News
Election in doubt in flood-hit Chin State
The upcoming election may be up to three months late in landslide-ravaged Chin State. While the official nationwide poll is just 66 days away, the Union Election Commission said it is mulling a request to delay voting in Chin State due to lingering effect of the floods. Keep ...
Mekong region gets satellite-data boost
The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, USAID and a range of participating organizations have launched a five-year initiative they hope will transform the way in which the government, organizations, universities and citizens use data for research and decision-making. Called Servir-Mekong, the project will focus on Myanmar, Laos, ...
Informal workers find jobs easy, conditions poor
Young workers employed in Phnom Penh’s expansive informal economy may find it easy to get a job, but they face a high likelihood of labor abuses and receive significantly less pay than their peers in the formal sector, according to a study released over the ...
Hanoi celebrates 70th anniversary of National Day
A series of photos show how the capital city and its people mark the country’s historic day on 2 September 2015. Keep reading ...
Vietnam cautious on plan to raise crude oil output for growth
While some officials have proposed an increase in Vietnam’s crude output to counter the falling oil prices and achieve an economic growth of 6.2 percent, the government is not yet sure if that is an optimal strategy. The government will continue studying “all relevant factors” to ...
Bangkok blast: Police match fingerprint to bomb suspect
Thai police investigating the deadly Erawan Shrine bombing in Bangkok say fingerprints on possible bomb-making equipment found at the weekend match those of a man detained on 1 September. Keep reading ...
Seventeen laborers walk home to Cambodia after being trafficked in Thailand
Seventeen laborers from Cambodia have returned home after they were trafficked to work in Thailand’s logging industry and had their pay withheld, forcing them to walk back to the border, a rights group said on 2 September. The 17 had been lured into Thailand with promises ...
Bangkok bombing suspect arrested
The Thai government on 1 September announced that the man believed to be the prime suspect in the deadly bombing of Bangkok’s Erawan shrine had been arrested in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province, though well-placed officials in both Cambodia and Thailand said that the man was actually ...
Ministry instructs employers to offer contracts
The Ministry of Labour announced on 1 September that all employees must be under an official contract. The announcement was made on the same day the country’s first minimum wage went into effect, a landmark many workers expected would result in massive layoffs as factories attempted ...
UNHCR calls for action ahead of ‘sailing season’
Just four months after crackdowns on human smuggling routes precipitated a regional crisis, the United Nations is urging countries to prepare for another wave of boats when monsoon storms lull. Each year Muslims from Rakhine State and impoverished Bangladeshis pack onto smuggling vessels and undertake arduous, ...