News
World Bank approves loan to poverty reduction fund
On 13 July, the Ministry of Finance signed a US$30 million agreement with the World Bank aimed at continuing to finance Laos’ Poverty Reduction Fund, improving livelihoods and upgrading infrastructure for residents of 150 rural villages in over 40 districts of 10 target provinces. The funding will ...
More Montagnard asylum seekers return to Vietnam
On 12 July, 16 Montagnards – an ethnic mountain minority who are predominantly Christian – were sent back to Vietnam through Ratanakkiri province after most had their applications for refugee status rejected, and all volunteered to go back to their homeland, government officials said on 13 ...
Rights groups give NLD poor marks on party’s ‘100 days’ record
Two international advocacy organisations have slammed the new Myanmar government for failing to address fundamental human rights shortcomings in its first 100 days in office, echoing recent criticism from the international community. In a joint statement, the International Federation for Human Rights and the Alternative ...
Banks expect up to 5m low-income earners to register for welfare
The government Savings Bank, Krungthai Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives expect 3 million to 5 million low-income earners will sign up for state welfare when registration opens from tomorrow to August 15. Those eligible are Thai citizens aged 18 years and ...
Foreign garment, textile tech companies bank on Vietnam
Foreign companies providing technology solutions for textile, garment, and footwear production have been increasingly active in Vietnam, taking advantage of the expected growth of the industry. On July 7, French company Lectra announced the opening of its subsidiary Lectra Vietnam. “Vietnam is one of the most dynamic ...
Lao workers returning home to work in SEZs
Speaking to Vientiane Times on 13 July, Chairman of the Champassak Provincial SEZ Authority Mr Khamphon Nuansengsy said that his authority conducted a survey recently and found that many more Lao people wanted to return to work in their hometown as long as jobs were available. In the ...
ARLO land-reclamation kicks off in Wang Nam Khieo
The first operation to reclaim the Agricultural Land Reform Office land will officially kick off tomorrow at a 600-rai plot in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Wang Nam Khieo district. Meanwhile, Piangjai Hanpanich, 92, – founder of real-estate firm Land and Houses – returned a 1,263-rai plot in ...
Compensation for mining company’s ‘poisoning’ not enough: plaintiffs
People in Tak province say nothing has been done about removing cadmium contamination from their water source, while the Appeals Court on 12 July upheld the Civil Court’s earlier ruling against zinc-mining companies on the leakage of toxins into the Mae Tao River Basin. The Southern ...
How Buddhist monks are battling deforestation in Cambodia
Cambodia has one of the world’s highest deforestation rates. But a group of Buddhist monks are stepping up efforts to save forests by publicly revealing wrongdoings and mobilizing local villagers. Ate Hoekstra reports. In Cambodia, where over 90 percent of the population is Buddhist, monks enjoy ...
Protest leader arrested in Mondolkiri after reoccupation attempt
An anti-eviction protester who police claim orchestrated several large-scale reoccupation attempts on a planned rubber plantation in Mondolkiri province was arrested on 11 July, police and a rights monitor said. About 500 families living on the land were evicted in 2012, three years after the Pacific ...
