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Jonathan Head

@pakhead.bsky.social
324 followers 15 following 40 posts

BBC South East Asia Correspondent in Bangkok

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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
US aircraft carrier docks near Thai beach resort Pattaya after record 250 days at sea www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
USS Abraham Lincoln docks at Thailand's Pattaya resort after 250 days at sea
The USS Abraham Lincoln is docking close to Pattaya, known for its raucous nightlife, and for sex tourism.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Thailand has a gun problem - 10 million of them www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Thailand has a gun problem - 10 million of them
Recent shootings have highlighted the country's troubled relationship with guns, with laws doing little to curb the violence.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Grab what you can while you can: The new reality in the South China Sea www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Grab what you can while you can: The new reality in the South China Sea
After years of watching China create land to back its expansive claims, others are doing the same.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Superb piece of writing, expressing so well why professional, human-made journalism is still so important.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Cambodia counts the cost of its border war with Thailand www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Cambodia counts the cost of its border war with Thailand
Despite a Trump-brokered ceasefire in July, fighting has flared up again between Thailand and Cambodia.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Myanmar's army says it wants to eradicate scam compounds. Is it really doing that? www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Myanmar's army says it wants to eradicate scam compounds. Is it really doing that?
The junta has been demolishing buildings in KK Park, one of the largest and most notorious scam compounds.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Why Thailand and Cambodia are fighting again after Trump ceasefire www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Thailand and Cambodia: Why can't they end their border conflict?
Between the neighbours is a gulf of mistrust that has proven near impossible to bridge.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
A study in courage: Ukrainian human rights lawyer and Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk speaking @FCCThai tonight, reminding us that Ukraine is not just a war, but a human rights crisis.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Really perceptive observations here on what fuels the scam economy in SE Asia from @neiloughlin.bsky.social thediplomat.com/2025/11/crac...
thediplomat.com
Cracking Southeast Asia’s Scam Economy
Washington and London’s recent unprecedented actions showed what global coordination can achieve – and what remains to be done.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army has made a ceasefire deal with Myanmar military under Chinese supervision in Kunming. The TNLA will leave the ruby town of Mogyoke, effectively reversing all its gains from Operation 1027. The junta has restored its position in Shan State.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
This pretty much sums up the state of Thai politics right now fulcrum.sg/grand-compro...
fulcrum.sg
Grand Compromise or Grand Damage to Thailand’s Party System? | FULCRUM
Thailand has been caught in a series of political compromises made between strange bedfellows. If this continues, voters will become more cynical about the political system’s ability to deliver out…
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
Trump presides over Thai-Cambodia 'peace deal' - but what does it mean? www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Trump presides over Thai-Cambodia 'peace deal' - but what does it mean?
Trump calls it historic, Thailand only calls is "a pathway to peace", but all sides hope the agreement will stick.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
The mysterious owner of a 'scam empire' accused of stealing $14bn in crypto www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Chen Zhi: The mysterious 'scam empire' owner accused of stealing $14bn in crypto
The Cambodian national is charged with running scam compounds that stole from people all over the world.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Myanmar's army is taking back territory with relentless air strikes - and China's help www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Myanmar civil war: The junta is taking back territory with relentless air strikes and China's help
China has thrown its weight behind the junta - and its widely condemned plan to hold an election in December.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
It is 50 years today since Indonesian troops killed 5 journalists reporting in the Timor Leste border town of Balibo, as a prelude to the full-scale Indonesian invasion in Dec 1975. Never forget. Greg Shackleton, Brian Peters, Tony Stewart, Greg Cunningham, Malcolm Rennie.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
I don’t think this kind of tactic helps Thailand’s case at all www.facebook.com/share/v/16fP...
facebook.com
Redirecting...
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
An important alternative perspective on the Thai-Cambodia conflict prachataienglish.com/node/11596
prachataienglish.com
Manufactured Conflict and Military Supremacy in Thai–Cambodian Relations
The recurring clashes between Thailand and Cambodia are often described as the residue of colonial-era boundary disputes. This explanation, however, obscures the real dynamic: the Thai military’s repe...
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
A fierce war of words keeps Thailand and Cambodia on edge www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Thai-Cambodia conflict: A fierce war of words keeps the two countries on edge
The two sides are waging an information war to win international sympathy and shore up support at home.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Shock, chaos and a hollow win: What it's like to do a tariff deal with Trump www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Trump's tariffs: The shock, chaos and negotiations behind Thailand's trade deal
It's been a fraught process for many countries - with little detail about what exactly has been agreed.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
First rate analysis of the origins of the Thai Cambodia conflict, streasing how mich we just don’t know www.coffeeparliament.com/p/on-the-dom...
coffeeparliament.com
On the "Domestic Rivalry Theory" and the "International Family Feud Theory"
Examining the origins of the Thailand-Cambodia clash
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Very fortunate to get to this little island far out in the South China Sea, if only for a few hours. An island called Hope is standing up to Beijing in the South China Sea www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
A Philippines island defying Beijing in the South China Sea
Pagasa is barely big enough for a plane to land, but it stands tall against an armada of Chinese ships.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
'I need help': Freed from Myanmar's scam centres, thousands are now stranded www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Myanmar scam centres: Thousands who have been freed are now stuck in camps
The camps are unsanitary, food barely sufficient, and many of those being held are in poor health.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Do US super-carriers make sense anymore? The BBC goes on board one www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Do US super-carriers make sense anymore? The BBC goes on board one
The USS Carl Vinson joins a naval exercise in the Pacific with Japan and France.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Scams, casinos and high-rises: The BBC visits a bizarre city in a war zone www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Myanmar's Shwe Kokko: Inside a city 'built on scams'
A haven for the super rich, or a city built on scams? The BBC was invited to find out.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
The Global Story - Thailand: The first same-sex marriages in Asia's LGBT haven - BBC Sounds
It's the largest country on the continent to pass an equal marriage law
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
'A long fight full of tears': Why Thailand became a haven for LGBT couples www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Why Thailand became a haven for LGBT couples
Thailand is set to legalise same-sex marriage - one of the few places in Asia to do so. Why is it an outlier?
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
'Hell on earth': China deportation looms for Uyghurs held in Thailand www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
'Hell on earth': Deportation looms for Uyghurs held in Thailand
Forty eight men detained since they fled China years ago risk being deported, rights groups say.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
How a viral post saved a Chinese actor from Myanmar's scam centres www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Wang Xing: Chinese actor's rescue shines light on scam centres
Many Chinese are now asking: what about their loved ones still trapped in scam centres?
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
A politician was shot dead in Bangkok. Did another country do it? www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Lim Kimya: Why was a Cambodian opposition politician killed in Bangkok?
Lim Kimya's killing had all the hallmarks of a cold-blooded, professional assassination.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Channel migrants: The real reason so many are fleeing Vietnam
More Vietnamese attempted small-boat crossings in early 2024 than any other nationality - what makes them risk this dangerous journey?
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Soldier-spies in Myanmar help pro-democracy rebels make gains
Leaked intelligence from military spies is helping turn the civil war in the resistance’s favour, BBC finds.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
Interesting experiment. There’s a lot of talk of AI replacing journalists one day. I asked ChatGPT to write me a 1000 word report on the fighting this year between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army in Rakhine State. The result was a poorly-written, misleading account full of vague language.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Dramatic video posted by the Arakan Army shows the intensity of the fighting for the last base held by the military in northern Rakhine State Bloody siege ends Myanmar army control of western border www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
A bloody siege ends Myanmar army control of western border
Insurgents seized Myanmar's border with Bangladesh in one of the bloodiest battles of the civil war.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
If you happen to be in Bangkok on Monday this is well worth coming to at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club - a remarkable Cold War story by a Thai woman sent to live with Zhou Enlai in 1950s www.fccthai.com/events/456
fccthai.com
The remarkable story of Sirin Phathanothai, a childhood in Communist China and insights into Sino-Thai relations
Sirin Phathanothai was the daughter of a senior advisor to Thai prime minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram during the Cold War era. At the age of eight, she was secretly sent in 1956 together with her 12-ye
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Truong My Lan: Vietnamese tycoon in race to raise $9bn to avoid execution
Vietnamese law states that if she can pay back 75% of what she took, her life will be spared.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Sara Duterte: Philippines' political feud takes a dramatic turn
The powerful Marcos-Duterte alliance has spectacularly unravelled in the Philippines.
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
The ICC issues an arrest warrant for Myanmar Gen. Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity. It needed some skilled legal footwork - Myanmar’s not an ICC signatory, & he’s not likely ever to go to trial. But at least some accountability for the 2017 atrocities against Rohingyas
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Jonathan Head @pakhead.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Important reporting here by Reuters illustrating the great complexity of the conflict in Rakhine State, which has experienced non-stop fighting for more than a year www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...
reuters.com
In world's largest refugee camps, Rohingya mobilise to fight in Myanmar
Thousands of Rohingya insurgents have emerged from refugee camps in Bangladesh’s Cox's Bazar, where militant recruitment and violence have surged this year, according to people familiar with the conflict and internal aid agency reports seen by Reuters.
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