News
Vietnamese laborers flock to China, Laos to work illegally despite issues
According to statistics from Vietnam’s Lao Cai province’s department of labor, invalids and social affairs, every year about 4,000 laborers leave the province for China. Quang Van Tinh, who lives in Muong Ang district’s Bung Lao commune, still feels angry when recalling his time in China. After ...
New minimum wage sees workers sacked and struggling
After almost two years of arguments and negotiations, Myanmar has set its first minimum wage at K3600 (US$2.80) per day. The milestone was met with ambivalence by factory owners, and trepidation by garment workers, who fear many jobs will be axed to afford the move. The ...
Food shortages still plague flood victims
Four weeks after President U Thein Sein declared a national state of emergency, the disaster relief effort is still struggling to feed all the flood victims. Community leaders say gaps in the coordination of aid are to blame. More than 451,000 disaster-affected people in states and regions ...
Pensions provide small support for elderly
A plan to roll out monthly pensions for the elderly remains mired in a logistical tangle – and those who qualify could receive as little as K15,000 a year. While the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement received the green light in December 2014 to implement ...
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 ...
Bomb hits property launches
The deadly Erawan Shrine bombing is expected to weaken already soft demand in the property market. In the wake of the bombing on 17 August, SET-listed developers including Supalai Plc, Property Perfect Plc, Major Development Plc and Noble Development Plc have decided to postpone some or ...
Construction begins on second Thai-Myanmar bridge
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on 30 August for the second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge that will play a key role in the East-West Economic Corridor traversing continental Southeast Asia. Keep reading ...
Seven clusters in for extra perks in SEZs
Additional investment privileges are likely to be offered to seven business clusters to be located in special economic zones (SEZs). Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak recently urged the Board of Investment and Industry Ministry to speed up studying the possibility of offering additional privileges to those ...
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 ...
Rice federation forecasts exports to resume as scheduled in mid-September
Recently halted after severe flooding that inundated swathes of the country, Myanmar will resume rice exports as scheduled from mid-September, the country’s rice federation said on 31 August. Members of the Myanmar Rice Federation had agreed to a temporary pause on exports and to sell domestically at ...
