News
Leaked WWF report: illegal logging in Laos 'a worst-case scenario'
Forests in Laos are disappearing at a ferocious rate under the impact of rampant illegal logging which accounts for 90% or more of the industry, with lucrative export markets in Vietnam and China. Keep reading ...
YCDC searches for more water as households run dry
Only 60 percent of Yangon’s water needs are being met, officials say. The Yangon City Development Committee is hunting for fresh sources, even as work proceeds to fix leaky pipes that lose half the water they are supposed to carry. The search for water security is part ...
Around 4 million voters shut out of Myanmar's election
When Myanmar votes next month in what has been billed as its first free and fair election in 25 years, Tun Lin, and around 4 million of his fellow citizens, won’t be taking part. Most, like the 33-year-old fisherman, are working overseas and have been unable to ...
Tourism Council of Thailand predicts foreign arrivals will hit 30m
The Tourism Council of Thailand projects foreign tourist arrivals will reach 30.3 million this year, growing 22% and surpassing the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s target of 28.8 million visitors. Tourism revenue from foreign tourists is expected to surge 21% to 1.42 trillion baht, slightly up from ...
Indonesia destroys Thai, Vietnamese trawlers
Photos from Indonesia on 21 October show the Indonesian navy blowing up fishing boats it seized from Thailand and Vietnam. Keep reading ...
Myanmar fishermen protest Thai hires
The hiring of Thai helmsmen on Myanmar fishing boats has been criticised by the local fishing industry. Two Myanmar companies last year hired Thai captains on the grounds that they were familiar with the use of sonar to find fish. Faced with opposition by local fishermen, the ...
Myanmar Central Bank will not return to old ways: senior official
Amid widespread anxiety over the impact of the Myanmar Central Bank’s decision to revoke thousands of US dollar accepter and holder licences, a senior official has promised authorities have no plans to return to old ways. For many years – until 2011, when six commercial banks opened ...
ASEAN’s winners and losers under TPP
Earlier this month, 12 countries in the Asia Pacific region signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which ranks as the biggest trade agreement in history – signatory countries account for 40% of total global output. While the treaty still must be ratified by each and every party to it, ...
Water crisis looms as short monsoon, El Nino hit southern reservoir
A large reservoir that supplies water for Ho Chi Minh City and nearby provinces has seen its water level falling rapidly, signalling a possible severe shortage for the whole region, experts said. “Low rainfall as an impact of El Nino has significantly lowered the water level ...
Minister assures Lao jobs in rail megaproject
Authorities in charge have prepared a workforce recruitment plan for the planned construction of the Laos-China rail project, Minister of Public Works and Transport has said. Dr Bounchanh Sinthavong spoke to local media at a press conference recently and declared that a recruitment plan will be ...
