Social development

The balance of food sustainability and national security of Southeast Asia hangs on a tiny white grain.  Rice is the daily staple of 3.5 billion people globally, providing about one-fifth of their calorie needs. It is the main food crop in Asia, which includes the world’s ...

From June 9, people in Thailand will be able to grow “as many cannabis plants” as they like in their own homes, according to Anutin. The cannabis grown must be of medical grade and used for medicinal purposes only. Official registration is not required for growing ...

It has been more than a year since Myanmar’s military seized power in a putsch that sent thousands fleeing the country. Among them were scores of media professionals who took up refuge here in Thailand. Some have since moved on or resettled elsewhere, but others stayed ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen acknowledged challenges faced by journalists and media agencies, reaffirmed the government’s support for the sector, and urged continuous capacity building among them. Mr Hun Sen made the point in his open message to during the 29th World Press Freedom Day on May ...

A court in Insein Prison last week indicted freelance journalist Soe Yarzar Tun under Section 52a of the Counter-Terrorism Law, which carries a prison sentence of up to seven years, lawyers have told Myanmar Now.  The reporter was detained in Bago Region’s Thone Sel Township on ...

Myanmar’s multiple internecine conflicts are raging, with few if any signs of respite or resolution. Quantifying “old” and “new” dimensions of the conflict with the recent proliferation of new, anti-coup People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) alongside long-fighting ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) is difficult, if not impossible, ...

A total of 135 journalists have been arrested in Myanmar since the Feb. 1, 2021, military coup that overthrew civilian rule in that country, according to a local press freedoms group. Among those arrested, 109 were men and 26 were women, while three other journalists were ...

Mother Nature is a group made up of young activists attempting to protect Cambodia’s environment from widespread destruction. But the group has increasingly been targeted, with some even jailed for their activism. Thon Ratha and Long Kunthea are passionate, young environmental activists for Mother Nature. They ...

How do you design a malaria elimination programme for hard-to-reach communities who already have difficulty accessing health care? This is the question confronting malaria workers across the Greater Mekong subregion. Malaria cases in Cambodia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic are mostly found among people living and ...

Two U.S. lawmakers are urging Thailand to drop provisions of a draft bill restricting NGOs, saying it would harm civil society and negatively impact the delivery of humanitarian assistance to neighboring Myanmar.  Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s government is seeking to pass a controversial bill regulating not-for-profit ...