Infrastructure
Orange Line plans hit giant bump
The Transport Ministry is planning to review the western section of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority’s (MRTA) Orange Line — from the Thailand Cultural Centre to Taling Chan — after residents refused to relocate. News of the review comes a day after the cabinet approved the construction ...
FDA shutters 22 mom-and-pop drinking-water companies
Unlicensed bottled water companies are being shut down by the Food and Drug Administration for fear they could be bacteria-ridden and contaminated, according to officials. Action is so far aimed at small-time businesses which often operate out of the vendors’ homes. However, the results of a secret ...
Making Southeast Asia's skies safer
Last week, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration downgraded the safety rating for the entire Thai aviation system, placing it among those of a handful of countries — including Southeast Asian neighbors Bangladesh and Indonesia — that don’t meet international “minimum safety oversight standards.” Boeing expects Southeast Asian airlines ...
Ho Chi Minh City passengers, drivers are getting off the buses
Buses, essentially the only public transport available in Ho Chi Minh City, are turning both passengers and drivers away due to a lack of investment, officials said at a conference on 4 December. The city’s transport department estimated that the system will have seen nearly 324 million ...
Vietnam's biggest airport to stop receiving new flights during rush hours
As overcrowding is getting more serious at Vietnam’s largest airport Tan Son Nhat, local aviation authority is now looking to stop receiving new flights during rush hours, a local official said on 5 December. Dang Tuan Tu, director of the Ho Chi Minh City-based airport, was ...
Huaphan roadwork slowly uncoiling bends
The winding road between Xieng Khuang and Huaphan provinces in the northern part of the country is steadily being straightened and widened, an official confirmed. An official from the Huaphan provincial Public Works and Transport Department Mr Ounchay Sisaengchan, told Vientiane times on 1 December that each ...
China-invested cement plant inaugurated in Laos
A Chinese-invested cement factory in central Laos was inaugurated on Thursday in Khammouane province, expected to serve the construction of China-Laos railway project in the country. The inaugural ceremony was attended by Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somsavad Lengsavath, who also cut the ribbon for the commencement ...
China signs rice, rubber deals with Thailand
China has signed rice and rubber purchase deals with Thailand as part of the Thai-Sino railway development agreement. Negotiations over the railway are continuing. The deals were signed at the ninth meeting of the Joint Committee on Railway Cooperation in Bangkok on 3 December. Keep reading ...
Cambodian Government touts internet record despite telecom law concerns
Government officials defended Cambodia’s record on internet freedom on 3 December, despite concerns that recent and proposed legislation could curtail the rights of those speaking out online. Addressing a conference on the issue in Phnom Penh, Meas Sophorn, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Information, ...
Thai PM urged to await verdict before paying constructor of Klong Dan project
A civic group on 3 December petitioned Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to exercise his special power and cancel the Cabinet’s resolution approving the payment of Bt9.6 billion in compensation to the constructor of the corruption-plagued Klong Dan wastewater-treatment project. Keep reading ...
