News
Increased access to public services in Laos is distorting broader inequality
Since the early 1990s, five rounds of the Lao Expenditure and Consumption Surveys have shown that measured inequality has increased at the national level — within both rural and urban areas, within almost all provinces of Laos and within each of the four major ethnic ...
China confident on completing Eurasian Trans-Asian Railway
The Chinese government has expressed confidence that it will overcome political and financial obstacles to be able to speed up the development of the Eurasian Trans-Asian Railway, the China Economic Weekly reported. According to the report, the railway will offer China great opportunities to tap into ...
Cambodia fully backs establishment of Lancang-Mekong mechanism: official
Advisor to the Cambodian government Sok Siphanna said 26 October that Cambodia fully supported the establishment of the Lancang-Mekong River Dialogue and Cooperation Mechanism. Keep reading ...
Chin State faces looming food shortage after flood crisis
Three months after the nationwide flood disaster, civil society groups say that government has vastly underestimated the damage toll in Chin State, where locals are facing a looming food shortage. While emergency relief has found its way into many affected Chin State communities, local aid workers ...
Laos boosts hydropower, explores coal deposits for shale gas
Laos aims to sharply boost its hydropower generation to 10,000 megawatts by 2020 and is exploring for shale gas as part of plans to export electricity to its neighbours, its vice minister of energy and mines said on 26 October. Laos is among Asia’s poorest countries ...
Cambodian Government acts on employment
Long beset by low-paying jobs and a lack of skilled labour, Cambodia launched its first national policy for employment last week in an attempt to provide better employment opportunities for its people. The 13-page document, which took five years to draft, aims to improve the productivity ...
Rice scare in Poipet reveals plastic pieces
A rice-milling company has admitted to letting pieces of plastic from its machinery make their way into bags of rice after residents and authorities in Banteay Meanchey’s Poipet town raised fears of “plastic rice” upon finding their rice abnormally sticky since the Pchum Ben holiday. Keep ...
Locals told to move from waterfall site
Preah Sihanouk provincial authorities have told residents around the Kbal Chhay waterfalls to leave the area or risk being ejected, amid concern over pollution of the popular tourist attraction. Keep reading ...
Overstayers in Thailand face stiff re-entry bans
The Immigration Bureau has asked Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to exercise his special powers to issue a ban on foreigners found guilty of overstaying in Thailand from re-entering the country for one to 10 years. The move is aimed at cutting the number of illegal migrants ...
China pledges support for next Myanmar government regardless of winner
China will support the new government that emerges from next month’s elections in Myanmar no matter which party wins, senior officials told The Myanmar Times in Beijing. During an interview at a media forum in the Chinese capital last week, Sun Haiyan, director general of the ...