News
Four-year plan aims to boost tourism
The National Tourism Policy Committee has unveiled a four-year plan to enhance tourism competitiveness and has also approved a special zone focusing on four islands in southern Thailand. Deputy Prime Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn on November 30 said the committee would organise a series of training programmes ...
Fresh push for contract farming
Frustrated with the failure of a $27 million emergency loan package to help rice farmers find a fair market price for their crop and stem the tide of smuggled paddy across the borders, Agriculture Minister Veng Sokhon is flogging a new model for the nation’s ...
Peninsula’s future in flux
Chea Sophat stood on the gravel embankment of a road as he pointed to what was once his rice field, an unfenced, 4,000-square-metre waterlogged plot with a handful of buffaloes wallowing in the mud. Across the Tonle Sap river, Phnom Penh was celebrating the festivities ...
Work set to begin on Laos-China railway this month
Construction of the Laos-China railway will start this month, with work to begin in several provinces simultaneously, an official in charge of the project has said. This approach will ensure that construction of the historic rail line, linking Vientiane to the Chinese border over a ...
Oudomxay radio, television transmitters officially opened
New radio and television transmission stations built in Xay district, Oudomxay province, and funded by the government of Vietnam, officially began transmitting on November 30. Construction of the facilities cost more than 38.7 billion kip, funded by grant assistance from Vietnam. Work on the project ...
Parliamentary commission advises overhaul of national land use policy
The National Land Use Policy is in line for redress, after being highlighted by a parliamentary commission charged with targeting legislation for reform. In its current form, the policy only covers farmland – something the Commission for the Assessment of Legal Affairs and Special Issues ...
Donors asked to come forward to help foot cost of post-quake repairs
Donors willing to fund the repair of more than 200 pagodas in Bagan damaged by last August’s earthquake are still being identified, officials say. U Aung Kaw, director of the Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library in Bagan, called on donors who have funded ...
New domestic tourism tax breaks okayed
The cabinet gave the nod on November 29 to the reinstatement of tourism stimulus measures including a 15,000-baht tax break on domestic tour packages and hotel accommodation for individual taxpayers. The measures are intended to entice people to spend the long public holiday at home ...
Myanmar and India to open new international border gate in Tamu
Pilgrims, traders and adventurous holidaymakers can soon look forward to the opening of a new border gate between India and Myanmar, officials say. Immigration Minister U Thein Swe said the new international border gate at Tamu, Sagaing Region, would open soon. He said the Indian ...
President outlines steps for green future
President U Htin Kyaw set out the government’s vision for the country’s transition to a green economy on November 29 in an opening address to the 5th Green Economy Green Growth Forum, held in Nay Pyi Taw. Six broad measures – including promoting the renewable energy sector, ...
