我們要準備南向到台灣人最熟悉的地方，東南亞。東南亞有11個國家，國與國之間經濟發展差異極大。有人類發展指數極高的新加坡，有經濟正在成長的泰國和馬來西亞，但也有人均GDP 不到2,000 美元的緬甸、柬埔寨和東帝汶。

除此之外，東南亞各國政權樣貌各不相同。有四個國家以君主為最高元首，是君主立憲制；越南和寮國走社會主義，由共產黨統治；另外還有兩個國家目前由軍政府主政。這個區域現在鮮少有兩國之間的激烈對抗，倒是各有各的內政困擾，例如緬甸政變或泰國王室改革聲浪。若要說有什麼牽涉較多國家的區域衝突，大概就是湄公河水權，以及南海衝突了。

Now we are heading south towards a region Taiwanese people can’t be more familiar with: Southeast Asia. 

There are 11 countries in Southeast Asia, and the economic development varies greatly among these countries. There is Singapore, which has a very high score on the Human Development Index; Thailand and Malaysia, where the economy is growing. But there are also Myanmar, Cambodia, and East Timor where the GDP per capita is less than US$2,000. In addition, the regimes of Southeast Asian countries take on different forms. Four countries are constitutional monarchies with the monarch as the head of state. Vietnam and Laos follow socialism and are ruled by a Communist Party; and two other countries are currently controlled by military governments. Violent conflict between countries is currently rare in this region. Instead, each nation has its own troubles in internal affairs, such as the coup in Myanmar or the call for reforms in the Thai royal family. To really name any regional conflicts involving multiple countries, they are probably water disputes in the Mekong basin and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.