Join New York City Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams and fellow Council Members for a vibrant celebration of Songkran (Thai New Year) and Thingyan (Burmese New Year). These joyous holidays, traditionally observed in mid-April, are renowned for their water festivals symbolizing renewal and fresh beginnings.

Please RSVP by Friday, April 25, 2025.

Join Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Apicha Community Health Center, OCA-NY, and Thai Community USA-NYC in celebrating the 2025 Songkran Festival. Come together to welcome the Thai New Year and honor Queens’ vibrant Southeast Asian communities with an evening of cultural performances, delicious food, and more.

Join the Council on Southeast Asia Studies at Yale University for a talk by Benjamin Tausig, Associate Professor of Critical Music Studies at SUNY-Stony Brook University, who will discuss his forthcoming book on Maurice Rocco, a queer Black American jazz pianist murdered in 1976 Bangkok. The talk explores how Rocco’s life and death reflect profound shifts in the definitions and valuations of race, sex, and gender identity in Cold War-era Thailand.

Join the the Southeast Asia Initiative at Harvard University Asia Center for a talk by Cheeno Mario M. Sayuno, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and Associate Professor at University of the Philippines Los Baños. Dr. Sayuno will analyze discuss water- and forest-themed children's storybooks from Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia alongside the experiences of long-term expatriates from Southeast Asia, in order to explore how both narratives negotiate concepts of home, belonging, and cultural identity in foreign lands

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University for a talk by Micah Morton, Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology, who will discuss his book on the Indigenous Akha community’s work to decolonize and reclaim their collective ancestral identity.

Join the Center for Intercultural Engagement and Support, the Center for Ethics and Public Engagement, and the History Department at Luther College for a talk by Jeffrey Wassertorm, who will discuss how youth activism in Asia has evolved, transnationalizing their common struggles and aspirations, and forging solidarity from the late 2010s to the present.

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University for a talk by Karla Findley, Independent Researcher for the Karen Refugee Project, who will discuss Karen refugees’ experiences in the greater Chicago area.

Join NYSEAN, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, and the Columbia-Harvard China and the World program for a conference featuring Walden Bello, Pongphisoot Busbarat, Thomas Christensen, Sophal Ear, Joseph Chinyong Liow, Derek Mitchell, Ann Marie Murphy, Hong Hai Nguyen, Lien-Hang Nguyen, Elina Noor, Praslhant Parameswaran, Gregory Poling, Yohanes Sulaiman, and Ayumi Teraoka. These leading experts will examine the implications of a second Trump administration for US-Southeast Asian relations at this critical junction in global politics.

Join Southeast Asia Research Group at UW-Madison for a lecture by Paul Chambers, Lecturer and Advisor to the Center of ASEAN Community Studies, Naresuan University in Thailand, and Visiting Senior Fellow in the Thai Studies Programme at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. His lecture will discuss the facade of democracy under the partnership between Thailand’s monarchy and military.

Join the Southeast Asia Program at Cornell University for a talk by Pita Limjaroenrat, former leader of Thailand’s dissolved Move Forward Party, who will discuss Thailand’s political and economic landscape, social inequality, and democratic movements. The discussion will also explore Thailand’s evolving relationships with ASEAN, BRICS, and major global powers, as well as broader regional and global democratic challenges.

Join the Council on Southeast Asia Studies at Yale University for a talk by Pita Limjaroenrat, former leader of Thailand’s dissolved Move Forward Party, who will discuss Thailand’s political and economic landscape, social inequality, and democratic movements. The discussion will also explore Thailand’s evolving relationships with ASEAN, BRICS, and major global powers, as well as broader regional and global democratic challenges.

Join NYSEAN for a book talk by Merlyna Lim, Canada Research Chair in Digital Media and Global Network Society, Professor of Communication and Media Studies, and Director of the ALiGN Media Lab at Carleton University. Social Media and Politics in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2025) highlights the dual role of social media in both fostering grassroots activism and enabling autocratic practices of algorithmic politics, notably in electoral politics.

Join the Regional Economics Programme at ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute for a talk by Archanun Kohpaiboon, Professor in the Faculty of Economics at Thammasat University, who will discuss the impact of the rise of electric vehicles on Thailand’s automotive industry. This lecture explores how the industry and government are responding to the shift from internal combustion engine vehicles to electronic vehicles, as well as potential gaps in current policies.

Join the Thailand Studies Programme at ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute for a talk by Paul Chambers, Visiting Fellow; and Srisompob Jitpiromsri, Lecturer and Research Associate at the Center for Conflict Studies and Cultural Diversity (CSCD), Prince of Songkla University–Pattani Campus. This webinar will examine the current situation in the Deep South, the role of security forces, potential pathways to resolving the crisis, and its implications for national politics.

Join the Thailand Studies Programme at ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute for a talk by Suthikarn Meechan, Associate Professor of Politics and Governance at Mahasarakham University, and Viengrat Nethipo, Associate Professor of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University. In light of Thailand’s upcoming local elections, this webinar will explore the significance of these elections in revealing local electoral dynamics and influencing Thai national politics.

Join the Southeast Asia Program and the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies at Cornell University for a talk by Emi Donald, a PhD candidate in the History Department. Their talk will explore how the words “tomboy” (thom in Thai) and “transman” came to constitute two distinct but bounded modes of embodiment in contemporary Thailand.

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at University of Hawaii-Manoa for a panel featuring Thanet Aphornsuvan, Parker Novak, Sam Seun, and Dominggus Elcid Li. Moderated by Meredith Weiss, this webinar will discuss key issues related to recent and forthcoming elections in Southeast Asia.

Join the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the George Washington University for a conference on the Chinese Diaspora in Southeast Asia. This event brings together papers from scholars of maritime Southeast Asia who document and analyze the diverse but often precarious practices of everyday management of linguistic and cultural identities of diasporic Chinese in the Southeast Asian region.

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University for a talk by Joel Selway, Associate Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University, who will discuss recent waves of regionalism and nationalism in Thailand.

Join the York Centre for Asian Research for a talk by Tun Min Oo, a scholar from Chiang Mai University, who will discuss how migration issues between Myanmar and Thailand are framed by policy actors and will explore the role of emotions within this framing process.

Join Thai Lawyers for Human Rights for a film screening of The Last Breath of Sam Yan (2023), a documentary that captures the spirit and resilience of student activists and community members who stand firm in protecting their cultural heritage. The film screening is followed by a Q&A with producers Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal and Settanant Thanakitkoses.

Join NYSEAN for a talk by Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Associate Professor at Kyoto University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies, who will discuss the "triple trouble" in Thailand: the dissolution of the pro-reform Move Forward Party, the resignation of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, and a lèse-majesté charge against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The talk will also explore Paethongtarn Shinawatra's potential impact on Thailand's political landscape. Ann Marie Murphy, NYSEAN co-founder, will moderate the discussion.

Join NYSEAN for a discussion of recent elections and political change in Southeast Asia with Sheila Coronel, Amy Freedman, John Gershman, Allen Hicken, Sidney Jones, J.M. Lanuza, Kanokrat Lertchoosakul, Ann Marie Murphy, Nava Nuraniyah, Jonathan Corpus Ong, Margaret Scott, and Meredith Weiss.

Hosted by NYSEAN and co-sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Associate Professor at Kyoto University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies, will discuss how Thai politics continues to be dominated by the conservative establishment following the May 2023 elections. In addition, two of King Vajiralongkorn’s estranged sons have returned home, further complicating Thai politics. Ann Marie Murphy, NYSEAN co-founder, will moderate the discussion.

Hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand, Laddawan Tantivitayapitak, Secretary General of P-Net, Yingcheep Atchanont, Director of iLaw, Adisak Limparungpatakit, Head of Watcher Campaign, and Gothom Arya, director of Mahidol University’s Research Centre for Peace Building, will discuss the implications of Thailand’s general election on May 14, 2023.

Hosted by the LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre, Sinae Hyun, Sogang University Seoul, and Qingfei Yin, LSE, will discuss the Cold War context for creating the Border Patrol Police (BPP) of Thailand and the BPP’s evolution to support a royalist Thai nation.