News
Vietnam's garment exports forecast to top $27 billion
Vietnamese textiles and garment exports will possibly hit US$27.1 billion this year, an increase of more than 10 percent from 2014, local media reported. Local producers shipped $20.63 billion worth of textile and garment products in the first 11 months, up 8.9 percent from the same ...
Bangkok traffic violators given 100-baht 'fine gift'
Traffic violators have been given time until 15 January to pay a flat-rate fine of 100 baht for all minor traffic offences committed in Bangkok as a “New Year gift” offered by the acting Metropolitan Police Bureau chief. Pol Lt Gen Sanit Mahathaworn said on 22 ...
4.5 tonnes of ivory seized in huge Interpol operation
A huge international police operation has seized 4.5 tonnes of African elephant and rhino tusks in Thailand and Singapore, leading to 376 arrests, Interpol said. Keep reading ...
Budget bill proposes $3b deficit
The current government headed by President U Thein Sein has proposed a K24 trillion (US$18.4 billion) budget for the incoming government, including a K3.9 trillion deficit – more than $3 billion at current exchange rates. The draft was submitted to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw on 22 ...
Freed students defiant
Still defiant, three of the four Yadanabon University students jailed in October on riot charges were released from Mandalay’s Ohbo Prison on 22 December. A fourth, Ko Naing Ye Wai, remains behind bars. Their conviction followed a demonstration in front of the university last June in ...
For migrants, the legal route brings few benefits: report
They are mired in debt bondage, their pay slips are slashed by hidden fees and fabricated taxes, and they’re forced to work excessive hours in slave-like conditions absent of breaks and without the guarantee of overtime pay. This is the lot of migrant workers who ...
Bagan schools slated for solar power
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Panasonic will provide solar-power systems to schools in the Bagan region to promote educational support aimed at sustainable development. Keep reading ...
‘Edge effects’ harming forests
Even comparatively small patches of human intrusion into contiguous forestland disproportionately saps forests’ ability to trap harmful carbon, a recent study has shown, a finding that suggests Cambodia’s government may be underestimating the environmental damage caused by logging and development. So-called “forest degradation” – unlike typical ...
Violent protests boil over in Bavet
Ongoing protests by striking garment workers in the Svay Rieng province town of Bavet spiralled into “anarchy” on 22 December after protesters pelted police with rocks, aggravating an already volatile situation and spurring national authorities to begin mediation efforts. Two military police were injured in the encounter, ...
Rent control law being ignored
The government is failing to enforce, or even make landlords and tenants aware of, the new rent-control law, even as rents begin to creep up in anticipation of garment workers receiving their annual wage raise next month, labour advocates say. The legislation, which went into effect ...
