Thailand’s exports are expected to rise 10-12% this year as the global economy recovers, but the country’s coronavirus outbreak remains a negative factor, the National Shippers’ Council said on Tuesday.In the third quarter, exports, a rare bright spot in the economy, are forecast to increase ...

A lingering low-pressure area has triggered floods, landslides and rough seas in northern Vietnam, killing at least 17 people in Quang Ninh and sinking two fishing boats near Ha Long Bay.   The medical center at Quang Ninh’s Co To Island treated Nguyen Van Tuan, 23, who ...

Thailand and Laos are set to boost bilateral trade to US$8 billion (Bt250 billion) in the next three years, driven mainly by closer cooperation under Asean integration and the setting up of special economic zones. According to the Thai Commerce Ministry, Thai-Laotian bilateral trade rose by 14.32 ...

Tourist arrivals in Thailand sank 42.78% in February from a year earlier after a 2.46% rise in the previous month, due to the coronavirus outbreak, tourism ministry data showed on Monday.A total of 2.06 million tourists in February spent about 103.7 billion baht, down 43.9% ...

Thailand’s economy will likely contract 8.5% in 2020, worse than previously estimated and the biggest decline of any Asian nation this year.The Finance Ministry’s forecast, released in Bangkok on Thursday, compares with a previous projection of 2.4% growth. The central bank is estimating the economy ...

The Labour Ministry considers the wage dispute at the Han Jen garment factory done and dusted, but workers yesterday told The Myanmar Times their woes are far from solved. “[The labour director] said the Han Jen worker’s dispute is finished and was resolved okay. Actually, we haven’t ...

Thailand’s Board of Investment said on 12 January it approved applications worth about 800 billion baht last year, missing its target of 1.4 trillion baht, but up from 724.7 billion baht in 2014. The investment agency did not meet its target in 2015 as some applications were submitted ...

The fastest growing ivory market in the world is now Laos, according to an investigation by Kenya-based group Save the Elephants. China is banning all ivory trade by the end of 2017, but business is booming in neighboring countries. Investigators visited a Chinese casino resort ...

Over 1000 people have been left homeless after fires this weekend blazed through Namhsan in northern Shan State and Labutta in Ayeyarwady Region. In Namhsan on 4 February, a fire that began roasting tea leaves caught kindling next to the stove, then lit a wood wall ...

Vietnam must improve the management of its numerous reservoirs to protect the rights and interests of residents in the downstream areas, and to optimise the efficiency of its water management and hydropower projects, experts said during a conference on the subject last week. Experts said the ...

The state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has initiated a test of peer-to-peer power trade from solar rooftops, planning to enter the prosumer trade in the coming years.Governor Viboon Rerksirathai said Egat installed solar panels on top of its headquarters in Nonthaburi to conduct ...

Laos’ Finance Ministry has issued its first US dollar-denominated floating-rate notes in Thailand, worth $182 million (about Bt6.5 billion).The dual-tranche issuance was rated “BBB+” by Tris Rating on December 9. The maturities are 10 and 12 years and the coupons are six-month Libor (London Interbank ...

Taking precautions against drought, the Ministry of Agriculture is encouraging farmers to stop growing summer paddy in areas where water is scarce, according to deputy minister U Tun Win. Though the previous government wanted farmers to prioritise growing paddy, with water reservoirs near empty in several ...

Vietnam’s transport ministry wants electronic toll collection systems (ETCs) installed at all toll booths nationwide from 2020, to end delays and cut costs, Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong said. The ministry has asked investors to install the systems on National Highway 1 and 14 before 30 June. ...

The water level in the Mekong river is the lowest level in 10 years, according to local media reports.The water level, 2.60m, is about 10 metres below the spill-over point on the Mekong river bank, which is 13m high. In the same period last year, ...

If there is one word to describe the LGBT community in Laos, the landlocked nation sandwiched between Thailand and Vietnam, it might just be “invisible.” This is the ninth part of a 10-part series on LGBT rights in Southeast Asia, which uncovers the challenges facing the LGBT ...

More than 100 homes have been destroyed, another person killed and several people injured as storms continue to cut a swathe through Cambodia. A woman and two cows were killed by lightning yesterday in a rice field in Kampong Chhnang province’s Veal Veng district. In ...

Padaeng Industry closed its zinc mine in Mae Sot last month because of the depletion of ore reserves. Managing director Francis Vanbellen said on 27 July that PDI’s mine concluded its 32 years of sustainable operations after producing its last 140,000 tonnes of zinc-silicate ore this ...

Foreign investment and the livelihoods of thousands of construction workers have been put at risk by the Yangon Region government’s decision to suspend all construction, developers say. Developers of hundreds of high-rise buildings now under construction in Yangon Region were Forced to suspend building work on ...

Across the country of Cambodia, water scarcity is threatening health and livelihoods. In what may be the worst regional drought in more than 50 years, brought on by an El Niño cycle exacerbated by climate change, water shortages have been declared in 18 of the ...