Social development
Human rights
Thailand to support Bangladesh for Mekong-Ganga Cooperation membership, pledges more funds for Rohingyas
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has also promised more funds for the humanitarian assistance of the Rohingya people who have taken shelter in Bangladesh from Myanmar. Keep reading ...
Senior Correspondent
Trapped in a gilded cage of complacency
Across the globe, democracy, freedoms and the rule of law are collapsing. Our planet is suffering from increasing uncontrolled migration due to resource extraction limits and global climate change which is compounding rising authoritarianism and xenophobia in countries like Myanmar. Thailand, a key middle power in ...
JOHN DRAPER & PEERASIT KAMNUANSILPA
Thailand rejects UN report on Myanmar refugees on border
Thailand on February 4 dismissed the end-of-mission statement by United Nations Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee on refugees’ basic rights in the kingdom, saying that her message was untrue and unfair. Keep reading ...
SUPALAK GANJANAKHUNDEE
Learning the ways of the Middle Kingdom
The Confucius Institute, a non-profit public educational organisation affiliated with the Chinese government and with a centre in Phnom Penh, expects the intake of Cambodian students to increase in coming years as China and Cambodia fortify political and economic ties.[]“We have made many educational achievements ...
Chea Vannak
Mekong activists demand international law regulating development projects
A network of Thai people living along the Mekong River are advocating an international law to protect the environment and human rights regarding international investments in the river basin, as the major lifeline is threatened by multiple projects.Keep reading ...
The Nation Reporter
PM says prominent human rights NGO ‘must close’
Prime Minister Hun Sen has instructed the Interior Ministry to investigate the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) and potentially close it “because they follow foreigners”, appearing to link the rights group to the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party’s purported “revolution”.Keep reading ...
Ben Sokhean
Asean rules for Mekong region urged as governments falter
Academics have suggested there should be an international Asean declaration to control and enforce good governance and the protection of human rights in the region. Thai Extra-Territorial Obligations Working Group and Chulalongkorn University held a forum yesterday to determine measures to develop good governance for ...
PRATCH RUJIVANAROM
The data commons: What lies ahead for the Mekong region?
Open data access and sharing in the Mekong is spreading. Open data can increase public participation, aid greater transparency in government, and improve resource governance, city planning or public health monitoring. A number of initiatives, both private sector and civil society, are emerging. However, a ...
Mai Lan
Cambodia accused of 'killing off democracy' after opposition party dissolved by Supreme Court
Cambodia has been accused of ‘killing off democracy’ after the country’s supreme court dissolved the opposition party and outlawed over 100 politicians ahead of a general election next year. Thursday’s ruling to disband the Cambodia National Rescue Party, in a Southeast Asian country visited by about 159,000 ...
Nicola Smith & Louise Burke
Southeast Asia is world's hotspot for land disputes: report
Businesses in Southeast Asia are increasingly counting the cost of land grabs, more than half of which result in delayed projects and nearly three-quarters of which lead to lawsuits, according to a wide-ranging research report. Out of a sample of 51 major land disputes surveyed across ...
Simon Roughneen