International relations

Misbehaviour and “inappropropriate dress standards” by Thai officials during a visit to Laos have prompted a stern order from Education Minister Narong Pipatanasai. Adm Narong has ordered all ministry staff and students to dress and behave properly when making official visits to the country. Keep ...

Cambodian and Vietnamese officials are meeting in Phnom Penh over border issues, but on the second of three days, no final decisions were made. Officials are meeting at the Council of Ministers building in Phnom Penh, to discuss June’s violent clashes along the border, as well ...

Cambodia and Vietnam on 9 July wrapped up a three-day meeting to discuss tensions over their disputed border, with the two sides agreeing to complete demarcation of territory “very soon,” but a Cambodian opposition lawmaker dismissed the agreement and accused his government of ceding land ...

Myanmar has ratified the chemical weapons convention and will become the 191st member of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the body said on Thursday, another step in a rapid period of reform for the Asian country. Myanmar’s membership takes effect within 30 day, ...

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said the current visit by Lao Vice President Bounnhang Vorachith will give new momentum to the friendship and co-operation between the two nations. Receiving the Lao State official in Hanoi yesterday, Dung hailed comprehensive outcomes in many areas of bilateral co-operation, such as ...

On July 4, the leaders of Japan and the five countries in the Mekong subregion – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – convened for the Seventh Mekong-Japan Summit in Tokyo. True to form, much of the media focus was on the dollar amount that Japan ...

Vietnam’s leadership have signed off on visa waivers for five more European countries — France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the UK — and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has continued to press ahead with further visa exemptions.   In a directive dated July 2, Dung asked that ...

Japan has pledged Y750bn ($6.1bn) in aid to the “Mekong Five” nations over the next three years as Tokyo seeks fresh influence in a region it regards as crucial to domestic economic growth and regional strategic balance. Keep reading   ...

Thailand’s Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has invited Japanese small and medium sized enterprises to invest more in the Mekong Subregion- by taking advantage of its logistic transport links, with the expectation that the region will be able to take a step forward together. Prayut spoke ...

More than 120 Myanmar fishermen arrested by the Indian navy for illegally plying India’s waters were returned to Myanmar last week, a government official said. U Aung Kyaw, deputy director of the Department of Relief and Resettlement, said on 10 July that the return of the ...