News
Floods persist in Ayeyarwady Delta
While monsoon season flooding has ravaged most of Myanmar, in Ayeyarwady’s Tharpaung township the water has yet to subside below the danger level, meaning access has been severely restricted. Besieged villagers have scrambled onto anything dry, cresting roofs, higher ground, or in some cases, inside half-submerged ...
Arakanese ire raised over citizenship verification drive
The Arakan State government’s ongoing citizenship verification process has caused disquiet among local Arakanese, some of whom contend that immigration officials are overly accommodating of unwarranted claims. The citizenship verification process, a largely ill-defined scheme that involves non-nationals providing proof of Burma-born ancestry, has led to ...
Flood-hit communities slated for relocation
Residents of 17 villages in Kalay, Kalaywa and Tamu townships plan to relocate their communities to safer sites to avoid future disasters, a Sagaing Region official said on 20 August. U Soe Soe Zaw said 13 villages in Kalay, two in Kalaywa and two in Tamu ...
Chinese tourists head to Thailand despite bombing fears
Busloads of visitors from China flocked to Bangkok’s glittering Grand Palace on 21 August but, days after a bomb at another of the city’s popular attractions killed five Chinese tourists, Thailand’s biggest spending holidaymakers are rattled. The attack on a Hindu shrine, particularly popular with Chinese devotees, did ...
Vietnam sets up steering committee for industrialisation strategy
The Prime Minister has decided to establish a Steering Committee for Vietnam’s industrialisation strategy as part of a cooperation agreement with Japan by 2020, with a vision to 2030. The Steering Committee for the strategy will be led by Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai while Minister ...
China factory index hits 6-year low
A key indicator of China’s manufacturing activity slumped to a 77-month low in August, an independent survey showed on 21 August, fuelling concerns of further deceleration in the world’s second-largest economy. The preliminary reading of Caixin’s Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) came in at 47.1 this month, ...
Vietnam, Dagestan reach oil and gas exploitation agreement
Vietnam is willing to pour up to 300 million USD into an oil and gas exploitation project in the Caspian Sea of the Republic of Dagestan within the Russian Federation, said Dagestan’s Government Office on 18 August. Keep reading ...
Major Cineplex targets 30 cinemas in Laos within three years
Major Cineplex Group is expanding its footprint in Laos, aiming to have 30 movie screens there within three years. Entering the country of 7 million people through its partner Platinum Cineplex, Thailand’s largest movie-theatre operator formed a 60:40 joint venture to open its first five movie ...
Cambodia well suited for solar, though use remains low
Cambodia has a high degree of solar radiation, making the country a good place for the renewable energy source, a report from the Asian Development Bank says. However, the number of places using it remains very low. There are potentially 134,500 square kilometers suitable to photovoltaic ...
Map critics face arrest
Prime Minister Hun Sen has delivered a warning to anyone still thinking about criticising the government’s handling of the ongoing border demarcation with Vietnam: you will be arrested. Addressing a cabinet meeting, Hun Sen said anyone who persisted with claims that authorities were using “fake” maps or ...
