Social development
Five-day ICT course for Thai youth rolled out
A multinational technology company recently held its annual “Seeds for the Future 2020” event in Bangkok to offer talented and motivated university students the opportunity to enhance their digital skills through a hands-on training program with leading ICT experts. A group of 15 students from Chulalongkorn ...
Alita Sharon
OPED: The pressure cooker that is Thailand
Thailand finds itself in a pressure cooker these days, dealing with pre-Covid-19 economic weaknesses, the lack of longer-term responses to the economic and social crises from the pandemic, and uncertainty about how much longer people can hold on before falling into poverty, losing jobs or ...
JOHANNA SON
Officials deny RSV outbreak
Health officials in Nakhon Ratchasima admit that eight children have been infected with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) but deny there’s been an outbreak of the airborne disease in nurseries. The children were aged 2-5 and are recovering after receiving hospital treatment, said Dr Narinrat Pichayakamin, a ...
PRASIT TANGPRASERT
Room to Read extends support for education
Lao children will benefit from a project to strengthen education, funded by Room to Read at a cost of more than US$3.6 million. The ‘Enhancing Education for Lao Children Project phase V’ is also financing the Reading Promotion Project in Attapeu province, with US$135,935 provided by ...
Times Reporters
Myanmar polls: Facebook under scrutiny over hate speech
One of two Muslims allowed to run for the governing party in Buddhist-majority Myanmar’s general election on Sunday, Sithu Maung, worries fake news on Facebook could damage his chances. Within a torrent of racist abuse and misinformation posted about him ahead of the polls are false ...
Reuters
Over 7,600 people infected with dengue in Laos
A total of 7,612 cases of dengue fever have been recorded across the country since January, according to the Lao Ministry of Health. Deputy Director-General of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control under Lao Ministry of Health, Phonepaserd Sayamoungkhoun, told a press conference in Lao capital ...
ANI/Xinhua
Myanmar reveals new strategy for coronavirus-free status
Myanmar is planning to adopt a new community-based containment strategy in an effort to become a coronavirus-free country in a matter of months, said the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Sports. “It is a community-based program designed to restore the current situation of high ...
Hmue Angel
First Person: supporting migrants on the COVID-19 frontline in Myanmar
Myanmar has been preparing for the return of hundreds of thousands of workers – some 650,000 are in Thailand alone – and one of the key tasks was to set up quarantine facilities for those returning migrants. Sandi Swe, who has been working in a ...
UN
Cambodia’s future depends on its poor, discriminated, and marginalised people
I believe the future of Cambodia depends on how the country supports its poor, discriminated, and marginalised people. Inequality will always exist, but all countries that neglect their downtrodden will bear the weight of reproach and the constant risk that immense talent, prospects, and capabilities ...
Youk Chhang
‘I have to do this’: Myanmar garment workers forced into sex work by Covid
When Hla, 19, tried to go back to work seven months ago after having a baby, there were no jobs. Hundreds of garment factories in Myanmar had closed after western fashion brands cancelled orders due to the pandemic, leaving thousands of women jobless. As lockdown gripped Yangon, ...
Lorcan Lovett and Nay Chi Nway