News

Mercury rising: Why a Thai community believes it is being poisoned across the international border

NAN, Thailand: On clear mornings, at dawn, Ms Kanchanaporn Paeng-ud stands on a hillcrest where her family processes tapioca and looks out beyond the sweeping valleys across to neighbouring country Laos. On the horizon, some 20 km away, she can see what resembles billowing columns of ...

Jack Board

Dance moves and deepfakes: Indonesia presidential candidates duke it out on TikTok

JAKARTA, Feb 12 (Reuters) – At an Indonesian presidential campaign event, 22-year-old voter Irene Putri Aisyah was busy uploading everything she saw – from cute dances to cooking demonstrations – to short video app TikTok.   To court young voters like Irene, all three candidates in the Feb. ...

Stanley Widianto

Bridge ready to enter service across Can Tho River

Tran Hoang Na Bridge is 600 m long and 23 m wide. It crosses the Can Tho River to link Cai Rang District with the downtown district of Ninh Kieu. It cost VND791 billion (US$33.4 million), funded by the government from official development assistance. Work began in September 2020 and was set to be ...

An Binh

Generative AI: A Threat to Copyright?

ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI, provides many new opportunities, yet concerns have been raised over copyright issues as it seems unclear who owns the generated content: the users, tech companies or data owners? ChatGPT generates search results based on the data ...

Rov Hongseng

Vietnam, Laos, Thailand strengthen transport connectivity

The 23rd preparatory conference of the nine provinces of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand that share the use of Road 8 and Road 12 was recently held in the central Lao province of Bolykhamsay to review their cooperation. A representative of Bolykhamsay province reported the implementation of ...

Mekong Countries Pin Development Hopes on Airport Progress

Following three years of pandemic restrictions, Thailand’s eastern seaboard gateway—U-Tapao airport—has returned to the spotlight after deputy government spokesperson Tipanan Sirichana recently said expansion plans would commence in early 2023. Earmarked as an “Aviation City” in 2017, the $8.8 billion mega airport project will occur ...

Jennifer Meszaros

Cambodia starts to build bridge across Mekong River with funds from China

KRATIE, Cambodia, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) — Cambodia on Monday broke ground for the construction of a bridge across the Mekong River here in the country’s northeastern part, with funds from China. The ceremony was presided over by Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and Chinese ...

Xinhua

A year on, Laotians say high-speed rail link with China has brought them few benefits

A year ago, a U.S.$6 billion high-speed railway was completed between Laos and China amid much fanfare and hopes that it would fuel exports from Laos and spur growth in the impoverished, landlocked country. But one year later, most of the trade has been one-way: from ...

RFA Lao

China Announces New ASEAN Belt & Road Initiative Projects Centered Around Cambodia

The Phnom Penh-Bavet Highway which will ultimately link the Cambodian and Vietnamese capital cities The 2022 ASEAN summit took place at the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, this past weekend, with China as an official guest. At the event, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced Beijing’s approval of Chinese investment ...

Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Southeast Asia’s Data Localization Push is a Double-Edged Sword

With the publication of the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025 (ADM 2025), member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have endeavored to promote the digitalization of the region. In this digital transformation process, data is essential because every interaction in the digital world produces and relies on ...

Xirui Li

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