News
Civil society groups to cooperate on flood rehabilitation efforts
Around 50 organizations involved in relief efforts in flood-stricken parts of Myanmar have agreed to coordinate their efforts toward flood rehabilitation programs in the coming months, according to attendees of a conference held in Sittwe over the weekend. Keep reading ...
Dams 'destroying Mekong fish stock'
Fishermen in delta and Northeast Thailand say dams in China and Laos have hit breeding and yields, forcing many to quit. Mekong River fishermen have already suffered dramatically from dams and irrigation works, which have decimated fish stocks and undermined livelihoods that supported families for generations.Nguyen Anh ...
Asia migrant crisis: New mass graves on Malaysia-Thai border
New mass graves with 24 bodies thought to be those of migrants have been found in Malaysia, police say. The graves were found in the state of Perlis near the Thai border not far from 139 grave sites unearthed in May, Perlis police chief Shafie Ismail ...
Lao workers 'caged' in slave case
A bank manager has been charged after 12 Lao workers — some as young as 14 — were found enslaved and kept in cages on a farm outside Bangkok. The workers, aged between 14 and 25 years old, were found sleeping in small spaces framed by ...
Garment tool makers size up Cambodia
Industrial technology companies from across Asia expect garment manufacturers to turn to mechanization as a way to supplement human labor power in Cambodia. At the Kingdom’s fifth annual International Textile and Garment Industry Exhibition, representatives showed off advanced sewing machines, automatic embroidering tools and even an ...
Vietnam affirms close cooperation in transport with Laos, Cambodia
The transport ministries of Vietnam and Laos have affirmed close cooperation in all aspects of the transport sector at an annual bilateral ministerial meeting in Hanoi on 22 August. They agreed to promote transport infrastructure connectivity between the two countries. On the same day, Vietnam and Cambodia ...
Rethink on prostitution: Officials say Vietnam needs legal red-light districts
Social affairs officials at a national meeting on 21 August said the government should legalize prostitution and create red-light districts in major cities to monitor the sex industry more effectively. Officials at the meeting held by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in Ho Chi ...
Vietnamese keep off vegetables on pesticide fears
Vietnamese are consuming too much starch and sugar and only half the amount of daily vegetables recommended, partly because of worries about pesticides, experts said. A recent survey by the National Institute of Nutrition found a person in Vietnam consumes 200 grams of vegetables on average ...
Vietnam stocks plunge as bank concerns trigger sharp sell-off
Vietnam’s stocks just had a rough week after bad news kept hitting the markets, prompting many investors to dump a large number of bank shares amid a broad sell-off. The benchmark VN-Index dropped to 556.30 at the 3 p.m. close on 21 August, shedding nearly 17 ...
State banks help more Thais to join financial system
Thailand is among several countries in the East Asia and Pacific region to record an increase in financial inclusion thanks to greater financial services offered by state-owned banks, says a World Bank senior economist. Thailand registered a higher rate of financial inclusion among adults aged 15 ...