Social development
Vietnam preparing policies for safer cyber environment for children
Vietnam now has around 15 million under-16 children, who are considered the most vulnerable to harmful effects like bullying, attacks, scamming, and even sexual assaults on the cyber environment. Reports from Kaspersky reveal that in Vietnam, the most popular websites to the young under 16 are ...
Ba Tan, Tran Luu – Translated by Thanh Tam
Cambodian healthcare system facing a ‘dual practice’ dilemma
After picking up her graduation certificate from Cambodia’s University of Health Sciences in mid-October, 24-year-old Soth Yanuth is now able to begin work in healthcare following six years of study. “I think I could get experience from the public [sector] better than in private,” she said. Yet ...
JACK BROOK
Republic of Korea provides US$9 million for rural development
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry signed a Record of Discussion online on November 1 to initiate the Integrated Rural Development Project in Champassask, Saravan and Xekong provinces. The 5-year project is being implemented until 2025 with a total ...
Times Reporters
Online child abuse spikes amid pandemic
Vietnamese children face greater risks of sexual abuse with prolonged school closures and online classes exposing them to exploitation via social networks. A month before graduating, Khanh Ngoc, a high school student in Hanoi, received a message from a strange Facebook account. Opening it, she encountered ...
Phan Duong
Back to the land: Thai forest draws young, green farmers
Like many locals, Matthana Abhaimoon left rural Thailand to study in the city. Unlike most, she chose to come back – and fight for her right to farm in the forest as her forefathers had done. After a 20-year campaign, residents of Mae Tha won a ...
Rina Chandran
Thailand inmates are taking green chiretta to fight mild COVID – here’s what we know about this herbal drug
The news that inmates in Thailand are being handed capsules of a herbal medicine called green chiretta (Andrographis paniculata) to treat asymptomatic and mild COVID is unlikely to come as a surprise to the average Thai citizen. In Thailand, healthcare professionals and the public alike are familiar with ...
Jose Prieto Garcia
The changing face of Cambodian leadership
Eight years since ascending into a leadership position with the most active human rights organisation in Cambodia, Chak Sopheap has never forgotten a debate she had with herself about whether she should accept the promotion. The story of a young, female leader would be an inspiration ...
NASA DIP
Myanmar’s hidden hunger
Khin, a 59-year-old rice farmer, faced a distressing choice at the height of Myanmar’s monsoon season three months ago: sell a cow, a prized asset for agricultural households, or go hungry. She sold the animal for half its value. The proceeds went to buy food for ...
Thin Lei Win
New World Heritage Site forest imperils Thai indigenous people
When Gib Tonnarmpech and her family were forced to leave their home in Thailand’s Kaeng Krachan National Park by authorities, they walked more than two days in dense forest with about 60 other families to get to their resettlement site. They named the new site Bang ...
Rina Chandran
Proper nutrition feeds into safer pregnancies and healthy children
Every day families welcome new life into the world. New parents and caregivers want to ensure each child gets the best start but the most basic of needs, proper nutrition, is not equitably accessible. This has devastating effects. Nearly half of all deaths in children under ...
STÉPHANE VIDRY AND BOON YEE YEONG