People and government
TM30: The form getting expats in Thailand into a bureaucratic tangle
Thailand has long been an attractive destination for Western expats – where money goes further and can buy a good quality of life. But the revival of an arcane immigration law has angered the expat community and got them questioning their freedoms in Thailand, as ...
Lancang-Mekong countries launch joint crackdown on human trafficking
Representatives from six countries along the Lancang-Mekong River launched a joint crackdown on cross-border human abducting and trafficking Tuesday in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province. Due to low risk and high profit, human trafficking has been on the rise in recent years in the ...
Thailand to roll out 15 million new e-passports
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in Thailand awarded a contract to a major consortium; it will supply 15 million e-passports during a seven-year project. This represents one of the largest passport deployments for the group worldwide, the move is designed to align with national plans to create ...
Alita Sharon
Vietnam receives AIPA chairmanship for 2019-2020
Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan received the AIPA chairmanship for 2019-2020 from Speaker of the Thai House of Representatives Chuan Leekpai at the 40th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) which came to an end in Bangkok on August 29. Chuan ...
New rules, new debts: slavery fears rise for migrant workers in Thailand
When Leng Lyda swapped Cambodia for a fishing town in Thailand hoping to find a job in the seafood industry, he was ready for hard work. But he wasn’t prepared for the delay, or the debt. The 22-year-old landed a job as soon as he arrived ...
Matt Blomberg and Nanchanok Wongsamuth
Lao Migrants Fleeing Poverty Defy Dangers to Work in Thailand
Lao workers, many of them young and some still in their teens, have poured in growing numbers this year into neighboring Thailand, braving exploitation and unsafe work conditions in search of employment to help support families back home, sources in the Southeast Asian nation say. Many ...
NGO Urges Tightened Restrictions on Influx of Chinese Nationals to Cambodia
Cambodia should tighten restrictions on the influx of Chinese nationals to the country, according to a local rights group, which says the community is responsible for rampant violent crime and loose ethics that are contributing to the downfall of society. Many Chinese nationals living in Cambodia ...
India to Include Laos in Planned Global Electricity Grid
India is poised to include Laos in plans for a global electricity grid, in response to an evolving energy security architecture. The country will present proposals for the grid at the second general assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to be held in New Delhi from October ...
ASEAN members agree to promote circular economy

International representatives from the government and private sectors across Southeast Asia vowed to co-operate to address the resource constraints through the circular economy with a focus on “resource maximisation, waste separation and proper disposal” in the manufacturing and consumption cycle at a symposium in Bangkok ...
Cambodia’s rice farmers in serious danger
Half a million Cambodian farmers could possibly be looking at empty rice bowls if the European Union (EU) pushes through with the withdrawal of its Everything But Arms (EBA) trade preference. While the garment and footwear sectors stand to lose the most if the EBA trade scheme – ...
Jason Thomas