News
UN pressures Thai Government on 82 disappeared
The government has been active in dealing with enforced disappearances, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sek Wannamethee said on 7 January. Mr Sek’s comments came after the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 6 January urged the government to step up efforts to investigate the whereabouts of 82 ...
Budget freeze hurts grantees
Thai Health Promotion Foundation’s (ThaiHealth) budget freeze is causing impacts on its grantees, complained civic groups. As a result of the investigation of the Auditing Committee on Fiscal Expenditure, projects funded by ThaiHealth with grants of more than five million baht a year must seek approval ...
ASEAN chair provides opportunities, challenges for Laos
Assuming the chairmanship of ASEAN this year offers Laos a great opportunity but the country will face numerous challenges in leading the bloc, a senior official has acknowledged. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Thongloun Sisoulith made the comment recently when speaking to Foreign ...
Brunei backs Laos' ASEAN chair preparations
The government of Brunei Darussalam has provided financial support to the Lao government as a contribution to the country’s work as the Chair of ASEAN this year. Keep reading ...
Luang Prabang town plans to expand
Luang Prabang provincial authorities have plans to expand the town to ease traffic congestion and in response to the increasing number of tourists to the World Heritage site. The Luang Prabang town expansion project covers 100 hectares of land starting from Donkeo village to Luang Prabang ...
Thailand's TCC acquires Metro Vietnam for $704 million
Thai consumer goods group TCC Holding Co. Ltd has completed its acquisition of the Vietnamese operations of Metro for 655 million euros (US$704.1 million). TCC’s subsidiary TCC Land International Pte. Ltd. takes over Metro’s 19 stores and related real estate portfolio in Vietnam, the German company ...
Trade-friendly Vietnam now offers far more than just low-cost labor
Vietnam is seen by many foreign businesses as being a very attractive place to invest in and do business for many reasons, Francois Guibert, Chairman of the EU-ASEAN Business Council says. “Vietnam has a lot more to offer investors than just low-cost labor,” Guibert told Thanh Nien ...
Community sues border police over loggers
A group of villagers in Mondolkiri province filed a lawsuit this week against three local border police officers and a forestry official accusing them of allowing Vietnamese loggers to sneak across the nearby border and illegally log the forests they depend on for a living. Khut ...
Consulting Facebook, PM changes traffic law
Despite starting with a bang just a week ago, the Land Traffic Law has already been subject to two amendments from Prime Minister Hun Sen in direct response to a public outcry on Facebook, a stark contrast to the premier’s usual attitude toward online criticism. In ...
Hun Sen nixes ban on dual-national party leaders
In his latest abrupt policy backtracking, Prime Minister Hun Sen used a speech on 7 January to rescind a recently announced plan to ban dual nationals from leading political parties—an effort that had ostensibly been aimed at the self-exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy. On 28 December, Mr. ...
