Population and censuses
UN rights body decries Thai deportations to China
The United Nations on 20 November slammed Thailand’s deportation of two Chinese refugees, and Vietnam’s reported transfer of nine North Korean nationals to China, warning they were at risk of “grave human rights violations”. Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human ...
Complaints filed against Thai workers in Dawei, Myanmar
Local residents of Myanmar’s Dawei Township, Taninthayi Region, complained to the Immigration Officer on 16 November about Thai citizens who have been working at the Banchaung coal mining project without legal work permits since 8 November. May Flower Mining Enterprises was granted permission to implement the Banchaung ...
Foreigners targeted in 'model trafficking'
Thailand’s Department of Employment is vowing to take legal action against foreigners who work illegally as models in the country. The action comes following a complaint by the Thai Modelling Industry and Agencies Association, saying a number of foreign models, both men and women, disguise themselves as tourists ...
Myanmar migrant workers leave Thailand for general election back home
Thousands of Myanmar migrant workers have departed Thailand for their homeland with intent to go to the polls on the upcoming elections, police have said. The Myanmar migrants, currently hired as workers in Thai territory, have left for home from across Thai border areas such as ...
Election brings hope, fear for Myanmar refugees stuck in limbo
For refugees from Myanmar living in camps just across the border in Thailand, a landmark election in their homeland triggers mixed emotions – hope that a hated government will be defeated, and fear of the uncertain future such an upheaval might bring. Ko Chit, 45, who ...
Laos exports 50,000 workers last fiscal year
Laos exported as many as 50,712 workers in the fiscal year that ended in September, including 27,176 females, official statistics show. Most of the workers obtained jobs in Thailand, while just over 50 people found employment in Japan, according to statistics from the Ministry of Labour ...
Side effects: AEC ‘could open drugs floodgates’
Police seized more than 54 kilograms of heroin and methamphetamine in the border province of Stung Treng in June – one of the biggest drug busts in the country’s history. Analysts caution that large drug busts like this will only become more common as Cambodia ...
Overstayers in Thailand face stiff re-entry bans
The Immigration Bureau has asked Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to exercise his special powers to issue a ban on foreigners found guilty of overstaying in Thailand from re-entering the country for one to 10 years. The move is aimed at cutting the number of illegal migrants ...
Thai expats to register online to vote
Expat Thais will be able to register to vote online in the next general election, a move which could boost overseas voter turnout, the Election Commission said on 22 October. Keep reading ...
A dreaded homecoming for Montagnards
With the deadline looming for hundreds of Montagnard asylum seekers in Cambodia to return “voluntarily” to the site of their alleged persecution or be forced back across the border, a group who have spent months living in the shadows this week spoke out about their ...