Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
ASEAN foreign ministers will meet in Bangkok next week to discuss the crisis in their fellow member nation Myanmar, Indonesia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Roy Soemirat has said, adding that his foreign minister Sugiono is expected to attend.
I got to know Dr David I Steinberg very well when we met in Yangon while serving as editor-in-chief of Myanmar Times in 2017.
The Thai government is waiting to receive a reply from the Myanmar government about when four captured Thai fishing crew are to be set free and returned to Thailand, said Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai.
Myanmar has freed 31 fishing crew members, including four Thai nationals, who were taken into custody after Myanmar patrol boats attacked a flotilla of Thai fishing vessels off Ranong province last weekend.
The kebaya, a traditional women’s garment popular in Southeast Asia, has been added to the Unesco Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity through a joint nomination by Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Many historians believe that the wearing of headpieces started in ancient Egypt thousands of years ago. University professor Jake Victoria agrees. “I think headdresses were necessary during those times because many upper-class Egyptians had shaved heads,” he told Thai PBS World.
Myanmar has expressed regret over the death of a Thai national in a recent incident, in which Myanmar patrol boats attacked a flotilla of Thai fishing vessels off Ranong province, according to Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa.
Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said yesterday that his ministry has issued a letter of concern over an incident at sea and has invited Myanmar's ambassador, U Chit Swe, for a meeting to protest over Myanmar navy patrol boats attacking a flotilla of Thai fishing vessels in waters off Ranong province on Saturday.
The Thai navy is ready to retaliate against Myanmar’s navy if they intrude into Thai waters and attack Thai fishing boats, according to naval commander-in-chief Admiral Jirapol Wongwit today.
The ASEAN Informal Foreign Ministers’ Meeting will be held on January 18–19 in Langkawi, according to informed diplomatic sources.
Cambodia has charged six political activists deported from Thailand on with treason in what their relatives and supporters called a case of cross-border persecution, according to Radio Free Asia.
Singapore hanged a 35-year-old Singaporean-Iranian man for drug trafficking on Friday, its fourth in less than a month, despite appeals from Tehran to "reconsider" his execution.
