Law and judiciary
Journalists face jail over Thai trafficking report
Two journalists, including an Australian editor, face jail 1 September as a Thai court is to decide whether they are guilty of defamation over a report implicating the kingdom’s navy in human trafficking. The trial has sparked widespread condemnation from human rights groups and the UN. It comes ...
'Bomb-making material' found in second Bangkok flat
Thai police say they have found bomb-making materials in a second apartment, after the arrest of a suspect in the explosion at Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine. Keep reading ...
Laos working to repatriate workers enslaved on Thai farm
The government will continue to coordinate with the Thai Embassy in Laos to provide assistance and repatriate Lao workers who were found enslaved and kept in cages on a farm in Thailand. Keep reading ...
Rice scheme civil claim 'still an option'
The Commerce Ministry has rejected widespread criticism on social media that it was too slow to act in demanding financial compensation from suspects in the multi-billion-baht rice-pledging scandal. Keep reading ...
China seizes 620 live turtles, most endangered, in shipment from Vietnam: report
Chinese border patrol officials seized 620 wild turtles and tortoises that were found alive in a shipment claimed to be frozen seafood from Vietnam, Xinhua News Agency said on 30 August. Keep reading ...
Rights groups, wife of missing Lao activist renew calls for progress in case
Human rights groups and the wife of a prominent civil rights leader who disappeared nearly three years ago have called on the Lao government to adequately investigate the incident and provide information about the case’s progress. Sombath Somphone went missing on 15 December 2012, when police ...
Vietnam to free 18,539 prisoners in National Day amnesty
Vietnam will release 18,539 prison inmates, including 34 foreign nationals, as part of this year’s National Day amnesty. Keep reading ...
Gov’t warns of lawsuit over new illegal logging report
Environment and agriculture ministry officials 26 August warned the authors of a new report accusing the government of colluding with timber magnate Try Pheap to illegally log the protected forests of northeastern Cambodia that they could be sued unless they made changes to the text. Keep reading ...
Rohingya IDPs detained in Yangon: Police
Police in Yangon Division’s Hmawbi Township have detained 10 Rohingya Muslims and the driver of the vehicle in which they were found riding, according to local law enforcement. A police officer in Hmawbi Township told The Irrawaddy that local authorities were holding the internal migrants, but he ...
Thailand destroys more than 2 tons of illegal ivory
Thai authorities destroyed more than 2 tons of seized and smuggled ivory on 26 August, in the latest move by the government to avoid possible economic sanctions over a perceived failure to tackle the illicit trade. Tusks from more than 200 dead African elephants and other ...
