Law and judiciary

Authorities in Laos are continuing their investigations into illicit smuggling after dried cannabis weighing some 15 kg bound for Europe via parcel mail was identified by Lao Customs officials at Wattay International Airport in capital Vientiane, local media reported on 7 October. Keep reading ...

More than 200 fishing trawlers from Trat province are now docking and unloading their catches in Cambodia’s adjoining Koh Kong province to evade the strict regulations being enforced against unregistered vessels and fishing equipment in Thailand. Keep reading ...

Police are preparing a comprehensive security blanket in advance of the 8 November election. Training is about to begin for more than 40,000 special police officers drafted nationwide to supplement the regular force during elections, while there is also a provision for calling the military ...

Thailand’s military government, which took power in May last year, appointed a committee to draft the country’s 20th constitution on 5 October after a previous draft was rejected, delaying promised elections until at least 2017. The junta-appointed legislature dismissed the military-backed constitution last month after it was ...

Two Vietnamese teenagers were arrested in Kandal province on 2 October after being found illegally transporting 44 endangered tortoises, which they reportedly intended to smuggle into Vietnam for sale. Keep reading ...

Vietnam’s Law on Forest Protection and Development has become backwards and exposed numerous disadvantages, after more than 10 years of implementation, a senior official from the Vietnam Forestry Administration (VNFOREST) has said. Deputy director of the VNFOREST, Nguyen Ba Ngai, made his comment at a workshop ...

Southeast Asian ministers in charge of security held talks with their Japanese counterpart on 1 October in a bid to enhance cooperation in tackling terrorism and cybercrime. Eriko Yamatani, a cabinet minister and also the chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission, led a delegation for the ...

Nearly 2,000 people have been deported from Cambodia – the vast majority of them Vietnamese – in the first nine months of 2015, according to new government figures. From January through September, 1,919 people were expelled from the Kingdom, a report issued by the General Department ...

The National Council for Peace and Order could meet as early as 2 October to pick prospective members of the new Constitution Drafting Committee and the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA), Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said on 1 October.  Keep reading ...

Hackers have stepped up their attacks on government organizations and companies in Southeast Asia and made the region one of the most targeted in the world amid heightened regional tensions, according to security provider FireEye. Keep reading ...