Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
Export of Thai Hom Mali (fragrant) rice for the year 2019 is expected to fall by about 20 percent to roughly one million tonnes from this year’s 1.2-1.3 million tonnes as foreign buyers have increasingly shifted to similar grains from Vietnam and Cambodia which are cheaper. Chukiart Opaswong, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters
SUMUR, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesian rescue teams on Wednesday struggled to reach remote areas on the western coast of Java amid an “extreme weather” rain warning after a tsunami killed more than 400 people last week. Heavy rain lashed fishing villages along the coast, muddying roads and holding up convoys delivering heavy machinery and aid
LABUAN, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesian rescuers on Tuesday used drones and sniffer dogs to search for survivors along the devastated west coast of Java hit by a tsunami that killed at least 429 people, warning more victims are expected to be uncovered as the search expands. Thick ash clouds continued to spew from Anak Krakatau,
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said today that ASEAN has yet to get its due credit as the only regional organization that has been sustainable and with tremendous potential. In his acceptance speech after receiving an honorary doctorate by Rangsit University in recognition of his statesmanship, Mahathir also highlighted how students are future leaders who
Messages of solidarity poured in Wednesday from around the world on the one-year anniversary of the arrest of two Myanmar Reuters journalists who exposed a massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state. Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were arrested in Yangon on December 12 and handed seven-year jail sentences under a state
Former Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim promised a more active contribution from Malaysia to help Thailand find a peaceful solution to the conflicts in the South.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – US Vice President Mike Pence told leaders of Southeast Asian nations on Thursday that there is no place for “empire and aggression” in the Indo-Pacific region, a comment that may be widely interpreted as a reference to China’s rise. Pence did not mention China in his remarks at the opening of a
SINGAPORE – Thailand took over the chairmanship of ASEAN from Singapore this afternoon at the end of the two-day ASEAN summit on this nation island. Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha received the symbolic gavel from his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong in a ceremony. But the chairmanship will formally begin on January 1 next
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – US Vice President Mike Pence expressed the Trump administration’s strongest condemnation yet of Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya Muslims on Wednesday, telling leader Aung San Suu Kyi that “persecution” by her country’s army was “without excuse”. Pence also pressed Suu Kyi to pardon two Reuters journalists who were arrested nearly a year ago
SINGAPORE (Reuters) — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was trying to “defend the indefensible” over alleged atrocities committed by the country’s military against minority Rohingya Muslims. Asked on the sidelines of a speech he delivered in Singapore to comment on how Myanmar and Suu
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha today pledged to push for greater connectivity to strengthen business and investments in ASEAN when Thailand assumes the chairmanship of the regional grouping next year. Speaking at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Singapore, Gen Prayut said as chairman of ASEAN Thailand will work to make the regional grouping an
