COVID-19
Asean, US deepen cooperation to battle Covid-19
The United States and Asean leaders have agreed to strengthen their cooperation to counter the Covid-19 pandemic and recover their economies post-pandemic. Leaders from the 10-nation bloc and the US held a virtual special foreign ministerial meeting on Wednesday, co-chaired by Lao Minister of Foreign Affairs ...
Times Reporters
As Thailand hit by its worst COVID outbreak, economic risks rise
Thailand risks fueling its decade-high unemployment rate and household debt with the imposition of lockdown-like measures to contain the deadliest Covid outbreak to hit the nation. The greater Bangkok area, accounting for about 50% of Thailand’s gross domestic product, will shutter shopping malls, spas, massage and ...
Suttinee Yuvejwattana and Randy Thanthong-Knight | Bloomberg
COVID or not, ‘the desire to eat wildlife’ continues in Asia
Continuing attempts to curb the sale of wild animals and their meat have failed to engender change at wet markets in the Asia Pacific, even as the region struggles to contain the largest and deadliest wave of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. According to ...
Ian Lloyd Neubauer
NESDC set to table new relief measures
The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) plans to table before the cabinet on Tuesday remedy measures for those affected by the strict lockdown measures that took effect on Monday, says a cabinet source who requested anonymity. The remedy is to be funded by the ...
WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI
United States Plans to Donate Vaccines to Thailand
The President of the United States announced a plan to deliver 80 million safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines to countries in need around the world. Thailand will receive a share of safe and effective vaccines from this world-wide donation. The United States is sharing these ...
U.S. Embassy Bangkok
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.
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
COVID-19 Cases Surge in Southeast Asian Countries, as Officials Call for Renewed Attention to Prevention
With COVID-19 infections and deaths rising in Myanmar and its neighbors, deposed national leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called on citizens in the military-ruled country to strictly observe all precautions aimed at preventing the pandemic’s spread, her lawyers said on Monday. Following a court hearing ...
Reported by RFA’s Myanmar, Lao, Vietnamese, and Khmer Services. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane, Max Avary, Viet Ha, and Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Richard Finney.
CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)As Phuket opens, Bangkok, 9 provinces face new restrictions
Things are changing next week in the level of severity of the rules and restrictions for Covid-19 safety and control. No, we’re not talking about loosening all the restrictions in the Phuket Sandbox reopening, we’re referring to partial lockdowns in Bangkok and 9 other provinces around Thailand ...
Neill Fronde
Thailand greenlights quarantine-free travel model for Phuket
Thai authorities on Tuesday (Jun 22) greenlighted a pilot model for quarantine-free travel to ultra-popular beach destination Phuket, a first step towards the tourist-hungry kingdom’s goal of resuscitating its pandemic-battered economy. Thailand has imposed strict restrictions on visitor arrivals in order to stem COVID-19 infections, but ...
