Social development
Needle demand too high: report
As a Kandal village braces for an investigation into a cluster of HIV cases, the US Centers for Disease Control on 19 February published a new report on the now-infamous HIV outbreak in Battambang’s Roka commune, pointing to high demand for medical injections and a lack ...
H1N1 case confirmed in Phnom Penh
A patient who has been confirmed to have swine flu is receiving treatment at Cambodia’s Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, though hospital and Health Ministry officials on 20 February downplayed the significance of the case. A 2009 swine flu pandemic saw close to 500 people infected in Cambodia, with five ...
Reporter detained for allegedly inciting villagers facing eviction
A reporter for local television station MSJ TV was briefly detained and questioned by police on 20 February for allegedly inciting residents who are facing eviction from their riverside homes in Kompong Chhnang City, a journalist and officials said on 21 February. Ngunly Theara, a news reader ...
Doctor denies spreading HIV in latest outbreak
Following the discovery of an apparent outbreak of HIV in Peam village, Kandal province, Cambodia, the head of the Ponhea Leu district referral hospital refuted accusations from infected residents that he was the source of the virus. Kouy Bunthoeun, director of the provincial health department, said ...
Fighting drives more civilians out of villages
Refugees from fighting between two ethnic armed groups in northern Shan State are still flowing into the government-controlled town of Kyaukme amid reports that the Tatmadaw is stepping up its presence in the conflict zone. Relief workers are sending vehicles to war-torn villages to help civilians – ...
Activists wary of next govt’s human rights record
With a Nobel Peace Laureate poised to lead the next government, human rights activists are concerned they are in line for a major disappointment. Andrew MacGregor, from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said he feared “we are in a honeymoon period”. Keep reading ...
Two freed, but countless others still enslaved by armed groups
Two young women who were the focus of a Myanmar Times investigation this month into mass abductions of civilians by ethnic armed groups have been freed by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Ma Nang Htwe Yin and Nang Kyan Kham, both 20-year-old ethnic Shan pre-school teachers, were ...
Cambodia’s young seek change as demographics shift
Thy Sovantha, Cambodia’s youngest political star, is still seething. A charismatic student, she rocketed to fame during the 2013 elections when she backed the opposition’s effort to unseat Cambodia’s authoritarian ruler. Her Facebook page drew hundreds of thousands of followers, making her, at 18, perhaps the ...
Narong eases ThaiHealth budget freeze
Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Narong Pipatanasai has approved budget disbursements for some projects under the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) after about 1.64 billion baht was earlier frozen due to suspected misspending. Adm Narong signed off on the budget allocation for some of the foundation’s projects ...
Controversial study says violence works
Indigenous peoples fighting economic land concessions (ELCs) in Cambodia are more likely to get results with violent protest than lodging their complaints through legitimate channels, a controversial study published this month argues. The paper, published by Young Sokphea in the Asian Journal of Social Science, concludes ...
