, Group of Entrepreneurs with Foreign Workers
- Myanmar election 2025 and trends in migration flows caused by the political unrest
Speaker: Dr.Sirada Khemanitthathai, the Office of International Relations, Chiangmai University
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FCCT pub trivia
Friday, 26 December, 7pm
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