News
What Does Myanmar’s First Submarine Mean for Its Security and the Region?
Earlier this week, we saw another round of headlines tied to Myanmar’s receiving of its first-ever submarine from India. The focus on the capability addition, which has been the subject of speculation over the past few months, has once again spotlighted its significance both for ...
Prashanth Parameswaran
TBA to announce guidelines on protection of clients' data
The Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA) will issue practice guidelines for commercial banks in handling clients’ personal data, following the enforcement of the personal data protection law in May next year. The Personal Data Protection Act, B.E. 2562 (2019) regarding the collection, use, or disclosure of personal ...
89th joint patrol on Mekong River concludes
The 89th international joint patrol on the Mekong River concluded on December 27, with China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand taking part. According to the Yunnan provincial public security department, 128 law enforcement officers participated in the mission aboard six vessels, covering 542km. A consultation meeting on ...
Thai reporter gets jail in libel case filed by poultry farm
A court in Thailand on Tuesday sentenced a reporter to two years in prison for criminal libel for a comment she tweeted about a labor abuse grievance at a poultry farm. The case against Suchanee Cloitre, then working for Voice TV, is one of 20 lawsuits ...
Busaba Sivasomboon and Grant Peck / AP
Việt Nam, Laos hold sixth ministerial consultation
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh and Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith co-chaired the sixth ministerial consultation in the northern province of Quảng Ninh on Wednesday. Both sides expressed their delight at the considerable development of bilateral ties in various areas, with ...
Nam Ou River hydropower project in Laos starts 2nd phase operation
A ceremony to start the first power generation unit of Nam Ou River Cascade Hydropower Project’s second phase was held on Thursday, in Luang Prabang, some 220 km north of the Lao capital Vientiane. Lao Minister of Energy and Mines and President of the Laos-China Friendship ...
mingmei
Thai gov't approves financial aid to 5th Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge
The Thai government on Tuesday approved financial assistance to Laos for the construction of the fifth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge linking Thailand’s northeastern province of Bueng Kan with Lao’s central province of Bolikhamsai. “The fifth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge had been approved in principle in the Cabinet’s resolution ...
Xuxin
Ambitious agricultural development strategic plan launched
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries yesterday launched an ambitious five-year strategic plan to develop farming and push the agriculture sector to modernise, become more competitive and resilient to climate change and, in particular, to move on from labour-intensive traditional practices. The plan for 2019 ...
Chea Vannak
Experts doubt effectiveness of new plan to address Mekong drought
After a year of severe drought that hit the region, the inter-state agency Mekong River Commission (MRC) has laid out new measures to mitigate the effects of the crisis but experts have questioned the effectiveness of the plan. In its 2020-2025 strategy, adopted late last month ...
Leonie Kijewski
Drought, dams may lead to death of Mekong
The livelihood of millions of people in China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam will be affected as drought and newly-built dams impede the Mekong River’s flow, drying up segments of the once fast-flowing river. Observers predict that these two factors may lead to the death of ...
Azman Hamid, Patrick Sennyah, Roy Goh