Belt & Road: The China-Laos-Thailand Corridor

July 14, 2021 (Joseph Thomas - NEO) - China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) reaches out in all directions, across Central Asia into Europe, up into Russia, through the seas and oceans of Asia, out to Africa and of course, deep into Southeast Asia. 

The Southeast Asian leg of BRI consists primarily of a now-under-construction high-speed rail (HSR) line connecting China’s Yunnan Province with Laos, Thailand and perhaps eventually Malaysia and Singapore. 

A large number of adjacent projects also are in the making and will complement other infrastructure projects recently constructed over the past decade or under construction now. 

This includes various expressways, particularly through mountainous Laos which have already cut trips by road from days to just a day from China’s border with Laos in the north to the nation’s capital of Vientiane near the Laotian-Thai border. Additional expressways are under construction to facilitate more traffic within and through Laos. 

Another expressway is currently proposed that will connect northern Thailand to southern China via Laos, cutting travel time between the two nations to just 2 hours. 

Bangkok Post’s article, “Laos surveys new expressway linking Thailand, China,” would note: 

The new road will connect with Chiang Khong district of Chiang Rai via the existing bridge over the Mekong River.

The 180-kilometre highway would allow vehicles to travel at 80 kilometres per hour and a drive from Thailand to China through Laos would take less than two hours.

The HSR line itself will include both passenger and freight services and across Laos, a network of “landports” to facilitate regional logistical operations. 

The entire network is already under construction with Bangkok’s new Bang Sue Grand Station completed and ready to open this year, hosting Thailand’s high-speed trains in coming years, and the Laotian leg nearing completion with train services possibly coming online by the end of 2021 or early 2022. 

Western Derision & Hopes to Undermine 

Criticism for the network of transportation projects stretching into Southeast Asia, like criticism of the BRI itself, stem mainly from Western ambitions to prevent the rise of China and with it, the rise of the rest of Asia. 

US media sources like the US State Department’s Voice of America repeatedly floats accusations of Beijing employing “debt-trap diplomacy” while also admitting that Laos, until these projects began, was landlocked, isolating it from regional markets and preventing economic growth.  

US Will Seek to Meddle in Thai Constitutional Referendum

March 13, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) - US government meddling around the globe isn't aimed only at elections and regime change, but also at the legal processes within any given targeted nation - including referendums for things up to and including constitutional changes. 

Thailand’s constitution will require 2 public referendums before being amended. This process is a matter of Thailand’s internal political affairs - but as in previous elections and regarding petitions to have the constitution rewritten in the first place - the US government and other Western special interests seek to influence and interfere in this strictly internal matter.

US government-funded fronts - through the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) - need to be watched carefully as Thailand prepares for these referendums while raising public awareness of this interference is essential in giving the Thai government the leverage it will need to effectively deal with it.

Brian Berletic, formally known under the pen name "Tony Cartalucci" is a geopolitical researcher, writer, and video producer (YouTube here and BitChute here) based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a regular contributor to New Eastern Outlook and more recently, 21st Century Wire. You can support his work via Patreon here. 

How Bad Does the Western Media Lie?

March 10, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) - The Thai Prime Minister recently joked with journalists - but through creative editing - the Western media was able to portray it as an "attack" all as part of a "bid to dodge some tough questions."

I show the original clip, the edited version the West presented to the public, and the danger of nations like Thailand not having English-language media to present their side of stories to international audiences to check and balance Western disinformation.

References:

Wassana Nanuam’s Twitter Account - Unedited Clip:
https://twitter.com/WassanaNanuam/status/1369181545198538754?s=20
Reuters - Irked Thai PM sprays reporters with hand sanitiser to duck tricky questions:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-politics-pm-spray-idUSKBN2B11SD
ABC Australia - Thailand Prime Minister sprays reporters with hand sanitiser to duck questions about cabinet appointments:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-10/thai-prime-minister-prayuth-chan-ocha-sprays-reporters-sanitiser/13232680

Brian Berletic, formally known under the pen name "Tony Cartalucci" is a geopolitical researcher, writer, and video producer (YouTube here and BitChute here) based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a regular contributor to New Eastern Outlook and more recently, 21st Century Wire. You can support his work via Patreon here. 

How & Why the Western Media Lies about Thai Protests

March 6, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) - Reuters regularly distorts the events surrounding US-backed opposition protests in Thailand. 

Far from simply being because Reuters is “Western media,” it is now confirmed that Reuters has recently worked with Western governments to carry out intelligence operations to interfere in the political affairs of nations abroad under the guise of “journalism.”

Brian Berletic, formally known under the pen name "Tony Cartalucci" is a geopolitical researcher, writer, and video producer (YouTube here and BitChute here) based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a regular contributor to New Eastern Outlook and more recently, 21st Century Wire. You can support his work via Patreon here. 

Violent US-backed Hong Kong-Style Mobs in Thailand Continue

March 1, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) - US-backed anti-government protesters in Thailand have once again "rebranded" to shake off the image of an unpopular, violent mob only to stage a poorly attended, extremely violent protest as their first "rally." 

I explain how this is part of a wider US plan to create a  regional crisis to deny China Southeast Asia as a viable economic, military, and political partner and how US-funded Thai opposition groups are working with US-funded protesters in Myanmar.

Brian Berletic, formally known under the pen name "Tony Cartalucci" is a geopolitical researcher, writer, and video producer (YouTube here and BitChute here) based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a regular contributor to New Eastern Outlook and more recently, 21st Century Wire. You can support his work via Patreon here. 

US NED 2021 - Thailand: More Money, More Sedition

February 28, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) - The US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has updated its list for programs, organizations, and companies that it is funding in Thailand to interfere in Thailand's internal political affairs. This includes US government funding for companies that interfered in Thailand's 2019 general election. 

I explain how the NED's board of directors is made up of people who promote wars and regime change merely behind the smokescreen of "promoting democracy" and "freedom." I show which fronts the US has increased funding for as well as new fronts the US is now funding inside of Thailand. 

I also show how the US NED through programs and companies that it funded interfered in Thailand's 2019 general election on behalf of the US-backed billionaire opposition leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and his "Future Forward Party."

References: 

US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) - Board of Directors: 

https://www.ned.org/about/board-of-directors/

US NED - Scott Carpenter: 

https://www.ned.org/experts/scott-carpenter/

US NED - Thailand (2020):

https://www.ned.org/region/asia/thailand-2020/

US NED - Thailand (2019):

https://www.ned.org/region/asia/thailand-2019/

US NED - Thailand (2019) on Wayback Machine: 

https://web.archive.org/web/20201103163813/https://www.ned.org/region/asia/thailand-2019/

PunchUp World - About: 

https://punchup.world/about/

Thanisara Ruangdej on LinkedIn:

https://th.linkedin.com/in/thanisara-r

PunchUp World - Projects (page 3): 

https://punchup.world/project/page/3/

Elect.in.th - About:

https://elect.in.th/about/

Elect.in.th - Projects: 

https://elect.in.th/civictech/chapter04.html

Boonmee Lab - Team: 

https://www.boonmeelab.com/team/

US Embassy Bangkok - Boonmeelab/YouPin Founder Thiti Luang (2017): 

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1462398380447966

YouPin Organizes Future Forward “Hackathon” (2018):

https://www.facebook.com/youpin.city/posts/689416398079773

Brian Berletic, formally known under the pen name "Tony Cartalucci" is a geopolitical researcher, writer, and video producer (YouTube here and BitChute here) based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a regular contributor to New Eastern Outlook and more recently, 21st Century Wire. You can support his work via Patreon here. 

Thailand to Regulate Abusive Foreign-Funded NGOs

February 28, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) - US government-funded fronts posing as NGOs in Thailand have long undermined the image and role of legitimate nongovernmental organizations.   

New legislation has been proposed in Thailand to create more transparency regarding the foreign funding of NGOs in Thailand and to regulate their activities to ensure they fall within the real of non-profit organizations working for the public benefit rather than abusive fronts merely posing as such.

References: 

Bangkok Post - Govt to regulate all NGOs:
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2073783/govt-to-regulate-all-ngos
National Endowment for Democracy - Thailand (2019):
https://www.ned.org/region/asia/thailand-2019/
Prachatai - About Us:

https://prachatai.com/english/about
LD - Why Taking US NED Money is Wrong:
https://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2020/11/why-taking-us-ned-money-is-wrong.html

Brian Berletic, formally known under the pen name "Tony Cartalucci" is a geopolitical researcher, writer, and video producer (YouTube here and BitChute here) based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a regular contributor to New Eastern Outlook and more recently, 21st Century Wire. You can support his work via Patreon here. 

BBC, Reuters Caught Running Secret IO

February 24, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) - Leaked documents reveal the BBC and Reuters received secret British government contracts to interfere politically both inside Russia and in nations along Russia’s borders. It is a documented case in reality of everything (and worse) the West has accused Russia of doing in unfounded fiction.

I explain how media organizations like the BBC and Reuters serve more as extensions of Western intelligence services - using journalism as a cover and how they constitute a national security threat to every nation they operate in around the globe.

References:

The Grayzone - Reuters, BBC, and Bellingcat participated in covert UK Foreign Office-funded programs to “weaken Russia,” leaked docs reveal:
https://thegrayzone.com/2021/02/20/reuters-bbc-uk-foreign-office-russian-media/

The New Atlas - Soros Leaks Fallout: FCCT President, Members Lied about Open Society Ties:
http://www.thenewatlas.org/2016/08/soros-leaks-fallout-fcct-president.html

Brian Berletic, formally known under the pen name "Tony Cartalucci" is a geopolitical researcher, writer, and video producer (YouTube here and BitChute here) based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a regular contributor to New Eastern Outlook and more recently, 21st Century Wire. You can support his work via Patreon here. 

The Empty Promise of Western-Style "Equality" and "Democracy"

February 17, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) - Let's take a look at a US-backed opposition party in Thailand - Future Forward (now renamed as the Move Forward and Progressive Movement parties). 

These are parties that vow to create "equality" in Thailand - to take the "pyramid" of social order and turn it upside with "people power" at the top. 

I explain how this is pure propaganda and how those selling these lies to the public in an effort to swell the ranks of US-backed anti-government mobs in the streets have organized their own parties and businesses into the very "pyramidal" structures they claim they seek to topple. They are pyramidal structures they will only make larger and more oppressive if ever they get into power.  

In a wider context - these US-backed opposition groups seek to reduce or eliminate Thailand's relationship with China in Washington's bid to encircle and contain China. 

Brian Berletic, formally known under the pen name "Tony Cartalucci" is a geopolitical researcher, writer, and video producer (YouTube here and BitChute here) based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a regular contributor to New Eastern Outlook and more recently, 21st Century Wire. You can support his work via Patreon here. 

The Danger of Political "Medics"

February 15, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) - A common feature of US-backed regime change is the creation and use of "medical" organizations that augment violent protesters and use their uniforms, vehicles, and facilities as a form of cover for subversion and sedition. 

This is of course a breach of the principle of medical neutrality and a crime under the Geneva Conventions. 

In the video above, I introduce the Thai-based "Doctors and Nurse Associate" which claims to be  a medical volunteer organization and is frequently spotted at US-backed anti-government protests in Thailand. One of their medics was allegedly chased down, subdued, and arrested by Thai police. 

A visit to their social media accounts reveals a very overt political agenda - often retweeting US government funded-fronts like iLaw, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), Prachatai, as well as fake human rights groups like Human Rights Watch.

They are using their work as medics as a means to both promote anti-government protests in Thailand, and as a means to augment and provide cover for anti-government activities. 

This should be particularly troubling for those who remember the use and abuse of medical uniforms during other US-backed regime change operations including recently in Hong Kong and during the proxy war in Syria where the notorious "White Helmets" were all but Al Qaeda terrorists dressed as medics and rescue workers and carrying out war propaganda. 

Brian Berletic, formally known under the pen name "Tony Cartalucci" is a geopolitical researcher, writer, and video producer (YouTube here and BitChute here) based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a regular contributor to New Eastern Outlook and more recently, 21st Century Wire. You can support his work via Patreon here. 

Why the US Will Continue to Meddle in Thailand...

January 31, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) - I explain why US foreign policy never changes regardless of who is in the White House - how corporate-funded think tanks actually produce US foreign policy and how Washington merely rubber-stamps it.

I also explain steps nations like Thailand can take to protect themselves from constant US interference in their internal political affairs.

References: 

Council on Foreign Relations - Revisiting U.S. Grand Strategy Toward China: 

https://carnegieendowment.org/files/Tellis_Blackwill.pdf

Council on Foreign Relations - Corporate Members:

https://www.cfr.org/membership/corporate-members

Brookings Institution - Annual Report, Honor Roll (p. 43): 

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-annual-report.pdf

Atlantic Council - Honor Roll of Contributors: 

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/support-the-council/honor-roll-of-contributors-2019/

US News - Not Unusual: Members of Congress Often Don’t Read Bills:

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/thomas-jefferson-street/articles/2017-05-05/trumpcares-not-unusual-members-of-congress-often-dont-read-bills

US Senator Lindsey Graham - Graham Questions Antony Blinken at Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing: 

https://youtu.be/w_kHoQME1OM

Brian Berletic, formally known under the pen name "Tony Cartalucci" is a geopolitical researcher, writer, and video producer (YouTube here and BitChute here) based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a regular contributor to New Eastern Outlook and more recently, 21st Century Wire. You can support his work via Patreon here. 

Reuters vs. Thailand: Why Does the Western Media Always Lie?

January 29, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) - Why does Reuters and other Western media corporations consistently attack Thailand and repeat easily debunked lies while deliberately leaving out essential context? 

I explain how Reuters is simply a media organization owed by special interests interested in manipulating public perception to suit their own business interests around the globe.

References: 

The Reuters Institute - How activists and digital publishers are redefining media freedoms in Thailand:

https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/risj-review/how-activists-and-digital-publishers-are-redefining-media-freedoms-thailand

The Reuters Institute - About:

https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/about-reuters-institute

US National Endowment for Democracy - Thailand (2019):

https://www.ned.org/region/asia/thailand-2019/

Human Rights Watch - Not Enough Graves (2004): 

https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/thailand0704/4.htm#_Toc76203866

Thomson Reuters - Board of Directors:  https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/about-us/board-of-directors.html

Brian Berletic, formally known under the pen name "Tony Cartalucci" is a geopolitical researcher, writer, and video producer (YouTube here and BitChute here) based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a regular contributor to New Eastern Outlook and more recently, 21st Century Wire. You can support his work via Patreon here. 

Thai Protests Aimed at Thai-Chinese Relations

January 29, 2021 (Brian Berletic - NEO) - Thailand has for months faced anti-government protests. While portrayed by the Western media as organic, self-organized, and "pro-democratic," US government-funding and the protest leaders themselves openly aligning with US-funded opposition groups in Hong Kong and Taiwan have revealed the ongoing unrest as aimed at China.

The US seeks to complicate Thai-Chinese relations and either replace the current government with one willing to pivot the nation toward Washington, or sufficiently destabilize the nation and deprive China of a constructive regional partner. 

Thailand Today is not the Thailand of Cold War Past 

Despite persistent Cold War rhetoric about Thailand's "major non-NATO ally" status with the US - Thailand today has shifted (with much of the world) eastward with its major economic, political, and even military ties now residing squarely in Asia. 

Today's Thailand counts China as its largest trading partner with 12.29% of its exports going to China versus 10.75% to the US. The rest of Thailand's major export partners all reside in Asia. 

20.16% of Thailand's imports come from China versus 5.82% from the US. Again - the vast majority of Thailand's other major import partners reside in Asia. 

China is also Thailand's largest foreign investor providing over 13 times more direct foreign investment than the United States. 

Thailand's tourism industry has expanded drastically owed to the huge influx of visitors from China pre-COVID-19. In fact, annually, more tourists arrive from China in Thailand than from all Western nations combined. 

There are also major infrastructure projects China and Thailand are currently involved in including the rollout of Thailand's 5G networks and a high-speed railway that will ultimately connect Thailand to China via Laos. The completion of this project will allow the movement of people and goods more directly to and from China not only into Laos and Thailand but into the rest of Southeast Asia and will fuel further growth for the region. 

Then there are Thailand and China's military relationship. Thailand has begun replacing its aging US military hardware with newer Chinese defense systems ranging from main battle tanks and armored personnel carriers to naval vessels including Thailand's first modern diesel electric submarines. There are also joint-weapon programs including the DTI-1 guided missile system. 

US-Funded Destabilization Targets Thai-Chinese Relations 

Considering these economic, financial, and military ties there is little mystery as to why Washington would seek to reverse them. 

US-backed Billionaire Hides Behind Class Warfare Rhetoric

January 26, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) - I have been often asked what's behind the logo of the US-backed billionaire opposition party Future Forward's orange upside-down triangle logo. While some have tried to link it to the "Illuminati" the truth is actually much more interesting and revealing. 

The upside triangle is meant to represent the upending of social hierarchy and in particular - the removal of Thailand's constitutional monarchy.  

But as I explain - the US-backed opposition party and its leader's family business - Thai Summit - are themselves organized as a pyramidal hierarchy - serving as their own source of wealth and power as well as their own means to lure in and exploit ordinary people below them. In essence they hiding behind class warfare rhetoric to lure ordinary people in to do their bidding with no real intention of creating the social equality they claim doesn't exist in Thailand and that they promise followers at protests and at the polls. 

Brian Berletic, formally known under the pen name "Tony Cartalucci" is a geopolitical researcher, writer, and video producer (YouTube here and BitChute here) based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a regular contributor to New Eastern Outlook and more recently, 21st Century Wire. You can support his work via Patreon here. 

Ex-Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra Explains Best Why 2006 Coup Was Necessary

January 13, 2021 (Brian Berletic - LD) -We’re told by the US-backed Thai opposition and the Western media who promote them that Thailand’s military regularly interferes in Thai politics and undermines “democracy” by doing so. But Thaksin Shinawatra, in a recent interview, admits himself the horrific human rights abuses and conflict he stirred up while in office and makes the strongest case yet for why the military needed to remove him from power - and keep him out of power.

References: 

Thai Enquirer - Exclusive: Interview with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra;

Wikileaks - THAILAND'S DEAL OF THE CENTURY: TEMASEK BUYS OUT PM'S SHIN CORP:

https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06BANGKOK538_a.html

Human Rights Watch - Human Rights Abuses and the War on Drugs (2004): 

https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/thailand0704/4.htm#_Toc76203866

Transcript (English/ไทย): 

I've talked about the US backed anti-government protests here in Thailand. How the US government through the National Endowment for Democracy is funding all the core organizations involved. Everything from leadership and media promoting the protests to legal services and even organizing petitions to do everything up to and including trying to rewrite the Thai constitution. 

ผมพูดถึงเรื่องการที่รัฐบาลสหรัฐ

กำลังหนุนหลังผู้ประท้วงต่อต้านรัฐบาลในไทยไปแล้ว

ซึ่งเป็นเรื่องของการที่รัฐบาลสหรัฐใช้องค์กร NGO

อย่าง NED บังหน้าเพื่อมอบทุนสนนับสนุนองค์กรต่างๆ

ที่อยู่เบื้องหลังการชุมนุมครั้งนี้

ในหลายๆ ด้าน ตั้งแต่บทบาทการนำผู้ชุมนุม

สื่อต่างๆ ที่มาช่วยประโคมข่าวสนับสนุนผู้ชุมนุม

ที่ปรึกษาด้านกฏหมายต่างๆ รวมทั้ง

การจัดการวางรากฐานเรื่องการยื่นแก้รัฐธรรมนูญไทยด้วย

US-Funded Thai Mobs' "New Year's Resolution"

December 28, 2020 (Brian Berletic - LD) - Despite being exposed as US government funded agitators working to divide and destroy Thailand, despite plummeting numbers of supporters and disastrous election results, and despite the continuous damage they are doing to the Thai economy - mob leaders like Anon Nampa have vowed to continue disruptive street protests well into next year. 

They also vow to bring back fugitives "by 2022." 

I explain why these fugitives are not "dissidents," why Thailand's anti-defamation laws are not "archaic," and offer an alternative we can work on to help offset the negativity people like Anon Nampa have planned for Thailand in 2021.

READ MORE: The Complete Guide: US Government Role in Thailand's "Student Protests"

Thailand: UN Defends Violent Mobs

December 19, 2020 (Brian Berletic - LD) -  The UN has once again made yet another inappropriate and inaccurate statement about yet another country the US is meddling in. 

I explain why the UN’s statement regarding Thailand’s current political crisis is wrong and how it helps serve US interference in Thailand’s internal political affairs - an actual issue the UN should speak up about - but doesn't.

Thailand: US Openly Backs Anti-Government Mob

December 10, 2020 (Brian Berletic - LD) - US Senators Bob Menendez and Dick Durbin introduced a resolution openly siding with the anti-government and anti-monarchy mobs in Thailand. 

I have exposed the US government’s funding and backing of these mobs for years - and now the US government has openly sided with them - a possible sign of escalation. 

I explain who Menendez and Durbin are - their history of backing US intervention and regime change around the globe - and why Thailand needs to take this threat seriously.

References:

Thailand: US-Funded Anti-Government Mobs Rebrand (Again)

December 9, 2020 (Brian Berletic - LD) - US-funded anti-government mobs in Thailand have once again “re-branded” their movement, using a “communist” toned logo with English letters spelling out “RT,” most likely part of their anti-monarchy agenda. 

I explain why this movement has rebranded itself so many times, what that means, and why Thailand needs to be more careful than ever regarding this foreign-backed regime-change operation.

Thailand Father's Day 2020: A Look from the Outside In...

December 7, 2020 (Brian Berletic - LD) - I take a look at Thailand's Father's Day celebration, and share my experience celebrating with the Thai people.

I explain what it means to them and what it means to me personally. When you see how important and special this day is, you will understand clearly why those who dislike Thailand seek to undermine it and everything it represents. 

A special thanks to Jack From Thailand who helped me make this video. Please consider subscribing to his YouTube channel here. He is also on BitChute and Flote.