Erin Cook stands like a colossus over the entirety of South-East Asia. (Photo: Supplied )

As regular listeners to the Edict will know, I reckon Australians should know more about the other nations in our region. So our special guest today is journalist Erin Cook, who covers South-East Asia, and we’re talking Indonesia and Thailand. Mostly.

Erin produces the excellent newsletter Dari Mulut ke Mulut, an English-language summary of what’s happening in the region.

In this episode we talk about Indonesia’s soon-to-be president Prabowo Subianto and the nation’s plans to move the capital from Jakarta to the new city of Nusantara. We attempt to give you an introduction to the complicated and often amusing politics of Thailand. And we take a side journey into the politics of Myanmar and two varieties of popular music.

This podcast is available on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, JioSaavn, Pocket Casts, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Speaker.

You can also listen to the podcast below, or subscribe to the generic podcast feed.

Episode Links

01. Erin Cook (@dmkmtoday) / X

News and analysis from Southeast Asia three times a week.
02. Dari Mulut ke Mulut

Erin Cook's newsletter.
03. Indonesia - Wikipedia

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea... With over 280 million people, Indonesia is the world's fourth-most-populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority country. Java, the world's most populous island, is home to more than half of the country's population.
04. Joko Widodo - Wikipedia

Joko Widodo (Indonesian: [d??k? wid?d?] né Mulyono; born 21 June 1961), popularly known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the seventh and current president of Indonesia. A member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), he was the country's first president to not have emerged from the country's political or military elite. He previously served as governor of Jakarta from 2012 to 2014 and mayor of Surakarta from 2005 to 2012.
04. Prabowo Subianto - Wikipedia

Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo (EYD: Prabowo Subianto Joyohadikusumo, born 17 October 1951) is an Indonesian politician, businessman and retired honorary army general who is the president-elect of Indonesia and current Minister of Defense. Prabowo will be Indonesia's third president who had military background after Suharto and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). In 1998, he was discharged from the military and subsequently banned from entering the United States for allegedly committing human rights abuses.
05. Indonesian Elections 2024 | Prabowo Subianto To Take Over As The New President | IN18V | CNBC TV18 - YouTube

[15 February 2024] Prabowo Subianto, a former army general with a controversial past, has claimed victory in Indonesia’s presidential elections. Unofficial results show Prabowo Subianto winning nearly 60% of the vote although the final count is still to be officially confirmed
06. May 1998 riots of Indonesia - Wikipedia

The May 1998 Indonesia riots (Indonesian: Kerusuhan Mei 1998), also known colloquially as the 1998 tragedy (Tragedi 1998) or simply the 98 event (Peristiwa 98), were incidents of mass violence, revolutionary protests, and civil unrest in Indonesia in May 1998, many of which were targeted at Indonesia's ethnic Chinese population. The events were mainly in the cities of Medan, Jakarta and Surakarta, with small incidents in other regions of the country.
07. Indonesia: Jokowi’s real legacy is an unpredictable successor | Lowy Institute

[19 September 2024] From a stunted democracy, to a human capital deficit, and too much reliance on China, Prabowo Subianto has been handed a curate’s egg, writes Greg Earl for his “Economic diplomacy” column from the ANU Indonesia Update.
08. How Prabowo will likely manage Indonesia’s defence and foreign policy | The Strategist

[16 September 2024] Unlike outgoing president Joko Widodo (Jokowi), whose administration was primarily focused on domestic development, Prabowo is keen to bolster Indonesia’s military capabilities and geopolitical footprint. He is expected to be an ‘orthodox innovator’, seeking to make gradual adjustments while deepening and expanding partnerships.
09. ASEAN - Wikipedia

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a political and economic union of 10 states in Southeast Asia.
10. Politics of Myanmar - Wikipedia

Myanmar (formerly Burma) (Burmese: ??????) operates de jure as a unitary assembly-independent presidential republic under its 2008 constitution. On 1 February 2021, Myanmar's military took over the government in a coup, causing ongoing anti-coup protests.
11. List of political parties in Indonesia - Wikipedia

Since 1999, Indonesia has had a ...