Radio Free Asia
Myanmar’s Effort to Trace COVID-19 Spread Treads on Sensitive Territory
Myanmar’s second wave of coronavirus may have been triggered by “returnees” from neighboring Bangladesh, who brought the illness back with them when they illegally entered Rakhine state, which is now a COVID-19 hotspot, according to a senior government health official. But other experts say the evidence ...
Moe Myint and Nay Myo Htun for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Than Than Win and Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Vietnamese Police Detain Man for Facebook Criticism of Government in Land Rights Case
Authorities in Vietnam have arrested a Facebook user for sharing his grievances about how the local government has handled a dispute over his family’s land, RFA has learned. Le Van Hai, from Binh Dinh province in the country’s South Central Coast region was charged with “abusing ...
RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Two Get Death as Dong Tam Violent Land Dispute Trial Ends in Vietnam
A court in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi on Monday sentenced two defendants to death, also handing down a life sentence and other sentences ranging from six years to 15-months’ probation, in the trial of 29 villagers over a deadly land-rights clash in January at the Dong ...
RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Myanmar’s Second Wave of Coronavirus Takes Toll on Under-60 Population
A resurgence of coronavirus infections in Myanmar has been lethal for younger people in the Southeast Asian country, with 40 percent of those under the age of 60 who have tested positive dying from the highly contagious respiratory illness, a government health official said Thursday. On ...
Nay Myo Htun and Kan Thar for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Last Group of Families Displaced by Laos’ Nam Theun 1 Dam Accept Compensation
More than a hundred families in central Laos’ Bolikhamxay province who were displaced by the Nam Theun 1 dam have decided to accept compensation, putting an end to a standoff that lasted 17 months, sources in Laos told RFA. Disputes over compensation by displaced villagers have ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Cambodia Hikes Minimum Wage by US $2 as Workers Grapple With Inflation in Coronavirus Economy
Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor on Thursday announced a new minimum wage of U.S. $192 per month for 2021, an increase of only U.S. $2 from this year, drawing criticism from workers struggling with inflation amid an economy devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. “Beginning on Jan. 1, 2021, garment ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Deforestation Brings Hardship For Cambodia’s Wild Honeybee Hunters
Every morning at 5:30, Yang Phorn and some of his neighbors from a village west of Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, climb on motorbikes to go honeybee hunting in a forest far from home. Before the 47-year-old and the others set, they prepare bags of rice and ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Another Lao Arrested For Criticism of Government on Social Media
A Lao man who had complained about corruption in the communist-run country on social media was arrested at his home in southern Laos last week and is being questioned in jail about links to “an anti-government group of overseas Laotians,” police sources told RFA Tuesday. The ...
RFA Lao service, Translated by Sidney Khotpanya and Ounkeo Souksavanh, Written in English by Paul Eckert.
Mekong Countries Must Confront China Over Dam Impact, Experts Say Ahead of China-Led Meeting
China’s extensive damming of the upper Mekong River has reduced water flows, threatening downstream countries Cambodia and Vietnam with environmental harm and food shortages, said experts in advance of a summit meeting of the multilateral Mekong-Lancang Cooperation group. The summit, to be held on Aug. 24 ...
RFA’s Khmer and Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Lao Farm Worker Beaten, Tied Up, in Dispute at Chinese Banana Plantation
A young Lao worker was beaten, shocked and tied up by his employers at a Chinese banana plantation in northwestern Laos in a dispute over working hours, his relatives said. Lou Xiong’s relatives say he was beaten and shocked by Lao and Chinese employers at a ...
RFA's Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Paul Eckert.
