News
Aid group forced to stop helping flood victims on Ma Ba Tha orders
Hardline monks have flexed their muscles amid the desolation of Sagaing Region’s floods, ordering a prominent aid group to leave the area and describing National League for Democracy and other volunteers as “troublemaking groups”. Flooding has devastated large areas of northern Sagaing Region, with Kawlin the ...
Thousands displaced in Mrauk-Oo, Myanmar
More than 1000 people have been displaced by flooding in Mrauk-Oo township in Rakhine State as a result of heavy rain, a civil society leader in the town reported. Rain was continuing and there were concerns the situation would worsen. Keep reading ...
Vietnam strives to improve its trade statistics for ASEAN
Vietnam will strive to become one of ASEAN’s top five nations in international trade statistics by 2017. This is part of a plan for Vietnam’s integration into the ASEAN Statistics system in the 2016-20 period, as approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. According to the plan’s general targets ...
Thai activists hold alternative 'review' of coal plant
Songkhla residents protesting against plans for a new coal-fired power plant and sea port in Thepa district held their own “public review” 28 July. The move followed their boycott of the third and final public of the third and final public hearing on the Environmental and Health ...
Myanmar police seize '$100m worth of methamphetamines'
Police in the city of Yangon in Myanmar have seized methamphetamine tablets with an estimated value of more than $100m (£64m) in an abandoned truck. Police told state media that they had found almost 27 million tablets. Keep reading ...
Thailand, Myanmar sign visa-free agreement
Thailand and Myanmar signed an agreement on Tuesday to allow citizens with ordinary passports to make visa-free visits of up to 14 days. It will come into effect on 11 August. Keep reading ...
Extreme weather: the new normal for Myanmar farmers
Recent flooding highlights the climactic challenges that upper Myanmar farmers are now facing on a regular basis. Sagaing Region was particularly badly hit from mid-July onward. As other rivers, streams, dams and dykes also burst their banks, houses and fields were inundated, with Kin-U, Kawlin and ...
Chinese loan for Cambodia's rice sector on hold
A project to build 10 warehouses to store rice paddy using Chinese funding has hit a roadblock, as the Cambodian government has been unable to meet criteria set by the Chinese for the project, according to an official associated with the project. Keep reading ...
With farms, fruit and feed, Vietnam's tycoons explore agribusiness ventures
Some of Vietnam’s top firms are carving out opportunities in its $37 billion agriculture and seafood sector and looking to expand overseas, helped by free trade pacts. “We’ll have global food shortages by 2050. If we invest fundamentally and correctly, this market is infinite,” said Nguyen Duy ...
New rice deals hammered out with African countries
Thailand has clinched several deals to sell 765,000 tonnes of rice worth US$313 million to African countries. Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikulya said during a five-day visit to South Africa that Thai exporters had signed 11 memorandums of understanding with African importers for the rice, worth 10.9 ...
