Anti-corruption

WASHINGTON — Paranoia has become something of a way of life for Sarada Taing, ever since the journalist received violent threats from a pro-government social media personality in Cambodia in June. In one audio message sent via Facebook Messenger on June 19, Pheng Vannak, a former police ...

KOH KONG, Cambodia — “I think there’s a 30% chance we’ll have trouble with the police,” said Ly Chandaravuth, an environmental activist with the outlawed group Mother Nature Cambodia. This was in August 2022, when Mother Nature Cambodia was planning a trip to Koh Kong Krao, ...

The controversial whistleblower who helped expose corruption in Thailand’s parks department has gained a major promotion — and increased scrutiny of his own checkered history, which includes two murder charges, a corruption investigation, and multiple allegations of human rights abuses. Senior forest officer Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn arrived ...

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 ...

Corruption is seen as widespread across much of Southeast Asia, with Singapore and Cambodia’s public sectors respectively perceived as among the least and most corrupt nations worldwide, an international watchdog group reported. The 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, released 25 January by Berlin-based Transparency International, evaluates 180 countries ...

When Cambodian university student Kong Bunrith claimed on Facebook that dozens of his classmates paid bribes to pass their exams and named the government officials allegedly involved, authorities promptly began an investigation.   But the Ministry of Justice chose to focus its investigation on Bunrith, who found ...

A military court in Myanmar on Tuesday sentenced the former National League for Democracy (NLD) chief minister of Kayin state to 75 years in prison for “corruption,” the latest example of a harsh punishment observers say is aimed at undermining party leadership. Nang Khin Htwe Myint, ...

Laos’ State Inspection Authority (SIA) has discovered that more than 2.24 trillion kip ($216 million) has been lost in incidents involving corruption, following investigations conducted over the past year. The authority said a huge amount of money had been misappropriated, consisting of 1.86 trillion kip, $24.88 ...

Following allegations of corruption over a local government’s exorbitant purchases on decorative street lamps, Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating and say procurements of the street lamps in a province just outside Bangkok were not in line with regulations. More than 20 people and ...

In Southeast Asia, as everywhere else, Covid-19 has fundamentally disrupted business as usual. A damaging side-effect of the pandemic on companies in the region, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), is the emergence of new corruption risks – the urgent demands of emergency procurement have ...