News
Rethink on prostitution: Officials say Vietnam needs legal red-light districts
Social affairs officials at a national meeting on 21 August said the government should legalize prostitution and create red-light districts in major cities to monitor the sex industry more effectively. Officials at the meeting held by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in Ho Chi ...
Vietnamese keep off vegetables on pesticide fears
Vietnamese are consuming too much starch and sugar and only half the amount of daily vegetables recommended, partly because of worries about pesticides, experts said. A recent survey by the National Institute of Nutrition found a person in Vietnam consumes 200 grams of vegetables on average ...
Vietnam stocks plunge as bank concerns trigger sharp sell-off
Vietnam’s stocks just had a rough week after bad news kept hitting the markets, prompting many investors to dump a large number of bank shares amid a broad sell-off. The benchmark VN-Index dropped to 556.30 at the 3 p.m. close on 21 August, shedding nearly 17 ...
State banks help more Thais to join financial system
Thailand is among several countries in the East Asia and Pacific region to record an increase in financial inclusion thanks to greater financial services offered by state-owned banks, says a World Bank senior economist. Thailand registered a higher rate of financial inclusion among adults aged 15 ...
Floods persist in Ayeyarwady Delta
While monsoon season flooding has ravaged most of Myanmar, in Ayeyarwady’s Tharpaung township the water has yet to subside below the danger level, meaning access has been severely restricted. Besieged villagers have scrambled onto anything dry, cresting roofs, higher ground, or in some cases, inside half-submerged ...
Arakanese ire raised over citizenship verification drive
The Arakan State government’s ongoing citizenship verification process has caused disquiet among local Arakanese, some of whom contend that immigration officials are overly accommodating of unwarranted claims. The citizenship verification process, a largely ill-defined scheme that involves non-nationals providing proof of Burma-born ancestry, has led to ...
Flood-hit communities slated for relocation
Residents of 17 villages in Kalay, Kalaywa and Tamu townships plan to relocate their communities to safer sites to avoid future disasters, a Sagaing Region official said on 20 August. U Soe Soe Zaw said 13 villages in Kalay, two in Kalaywa and two in Tamu ...
Chinese tourists head to Thailand despite bombing fears
Busloads of visitors from China flocked to Bangkok’s glittering Grand Palace on 21 August but, days after a bomb at another of the city’s popular attractions killed five Chinese tourists, Thailand’s biggest spending holidaymakers are rattled. The attack on a Hindu shrine, particularly popular with Chinese devotees, did ...
Vietnam sets up steering committee for industrialisation strategy
The Prime Minister has decided to establish a Steering Committee for Vietnam’s industrialisation strategy as part of a cooperation agreement with Japan by 2020, with a vision to 2030. The Steering Committee for the strategy will be led by Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai while Minister ...
China factory index hits 6-year low
A key indicator of China’s manufacturing activity slumped to a 77-month low in August, an independent survey showed on 21 August, fuelling concerns of further deceleration in the world’s second-largest economy. The preliminary reading of Caixin’s Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) came in at 47.1 this month, ...
