Social development
Human rights
Public figures ‘must tolerate criticism’
Academics and activists on 8 May called for the government and its leaders to tolerate criticism as its reaction to being mocked could violate people’s freedom of expression. Public figures must be able to take criticism otherwise they should stay at home and raise grandchildren, said ...
Myanmar’s media landscape through the years
Recent years have seen dramatic changes to Myanmar’s media landscape, with the previous quasi-civilian government taking steps to unshackle a press corps long muzzled by successive military regimes dating back to 1962. In the wake of World Press Freedom Day, which was celebrated on 3 May, ...
Media workers lament decline in freedom of expression in Thailand
“We are the worst, even when compared to Laos or Vietnam,” said Kulachada Chaipipat, campaign manager at the Southeast Asia Press Alliance. “Those two countries have seen stagnant, bad situations, but Thailand is going down.” Speaking on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on ...
ICT forum eyed as FDI springboard
The government is hopeful an upcoming global forum for the information and communication technology industry will provide an avenue for foreign direct investment from global tech companies. The ITU Telecom World Forum 2016, to be held in Bangkok from Nov 14-17, will also allow the Thai ...
State of press freedom remains dire across much of region
An annual assessment of press freedom in 180 countries released by campaign group Reporters Without Borders reveals a mixed bag of progress and decline in the region. According to the Reporters Without Borders report, bloggers and citizen journalists in Vietnam are “the permanent targets of extremely ...
Phuket removes encroaching shops on Surin beach
Authorities on 20 April demolished 36 shops illegally occupying parts of popular Surin beach as part of a campaign to regulate businesses on 50 beaches in this island province. Most proprietors had cooperated before officers moved in, but not all. Keep reading ...
Myanmar celebrates first Pulitzer prize-winning female journalist
Esther Htusan, 29, is one of four AP journalists who worked on an investigation into severe labor abuses within the Southeast Asian fishing industry, a sector which supplies seafood to supermarkets and restaurants abroad. The team’s reporting contributed to the freeing of approximately 2,000 slaves; ...
Yangon’s illegal residents appeal for end to evictions
Hlaing Tharyar residents who were considered unlawful squatters by the former government are appealing to the new administration to end the policy of violent evictions. Union Minister for Commerce U Than Myint said the government has no plan to evict squatters and illegal residents are citizens and ...
Vietnam warns of dire impact from planned Mekong dams
Vietnam has predicted “very high adverse effects” on the Mekong River environment and economy if 11 proposed dams are built on its lower mainstream. Mekong River Commission said it considers the report an internal document and is not yet releasing it. Vietnam has not released ...
Ministry hits back at rebuke of contentious telecoms law
Cambodia’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunications has defended the controversial new Telecommunications Law following a biting legal analysis by rights group Licadho, which says the legislation is a veiled tool to silence critics and potentially criminalize private expression. Keep reading ...
