Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
The United Nations is preparing to send teams to Rakhine state of Myanmar to begin work aimed at repatriating Rohinya Muslims from Bangladesh to Myanmar, The Irrawaddy News reported today, quoting the regional head of the UN Development Programme’s Asia-Pacific region. UNDP’s director for Asia-Pacific region Haoliang Xu said Thursday that UN officials were last
Asean can continue to play a constructive role in helping to usher in peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, said South Korean President Moon Jae-in today. “It is necessary to create opportunities for North Korea to fulfil its role as a responsible member of the international community,” he said in the highlight lecture of
YANGON — Monday night’s successful location of a youth soccer team and their coach who had been missing in a flooded cave complex in northern Thailand has put the spotlight on a local monk who had earlier predicted that the group would be found alive. Phra Khuva Boonchum hails from northern Thailand, and is already
Former prime minister Najib Razak of Malaysia was arrested by Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency today. According to a statement from the task force probing corruption in the state fund 1MDB, Najib was picked up from his mansion in Jalan Langgak Duta in Kuala Lumpur at 2.35 pm allegedly in connection with the investigation into a corruption
Malaysia’s political rising star Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, who will turn 26 in December, has become the youngest-ever cabinet member in the country after he was sworn in today, Malaysian media reported. The youngest of four children, the Johor-born Syed’s appointment as youth and sports minister under the new Pakatan Harapan government is also historic
Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail of Malaysia has expressed concerns over a report that an 11-year-old Thai girl has been taken as a wife by a Malaysian man 30 years her senior, according to Malaysian media. It reported that she has instructed officials of the Social Welfare Department to conduct a thorough investigation after
Luxembourg will accede to the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) at the ASEAN-related summits in Vientiane later in October, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Luxembourg will be the sixteenth European country to accede to the TAC. The 1976 treaty aims to strengthen peace and cooperation through non-interference and the non-use of
Conflict-ravaged Myanmar is “facing challenges” in stemming opium poppy cultivation, the junta said Wednesday, months after the UN warned the country had become the world’s biggest producer of the narcotic. Myanmar’s legal economy has been gutted by conflict and instability since the military seized power in 2021 and sparked a widespread armed uprising. The country
Yangon, Myanmar – Myanmar’s junta chief has made a rare apology after security forces killed the popular abbot of a Buddhist monastery in an incident the military initially blamed on opponents of its coup. Sayadaw Bhaddanta Munindabhivamsa, 78, was a prominent teacher and author on Buddhism and head of a monastery that had publicly opposed the military’s
Indonesia’s national data center has been compromised by a hacking group asking for a $8 million ransom that the government says it won’t pay. The cyberattack has disrupted services of more than 200 government agencies at both the national and regional levels since last Thursday, said Samuel Abrijani Pangerapan, the director general of informatics applications
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan began his official visit to Thailand today, at the invitation of his Thai counterpart, Maris Sangiampongsa. Today he is scheduled to attend a working luncheon with Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and an official welcome dinner, hosted by Maris, according to Thai Foreign Ministry. Tomorrow he will attend a bilateral
Yangon, Myanmar – A first batch of 5,000 conscripts called up by Myanmar‘s junta will begin duty at the end of this month, military sources told AFP on Monday, as the generals struggle to crush opposition to their coup. The junta enforced a conscription law in February, three years after it seized power and sparked a widespread armed
