Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports has offered an assurance that the two Malaysian tourists, who were set on fire by an unemployed former Thai boxer in front of a shopping mall in Bangkok on Saturday, are being taken good care of and are being treated at the Police General Hospital and Chulalongkorn General Hospital.
Malaysia will lead a regional delegation to Myanmar next month after the junta scrapped its state of emergency, Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan announced on Friday.
Kuala Lumpur - Secretariat-level discussions between Thailand and Cambodia, which took place over three days starting Monday (Aug 4), have reached a consensus in principle on key issues relating to the implementation of the ceasefire along their shared border.
Malaysia, currently chairing ASEAN, has proposed hosting a trilateral meeting with Thailand and Cambodia’s foreign ministers to discuss the ongoing border tension, said Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa today.
The secretariat of the Thai General Border Committee (GBC) and its Cambodian counterpart are meeting in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur from today until Wednesday. They will discuss the framework and issues for the main GBC meeting, scheduled for Thursday at the same venue.
A Myanmar junta air strike on a rebel-occupied ruby mining hub killed 13 people on Saturday, according to a resident and a spokesperson for an armed opposition group.
Thailand has agreed to China and the United States attending, to observe, the extraordinary General Border Committee (GBC) meeting, beginning on August 4, in Kuala Lumpur, but only on the final day.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was in trouble at home. Last week’s protest demanded his resignation. His Madani government was holding on despite reports of internal fracturing. Economic complaints mounted daily. Then a regional crisis handed him a magic wand.
Thailand will escort foreign military attachés to areas affected by recent border clashes with Cambodia tomorrow, to provide firsthand insight into what Bangkok describes as repeated violations of an unconditional ceasefire agreement by Phnom Penh, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said yesterday.
The historic truce talks between Thailand and Cambodia, aimed at securing an immediate ceasefire and halting hostilities along the disputed border, began in Putrajaya on Monday.
ASEAN foreign ministers have called for an immediate ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand, expressing deep concern over the rising death toll and humanitarian impact in the border areas of the two countries.
Thailand has agreed, in principle, to allow the Malaysian leader, as ASEAN chair, to mediate in the escalating Thai-Cambodian border dispute, but Cambodia must demonstrate its sincerity to resolve the conflict, Thailand’s acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said today.
