News

The mineral resources of Southeast Asia’s emerging economies are plentiful, but mine management practices may make all the difference in maximizing returns for operators, host nations and local communities alike. That is the message taken to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos this week by mining engineer and ...

The 14 students who rallied against last year’s coup were released temporarily from prison in Bangkok Wednesday morning and vowed to continue their protest. The temporary release followed the military request to extend their detention pending investigation of their defiance of the government’s ban on political gatherings. ...

More than 300 civil society representatives, diplomats and opposition members have attended a consultation to voice concerns over the controversial draft NGO law, a parliamentary vote on which was reportedly delayed until next week. The national consultation, organised by the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC) and ...

Phnom Penh’s remote Prey Speu Social Affairs Centre – a de facto prison used to indefinitely incarcerate some of the capital’s most vulnerable citizens – has granted unusual access to the media, coinciding with a visit from Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker Ke Sovannaroth.   Eighty-nine men, ...

As Thailand braces for a drop in rice production owing to rainfall shortage because of the El Niño effect, officials say that Cambodia is less likely to be affected by the weather pattern as they expect rainfall to cover the Kingdom this week, encouraging the ...

Vietnam is celebrating the 55th anniversary of its tourist industry amid a mountain of challenges, highlighted by falling international tourist numbers. Fifty-five years after the tourist industry was founded in 1960, the industry has obtained many achievements, but “new challenges and difficulties have also arisen,” Vietnam ...

Local prison authorities in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township say more than 100 “Bengalis” were released this week after serving the duration of their sentences in connection with violence between Buddhists and Muslims that wracked the state in 2012.   Prison staffer Win Kyaw confirmed the release of ...

An ILO project that provides free lunch at garment factories is proving to be a hit with workers, but whether or not this 50-cent per worker “experiment” catches on will depend on factory owners and the brands they supply. Last July, eight garment factories in Phnom ...

Myanmar’s parliament has approved a law that would regulate marriages between Buddhist women and men from outside their religion. The move by legislators was condemned by activists and human rights groups, who said the law was passed under pressure from hardline Buddhist monks. The bill is one ...

Myanmar will go to the polls on 8 November in its first open general election in 25 years, officials say. Reform in Myanmar has been under way since 2010 when military rule was replaced by a military-backed civilian government.   The ruling USDP faces a head-to-head contest with ...