Time for Change: Campaign for an Independent Green Thanet MP and Ramsgate Mayor

COPP (Combined Operations Pilotage Parties) reconnaissance missions on Phuket Island in March 1945 , not the later naval strikes of Operation Livery July 1945.  These were clandestine beach surveys ahead of potential Allied landings in Thailand, and they were among the most dangerous and unusual COPP operations in Southeast Asia. COPP Raids on Phuket – March 1945 Two simultaneous missions were launched: 1. Operation Baboon Unit : COPP 3 Objective : Survey the beach and airfield near what is now Phuket International Airport Team : Included an RAF officer—unusual for COPP Method : Landed by canoe, then hid ashore for multiple days (rather than returning to submarines nightly) Tools : Cameras, Abney levels—rare for COPP, indicating a focus on airfield suitability 2. Operation Copyright Unit : Detachment 385 (Royal Marines, part of Small Operations Group) Objective : Reconnoitre a beach and inland site for a temporary airfield , further south Team : Included COPP’s Ian Mackenzie and...

In June 2025, Thailand’s civilian-led government under Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra finds itself navigating one of the most delicate diplomatic crises in recent memory: a re-escalation of the long-standing border dispute with Cambodia. The current standoff, which flared after a Cambodian soldier was killed in a disputed zone near the Emerald Triangle in Isaan, has reignited nationalist sentiment on both sides and drawn uncomfortable parallels with the region’s colonial past.   The Thai cabinet, composed of a coalition that includes technocrats, military veterans, and progressive voices, has been under pressure to respond firmly yet diplomatically. Paetongtarn, daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has emphasized bilateral mechanisms and de-escalation, but her administration has also imposed border restrictions and, perhaps unwisely at least given Thailand's UN Human Rights Council status and OECD bid, signalled that Thailand will not accept Cambodia’s ...