People and government

A court case unfolding in Bangkok has focused attention on the lives of migrant workers in Southeast Asia, albeit with an unexpected twist. This time, an employer accused of abuse is suing its former employees. Fourteen migrants from Myanmar are on trial for making false human rights ...

Representatives of six Mekong nations formulated guidelines at an academic conference in Thailand on how to share information and technology to jointly manage the transnational river this week. Keep reading ...

Myanmar has vowed to cooperate with countries in the region to combat transnational distributors of counterfeit medicine, the Myanmar News Agency reported Wednesday. []A workshop will be held on fighting counterfeit medicine in the Greater Mekong Subregion, at which laws, policies and implementation of steps to ...

Laos remains on the United Nation’s (UN) list of least developed nations. The government wants the country to graduate from this list. To try to achieve this, it has borrowed money from abroad to fund infrastructure projects. The government’s policy is risking short-term prosperity for ...

The U.S. Treasury Department has slapped sanctions on a gambling empire hacked from the Laotian jungle which it said was involved in drug, human and wildlife trafficking and child prostitution. []The sanctions aim to destabilize the narcotics trade in the Mekong area at a time of ...

Students from 11 universities of six countries along the Mekong River, including China, competed in the third Youth Innovation Competition on Lantsang-Mekong Region’s Governance and Development. The competition was initiated in 2016 to inspire students to work out innovative and feasible projects offering suggestions and advice ...

Australia convened a meeting recently with six South-east Asian states focused on counter-terrorism. The meeting in Perth was not only a notable development in and of itself but also just the latest example of the use of minilateralism in the security realm in South-east Asia. []These ...

Member countries of the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) are working to develop a master development plan for 2019-23 to strengthen sustainable economic growth and enact better economic management. Keep reading   ...

Many countries in developing Asia are establishing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to offer an attractive investment climate for the private sector and to foster industrial and economic development outside of major cities. Across the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) there are over 500 SEZs and industrial ...

The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) are set to work on Mice campaigns to boost visitors to Khon Kaen province.  Keep reading ...