News

Typically regarded as the more vulnerable currencies in Asia to external shocks, the ringgit, baht, and rupiah are proving the most resilient on their relatively lower exposure to China and a dovish Federal Reserve.   The Malaysian, Thai and Indonesian exchange rates are the top three performers ...

Frustrated by Laos ploughing ahead with its controversial Don Sahong dam despite past promises to consult neighbouring countries, Cambodian civil society representatives have called on Prime Minister Hun Sen, US President Barack Obama and ASEAN chair Le Luong Minh to raise the issue at next week’s ...

More than 2400 Myanmar workers left in the lurch while Malaysia and Myanmar dispute a visa fee will have their applications processed under the previous – much cheaper – payment schedule, according to the Ministry of Labour. Myanmar recruitment agencies have been boycotting Malaysia – long ...

The wind speeds in some parts of Attapeu province are sufficient for the development of wind power in the neighbourhood however wind turbines are not yet seen there. Director of the provincial Energy and Mines Department Mr Vithaya Phommachanh told Vientiane Times on 10 February that there ...

Less than a month after the government announced that more than 170 Montagnard asylum seek­ers would have their refugee applications processed, an Interior Min­istry spokesman said on 10 February that the group had not met the criteria for refugee status and would be returned to Vietnam. However, ...

Countries in the Mekong region have launched the third phase of drug crackdowns along the Mekong River and in the Golden Triangle. Narong Rattanakul, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, on 10 February revealed progress in the Safe Mekong Joint Operation to combat drug trafficking in the ...

Civil society groups are calling for Laos’ Don Sahong hydropower dam project to be discussed when Southeast Asian leaders meet with President Barack Obama next week at the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage, California. The unprecedented U.S.-hosted ASEAN summit comes amid increased efforts by the Obama ...

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and US president Barack Obama will jointly endorse guidelines to enhance cooperation in the first stand-alone US-ASEAN Summit at California’s Rancho Mirage next week, says government spokesman Werachon Sukhondhapatipak.  The result of the summit will be issued in cooperation ...

Laos has finally opened its restricted skies to Thai AirAsia (TAA), which has relentlessly pursued the issue for eight years. The neighbouring state will from 24 March allow the no-frills carrier to operate regular flights from Bangkok to Luang Prabang, with Vientiane a second destination on ...

Outspoken Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker Um Sam An on 8 February vowed to return to Cambodia in April despite fearing arrest over his prominent role in the CNRP’s campaign to highlight Vietnamese territorial encroachment, which raised the government’s ire last year. Keep reading ...