People and government

Thousands of Lao migrant workers who recently returned from Thailand after losing their jobs to COVID-19 have been facing fresh hardships in crowded, undersupplied quarantine camps,, Lao officials and migrants told RFA. During the coronavirus pandemic hundreds of thousands of the 2.8 million foreign workers in ...

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is delighted with the improvement in Thailand’s rankings on the United Nations’ E-Government Development Index (EGDI), which went up to 57th this year from 73rd in 2018, government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat said on Sunday. The index ranks countries based on their governments’ ...

Vietnam climbed two positions to stand at number 86 amongst 193 countries in the e-government development index (EDGI) rankings, as compiled by the United Nations. Over the past six years, Vietnam has been moving up the rankings, from number 99 in 2014 to 89 in 2016 ...

A concessional loan worth 1.45 billion baht to help Myanmar improve its electricity system has been approved by the government, according to an official. Rachada Dhnadirek, deputy government spokeswoman, on Tuesday said the loan is part of an initiative to strengthen ties with neighbouring countries. The Neighbouring ...

Before a march from the United Nations building to Government House on 13 July to demand that the Prime Minister endorse the National Pensions Bill, the Welfare Watch Network hosted a picnic, with representatives from parliament and a Deputy Prime Minister joining in. At around 9:00, ...

Covid-19 has taken an enormous toll on women and girls around the world as a direct consequence of national lockdowns and the sidelining of sexual and reproductive health services. Health systems are struggling to respond to the pandemic. As the crisis rages on, the number of women ...

Thailand is ramping up domestic production of Covid-19 test kits to avoid a potential shortage, as it prepares for a possible second wave of infections after most businesses and services reopened. “Thailand has always received criticism for testing too few, and that was the case at ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on July 8 approved a $250 million loan to help the Cambodian government rebuild the country’s economy that has been severely affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. According to the ADB’s press release, this loan will go toward strengthening ...

Vietnam and four other countries in the Mekong region will receive Japanese aid worth $115.3 million to combat Covid-19 and work for sustainable development. Japan announced the decision at the 13th Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held online on Thursday and co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister ...

Over 800 health-care workers in southern provinces of Laos are calling on authorities to pay them for extra hours worked this year in hospitals and quarantine centers while trying to control the spread of coronavirus, according to sources in the one-party communist state. However, official sources ...