News
Asia migrant crisis: New mass graves on Malaysia-Thai border
New mass graves with 24 bodies thought to be those of migrants have been found in Malaysia, police say. The graves were found in the state of Perlis near the Thai border not far from 139 grave sites unearthed in May, Perlis police chief Shafie Ismail ...
Lao workers 'caged' in slave case
A bank manager has been charged after 12 Lao workers — some as young as 14 — were found enslaved and kept in cages on a farm outside Bangkok. The workers, aged between 14 and 25 years old, were found sleeping in small spaces framed by ...
Vietnam affirms close cooperation in transport with Laos, Cambodia
The transport ministries of Vietnam and Laos have affirmed close cooperation in all aspects of the transport sector at an annual bilateral ministerial meeting in Hanoi on 22 August. They agreed to promote transport infrastructure connectivity between the two countries. On the same day, Vietnam and Cambodia ...
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 ...
Map critics face arrest
Prime Minister Hun Sen has delivered a warning to anyone still thinking about criticising the government’s handling of the ongoing border demarcation with Vietnam: you will be arrested. Addressing a cabinet meeting, Hun Sen said anyone who persisted with claims that authorities were using “fake” maps or ...
Myanmar seeks over $100m for ASEAN connectivity project
Myanmar’s Construction Ministry is seeking the parliamentary approval for a US$120 million loan to upgrade the Kawkareik-Mawlamyine-Thaton Road, a part of the Greater Mekong East-West Economic Corridor. Keep reading ...
Costco sued over claims Thai shrimp harvested with slave labour
Costco Wholesale Corp was sued for selling farmed shrimp from Thailand, where slave labour and human trafficking in the fishing industry are widespread, and allegedly misleading US consumers about it. A California woman, Monica Sud, filed what may be the first such lawsuit against the retailer ...
Kazakhstan President’s Special Envoy visits Cambodia, Laos
Kazakhstan’s Special Envoy of the President and Deputy Foreign Minister Askar Mussinov visited Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries Cambodia and Laos 12-13 August in the framework of promoting his country’s bid to secure a seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security ...
Thailand’s Mekong water-diversion plan raises concerns
The Thai government’s statement in late July that it is considering bringing water from the Mekong, Moei and Salween rivers to farmland to nine of its provinces has raised major concerns. The water diversion has been described as a move to ‘extract blood from the Mekong’s ...
ASEAN's real GDP grows 4.6pc in 2014
ASEAN’s real Gross Domestic Product grew 4.6 per cent to reach US$2.57 trillion in 2014. The sustained growth in GDP led to an increase in the GDP per capita from US$3,908 in 2013 to US$4,130 in 2014, ASEAN Secretariat said in a statement. Keep reading ...
