News
Myanmar comes under renewed pressure to ratify key human rights treaties
Myanmar has come under renewed pressure to lift itself from the bottom rung of countries to have ratified key international human rights treaties. Speaking at an event in Yangon yesterday to mark International Human Rights Day, Andrew MacGregor, a senior official from the Office of the ...
Myanmar fishermen give testimony in trafficking case
Fishermen who were enslaved and in some cases held captive for a decade aboard seafood trawlers in Indonesia are now taking part in a lawsuit against one of the accused companies. The 14 Myanmar fishermen were flown back to Indonesia to serve as witnesses in the ...
Vietnam Navy asked to end dredging at southern military port to prevent erosion
Kien Giang Province has requested that the government and the Navy end sand dredging at a military port in Phu Quoc as the activity is starting to cause severe erosion. A statement from the province authorities said the dredging has caused erosion along one kilometer around ...
Urgent need for law to control water pollution
Formulating a specific law to control water pollution in the country’s legislative work programme is a necessary task of Vietnam’s State agencies and scientists to ensure national sustainable development. A consensus on this was reached by participants at a workshop on roles of the Vietnam Union ...
Thai princess visits Laos to enhance ties, mutual understanding
Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand arrived in Vientiane on 8 December for a two-day official visit to Laos, aimed at enhancing bilateral ties between the two neighbours and mutual understanding between the Lao and Thai peoples. Her visit is in response to an ...
Laos’s threat to the Mekong River
Sipandon – meaning 4,000 Islands – is an area of immense biodiversity, ecotourism and abundance of fish migration, but its survival is at serious risk from the hydropower Don Sahong dam, which is on the verge of construction. “If this special wetlands zone is protected, it ...
Vietnam aids Laos’ military training
Military gears and training programmes worth nearly 577 million VND (26,200 USD) were handed over to the Mapping Department of the Laos People’s Army by the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army in Vientiane on 8 December. Keep reading ...
ASEAN sets up EU-style free-flow market
The ASEAN Community was officially declared on 8 December by leaders of the 10 member states of ASEAN in a landmark moment promising greater regional integration for the 48-year-old group. The challenge of this association of nations, marked by diversity, can be seen in the words of ...
Making Southeast Asia's skies safer
Last week, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration downgraded the safety rating for the entire Thai aviation system, placing it among those of a handful of countries — including Southeast Asian neighbors Bangladesh and Indonesia — that don’t meet international “minimum safety oversight standards.” Boeing expects Southeast Asian airlines ...
Thailand leads declines in Asian stocks, Europe opens lower
Most Southeast Asian stock markets traded lower on 8 December, with the Stock Exchange of Thailand posting its biggest one-day decline in two weeks on falling oil prices. The SET index posted the steepest fall in the region with a 1.6% drop, led by oil firm ...
