News
Vietnam will face severe water shortage for treating rivers badly: experts
Vietnam is using its major rivers as dumping grounds or excavation sites, and this poses a risk of severe water shortage for tens of millions of people in the near future, experts warn. Members of Vietnam Rivers Network (VNR), the country’s largest advocacy group for water ...
Stateless Lao still struggling for basic rights in Thailand 40 years later
The 21-year civil war in Laos forced a large number of Lao people to seek refuge in Thailand, and many of them still live in the country today. Despite a long presence in Thailand, scores of them have not yet obtained Thai citizenship and are now more concerned ...
Thailand falls out of auto top 10 in the world
Thailand has dropped from ninth place to 12th in the world ranking of automobile manufacturers as European production has recovered, according to a local industry executive. Thai vehicle exports, on the other hand, remained among the global top 10, said Surapong Paisitpattanapong, vice-president of the Federation of ...
Shrimp peeled by slaves in Thailand
Pervasive human trafficking has helped turn Thailand into one of the world’s biggest shrimp providers. Despite repeated promises by businesses and government to clean up the country’s US$7 billion seafood export industry, an Associated Press investigation has found shrimp peeled by modern-day slaves is reaching ...
Poverty scheme moves to 2nd phase
The Pid Thong Lang Phra (doing good without any intention of getting anything back) royal programme seeks to secure the participation of educational institutions and private companies for its next five-year development plan to help address rural poverty. The project’s secretary-general MR Disnadda Diskul said the 2016-20 programme aims to tackle ...
Myanmar carries out litter collection drive
Myanmar’s National League for Democracy, which scored a stunning victory in November’s general election, carried out a litter collection drive over the weekend. Keep reading ...
Thai PM tells SRT to make mass-transit rail more affordable
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) on 14 December to make fares on new mass-transit rail lines affordable for the poor. Presiding over the start the test runs for the for the Purple Line between Bang Yai and Tao Poon, Gen Prayut said ...
Family of missing Laos activist Sombath Somphone reveal new evidence three years after disappearance
Fresh footage of an abducted activist’s classic American Jeep could crack open a three-year-old mystery in Laos, campaigners say. On 15 December 2012, Sombath Somphone was driving home when he was pulled over just metres from the Australian Embassy Recreation Club in the capital, Vientiane. Mr Sombath ...
Mixed feelings over COP21 agreement
Cambodia’s delegates are returning with mixed feelings about the agreement to try and save the planet from catastrophic climate change that was adopted on 12 December at the UN Climate Talks in Paris, known as COP21. In an email sent just before the treaty was adopted, government ...
Cambodia ranks low on gender equality
In spite of gains, gender inequality in Cambodia remains significant, particularly in education and political empowerment, according to the World Economic Forum’s recently released 2015 Global Gender Gap Report. While the Kingdom is ranked 109 out of 145 countries in the world, slipping one place compared with ...