People and government

Hanoi’s tap water rate will be raised by 20 percent to at least 30.5 US cents per cubic meter from next month, the capital’s water utility has said. Keep reading ...

Children employed in Thailand’s seafood processing industry are more exposed to workplace hazards such as fire or gas, and twice as likely to be injured than minors working in other industries, experts said on 14 September. Under Thai law, the minimum age of employment is 15 ...

Vietnam is “ready to receive” the more than 200 Montagnards currently seeking asylum in Cambodia who face forced repatriation if they do not return within three months, according to the UN refugee agency. Vivian Tan, a regional spokesperson for UNHCR, said the Vietnamese government had given ...

Thailand’s junta has detained a senior newspaper reporter and columnist, his paper says, the latest in a string of arrests targeting those who speak out against the government. Thepchai Yong, the editor-in-chief of the English-language Nation, said “there is no justification whatsoever” for Pravit Rojanaphruk’s detention. Keep ...

Vietnam’s Communist Party chief will embark on a four-day visit to Japan on 14 September, seeking not only investment opportunities but geopolitical assurances as China continues its aggressive maritime posturing, according to experts. Nguyen Phu Trong will also become the first party leader to have visited ...

Lao authorities have failed to properly account for the disappearance almost three years ago of civil society activist Sombath Somphone, who was last seen in police custody at a checkpoint in the capital Vientiane, and must commit themselves to a “real and renewed” effort to ...

Over 100 election hopefuls – mostly minority candidates – were knocked out of the running in the Union Election Commission’s final list, with citizenship status by far the most common stumbling block. The final list was short 124 rejected candidates, according to the commission’s announcement on ...

In the small village of Moung Thbon, which sits at the intersection of western Siem Reap and Banteay Meanchey provinces, 100 kilometres from the Thai border, Ruon is now responsible for taking care of her mother, running the small family business, tending their rice fields ...

The Lao government’s changes to regulations on domestic nonprofit associations will hinder the work of the groups and slow down development projects in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, an NGO official said 11 September. Keep reading ...

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Lao Minister of Planning and Investment Somdy Douangdy in Hanoi on 10 September, during which he proposed that Laos support the implementation of Vietnam-invested projects there. Keep reading   ...