People and government

Chea Sophat stood on the gravel embankment of a road as he pointed to what was once his rice field, an unfenced, 4,000-square-metre waterlogged plot with a handful of buffaloes wallowing in the mud. Across the Tonle Sap river, Phnom Penh was celebrating the festivities ...

Construction of the Laos-China railway will start this month, with work to begin in several provinces simultaneously, an official in charge of the project has said. This approach will ensure that construction of the historic rail line, linking Vientiane to the Chinese border over a ...

The National Land Use Policy is in line for redress, after being highlighted by a parliamentary commission charged with targeting legislation for reform. In its current form, the policy only covers farmland – something the Commission for the Assessment of Legal Affairs and Special Issues ...

The cabinet gave the nod on November 29 to the reinstatement of tourism stimulus measures including a 15,000-baht tax break on domestic tour packages and hotel accommodation for individual taxpayers. The measures are intended to entice people to spend the long public holiday at home ...

Pilgrims, traders and adventurous holidaymakers can soon look forward to the opening of a new border gate between India and Myanmar, officials say. Immigration Minister U Thein Swe said the new international border gate at Tamu, Sagaing Region, would open soon. He said the Indian ...

Around 15 per cent of Việt Nam’s population – approximately 13.5 million ­people – suffer from 10 of the more common mental disorders, reveal statistics released on November 29. Around 2.8 per cent of Vietnamese live with depression, 2.6 per cent suffer from anxiety disorder, ...

Medical waste is threatening the northern province of Tuyên Quang due to difficulties in treating the hazardous material at local healthcare facilities, said Deputy Director of the provincial Health Department, Đỗ Thị Ngọc Mai. She estimated that some 500kg of medical waste were discharged daily ...

The National Election Committee (NEC) decided to extend voter registration by only one day after pleas from the opposition and civil society to extend the deadline due to more than one million citizens failing to register in time. The new voter list, with 7.7 million ...

Laos needs to increase cooperation with development partners to help eliminate violence against women and girls, with a focus on economic development. A strong partnership among the government, development partners and the private sector is required to ensure adequate and sustainable resources to end violence ...

More than 200 drinking establishments in the capital have so far pledged their commitment to their female workers’ safety as part of the ongoing “Safe Workplaces, Safe Communities” project, officials at a workshop on the program’s progress said on November 28. Launched by the Ministry ...