News
Myanmar Junta Invites Bids for New Solar Power Projects
The military regime is seeking tenders to implement 12 solar power projects to raise foreign currency, with some 40 firms including Thai and Chinese companies planning to make bids. Bids for the 12 solar power projects were invited on May 24 and tenders are to be ...
THE IRRAWADDY
New Unesco heritage bid for forest site
Thailand will push ahead with another attempt to secure Unesco World Heritage site status for the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex at the annual World Heritage Convention this month, said Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. The country’s largest national park, covering a 2.9-million rai ...
POST REPORTERS
COVID-19 Drives New Surge in Trafficking of Women From Laos to China
Economic hardship in Lao villages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is driving a new surge in the trafficking to China of Lao women and girls desperate to find jobs, police and other sources in the Southeast Asian country say. “Right now, our police department is working ...
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Draft social protection law unveiled
The government has drawn up a “Draft Law on Social Protection System” to ensure minimum standards of well-being and reduce economic and financial vulnerabilities. The draft law is designed to strengthen the income security of the people and promote social equality through the creation and management ...
Thou Vireak
Genocide Designation for Myanmar Tests Biden’s Human Rights Policy
Three years ago, American investigators produced a 15,000-page analysis of atrocities committed in 2017 against the Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority group in Myanmar. The report documented survivors’ accounts of gang rapes, crucifixions, mutilations, of children being burned or drowned and of families locked inside their blazing ...
Lara Jakes
Local officials under investigation for multimillion baht purchase of street lamps
Following allegations of corruption over a local government’s exorbitant purchases on decorative street lamps, Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating and say procurements of the street lamps in a province just outside Bangkok were not in line with regulations. More than 20 people and ...
Bangkok Post
Vietnam arrests four for anti-state Facebook posts
Police in Hanoi and a central province have detained four Facebookers for posts allegedly infringing state interests and fighting against the communist government. State-run Quang Ngai newspaper reported on June 30 that police in Quang Ngai province arrested Bach Van Hien, 34, Phung Thanh Tuyen, 38, and Le ...
UCA News reporter, Hanoi
Carving up the Cardamoms: Conservationists fear massive land grab in Cambodia
A new regulation signed into law in March this year but only unveiled publicly in May will see almost 127,000 hectares (313,800 acres) of previously protected land in Cambodia made available for sale or rent, prompting fears among conservationists about a land grab for some ...
GERALD FLYNN & ANDREW BALL & PHOUNG VANTHA
Lao Authorities and Women’s Union Assist Trafficking Victims
Lao authorities in cooperation with the Lao Women’s Union have successfully assisted two young women who became victims of human trafficking. The young women, aged between 14 and 16 years, were to be trafficked to China following a deal brokered between their parents and a trafficking ...
Phayboune Thanabouasy
What COVID-19? Synthetic drug trade thrives in Mekong Region
It has been quick to spot opportunities and reduce risks, thriving despite COVID-19. In its own brand of regional integration, it has been connecting the dots across the lower Mekong region as it carves out new ways to cross borders and reach its customers in ...
Johanna Son, Reporting ASEAN