Government
Thai trips expected to rise as visa-free deal with Myanmar comes into effect
Visa-free travel to Thailand for Myanmar passport-holders has come into effect, sparking a spike in visitor numbers, travel agents say. Following an agreement reached last month, Myanmar passport holders can now visit Bangkok or Phuket for a two-week trip without queuing for a visa at the Thai ...
Myanmar Government trumpets pledges from China
Amid accusations that it caved in to Chinese pressure, the government has been at pains to show that its release in a presidential amnesty last week of 153 Chinese illegal loggers was accompanied by a number of pledges it has managed to extract from Beijing. The ...
Thailand wants to buy submarines from China, US wary of growing relationship between military junta and Beijing
The Royal Thai Navy claims it urgently needs more submarines to compete with other Asian countries. The assistant commander made the claim aimed at persuading a skeptical public that the nation should invest in its military in a white paper sent to reporters, the Bangkok Post ...
Vietnam strives to improve its trade statistics for ASEAN
Vietnam will strive to become one of ASEAN’s top five nations in international trade statistics by 2017. This is part of a plan for Vietnam’s integration into the ASEAN Statistics system in the 2016-20 period, as approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. According to the plan’s general targets ...
Thailand, Myanmar sign visa-free agreement
Thailand and Myanmar signed an agreement on Tuesday to allow citizens with ordinary passports to make visa-free visits of up to 14 days. It will come into effect on 11 August. Keep reading ...
Thailand dismisses US criticism over human trafficking and slavery
Thailand has hit back after being blacklisted in a US report for the second consecutive year for not combatting modern-day slavery, arguing it has made serious steps to tackle human trafficking. The ministry of foreign affairs said the US state department’s annual Trafficking in Persons report, “does not ...
Experts tell Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia to study border issues
Delegates from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos discussed the ASEAN Economic Community’s effects on transnational natural resources at an annual international conference on cross-border economic co-operation. Speaking at the meeting in Da Lat, chairman of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, said Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia should ...
Mekong meet helps states prepare for AEC
To welcome the launch of the Asean Economic Community and help Greater Mekong Subregion countries cope with e-commerce, an international conference was held recently to bring specialists and officials together to swap ideas and experiences. The 8 July event, titled “Mekong Forum 2015 – Modernising the ...
Jailings linked to border campaign, Rainsy says
Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Sunday that the imprisonment of 11 CNRP activists for “insurrection” last week was a message from Prime Minister Hun Sen that the party must end its campaign to highlight encroachments along the Vietnamese border. Mr. Rainsy’s comments came after the ...
Vietnam’s name-and-shame corporate tax list enjoys success
Vietnam has found an effective way to crack down on tax laggards as it struggles to fund infrastructure projects and curb rising debt: make the names of the offending businesses public to shame them into paying up. The Ministry of Finance published a first-ever list of ...
