Southeast Asia’s Biggest Stories of 2011

By WSJ Staff

As protests rocked the Middle East, Europe descended into fiscal chaos, Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster claimed the lives of tens of thousands and Occupy Wall Street – and impending elections – gripped America, it is possible that Southeast Asia’s quieter revolutions and subtler changes may have gone relatively unnoticed.

Still, the region which often remains stubborn and impervious to political change has been shaken by massive and hugely significant events over the past year. Here is our roundup of the biggest stories from the region over the past year.

Myanmar’s Reforms

After decades of stubborn defiance, Myanmar’s military leaders have implemented a series of reforms and made tentative steps towards democracy – including freeing hundreds of political prisoners, engaging with long-persecuted ethnic minorities and allowing Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy to contest elections after many years of detention for many of its top leaders. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the nation in early December – the first visit by someone in her position for five decades.

Myanmar’s Pariah Regime Courts the West in China’s Shadow

‘No Intention to Retract’ Reforms: Transcript of WSJ Exclusive Interview With Myanmar’s Government

Suu Kyi Embraces U.S. Engagement

Elections in Singapore

Singapore’s longtime political masters – the People’s Action Party – may be losing their grip on power ever so slightly, after decades spent building a tightly controlled financial dynamo. The party fought two bruising elections, notching in May’s general election its lowest winning margin since Singapore’s independence in 1965, before seeing its favored candidate – former Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan – barely scrape victory in August’s presidential election. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong responded by pledging policy reforms and giving his party a much-needed facelift.

Singapore Vote Lifts Opposition

Singapore Government’s Preferred Candidate Barely Wins

Singapore’s ‘Men in White’ Seek Fresh Look

Elections in Thailand

Thailand’s populist Puea Thai (For Thais) party won a landslide victory in the country’s general election this July, making Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra – sister of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – the kingdom’s first female prime minister, though she was virtually unknown months before the election. The vote followed years of political instability in the economically-crucial nation, culminating with a violent crackdown on the “Red Shirt” protestors in May 2010. Mr. Thaksin, however, has made no secret of his desire to return to Thailand from his bolt-hole in Dubai, where he lives to avoid imprisonment on a corruption conviction which he describes as politically motivated. Ms. Yingluck’s government, too, is keen to bring him back one way or another, suggesting that Thailand’s troubles might be far from over.

Thai Military Accepts Election Result

Post-Poll Tensions Rise for New Thai Leader

Thai Leader Stalls on Brother’s Return

Floods in Thailand

This year, Thailand faced its worst flood in five decades. A mass of water the size of Connecticut crippled factories, cut supply chains and submerged rice fields, killing nearly 800 people and displacing thousands more. Flooding began around the monsoon season in July and continued till early December, and Thailand is still counting the toll. The World Bank estimated that damages reached 1, 440 billion baht (45 billion USD) so far, making it the world’s 4^th most costly disaster after the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, the 1995 Kobe earthquake and Hurricane Katrina.

Bangkok Flood Adds to City’s Woes

Firms Draw Scrutiny Over Thai Flood’s Impact

Thai Airport Offers a Flood Refuge

Thai Crisis Tests Embattled Premier

The Rise of Indonesia

Indonesia lifted its economic and political profile in the region and in the world. Its economy expanded, powered by a booming middle class that is spending like never before as well as the trade and investment generated by the archipelago’s natural resources like coal, palm oil and tin. It hosted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and related summits throughout the year as well as the Southeast Asian games in which it was the overall medal winner.

While it continued to struggle with graft scandals and infrastructure bottlenecks, that did not stop it from attracting billions of dollars in foreign investment and seeing its gross domestic product grow by more than 6%. In December Fitch lifted  the country’s debt rating above junk for the first time in 14 year, giving executives and investors more confidence that Southeast Asia’s largest economy could be on track to become the latest large Asian economy to take off, following in the big footsteps of India and China.

Chasing the Commodities Boom

Blackberry Finds Fertile Ground In Asia

Fitch Lifts Indonesian Credit Rating Above Junk Level

Is Southeast Asia the New Middle East?

Malaysia’s Political Reforms

Faced with his waning popularity, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak announced a series of reforms in September, including the abolition of two notorious internal-security laws left behind from the days of British colonial rule. His government then boasted that these liberalizing measures constituted the biggest change the country – which has been ruled by the same party since independence in 1957 – has seen since has seen for decades. This, however, came only after critics accuse the government of using excessive violence – including tear gas and water cannons – to suppress a rally in July calling for free and fair elections. This invited a sea of domestic and international condemnation, which Mr. Najib desperately tried to manage.

Malaysia’s Najib Pledges to Examine Election Laws After Mass Protests

Malaysian Leader Opens Door for Reforms

Malaysia’s Reforms Shine Light on Singapore

Arroyo’s Arrest in the Philippines

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III kick-started his campaign to rid the country of corruption with a bang towards the end of 2011 – by launching the prosecution of his predecessor, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. With a Senate investigation into graft allegations at the heart of the Arroyo administration stalling, Mr. Aquino’s team charged Ms. Arroyo with conspiring to manipulate the outcome of congressional elections in 2007, preventing her from leaving the country to seek medical treatment overseas. Now, in a twist of fate, Ms. Arroyo, who denies any wrongdoing, is awaiting trial locked up in the same military hospital suite which previously held the man she helped bring down in 2001, former President Joseph Estrada. “It’s karma,” Mr. Estrada said recently.

Former Philippine President Charged With Electoral Fraud

Arroyo Trial Could Make Final Twist In Estrada’s Tale

Vietnam’s Communist Party Congress

Vietnam’s twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress in January was a tense affair for Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Facing unprecedented criticism for failing to containing spiraling inflation and allowing some of the country’s largest state-owned enterprises to fall further into debt, Mr. Dung wasn’t a shoo-in for a second term. In the end, he survived, albeit with clipped wings. Powerful rivals Truong Tan Sang and Nguyen Phu Trong were elected to the other key posts of President and Secretary-General of the Communist Party.

Vietnamese Premier is Poised For New Term

Laos Launches Stock Exchange

Communist-run Laos – often associated with adventure-seeking tourists and backpackers -shook off some of its socialist constraints this year by opening its first stock exchange. Its leaders hope the move will reel in foreign and local capital, and help transform the fortunes of one of Asia’s poorest nations. Laos may soon join the ranks of Vietnam and Indonesia, as Southeast Asia’s emerging markets hold more luster for keen investors seeking higher returns than might be available in the U.S. or Europe.

Laos Looks to Become a New Market Frontier