Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
As social media becomes a main platform for audiences around the world and the role of the traditional platforms, such as television and newspapers, is gradually decreasing, challenges for the media arise, with some ethical issues, to stay updated and adapt content to match the fast, short and catchy formats of social media. South East
Indonesia has ordered 13 long-range military radars from Thales to boost airspace surveillance efforts across its immense archipelago, the French manufacturer and state-owned Indonesian defence firm PT Len Industri said Sunday. The Ground Master 400 Alpha (GM400a) radars will allow the Indonesian military to “benefit from a single air picture integrating the detection of all
Myanmar on Saturday confirmed the country’s foreign minister would attend controversial “informal talks” in Bangkok on the coup-hit country’s political crisis, as Singapore warned that conditions were not yet right for ASEAN to re-engage the military junta at high-level meetings. Myanmar has been in turmoil since a February 2021 military coup that ousted democratically elected
After more than two decades of relations, ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will reportedly hold their first summit in Jakarta in October. An informed source said that this summit will take place in October after the 43rd ASEAN-related summits, due to time constraints. The two organisations established ties in 1990 through annual meetings
Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Friday that conditions were not yet right for ASEAN to open high-level talks with Myanmar on the country’s political situation. “We believe it would be premature to re-engage with the junta at a summit level or even at a foreign minister level,” Balakrishnan said when asked about a news
An intensely hot summer and unprecedented drought are straining energy supplies in northern Vietnam, prompting rolling blackouts and sudden power outages that have led to “uncountable” losses among local firms and foreign manufacturers. Vietnam is a crucial part of the supply chain for some of the world’s most important companies, and many of them —
The next Thai government should adjust its foreign policy to ease the crisis in strife-torn Myanmar but should implement such a policy cautiously, as the stakes for all parties, notably the two militaries, are very high, according to experts and diplomatic sources. The leniency shown towards the Myanmar junta’s State Administration Council and the so-called
Ten foreign journalists have resigned from the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia (FCCSA), based in New Delhi, in protest at its president’s visit to Myanmar last week, according to the Irrawaddy. The club’s president, Shirumalla Venkat Narayan, visited Naypyidaw at the invitation of the Global New Light of Myanmar, the official mouthpiece of the
Thailand’s first tokamak device is ready to start operations for fusion energy research in July, after a successful trial on April 21st, according to Thailand’s Institute of Nuclear Technology (TINT). Named “Thai Tokamak-1”, the device was developed by TINT based on the Tokamak HT-6M, provided by the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy
Two simultaneous attacks were reported in Myanmar’s capital and military-government stronghold Nay Pyi Taw and in the economic hub of Yangon on June 13th. The Nay Pyi Taw incident was reported by multiple pro-military channels on the messaging application Telegram, saying that the police station in Lewe Township was attacked, with three police officers being
Two mahouts from Thailand’s Forest Industry Organisation, who have flown to Sri Lanka, have met with Sak Surin, an ailing Thai elephant at Dehiwala Zoo, and have started the familiarisation process by feeding and bathing him. The main job of the mahouts is to train the animal to enter, exit and stay in the specially-built
ASEAN and Canada will hold a summit in September to commemorate Canada’s new status as a strategic dialogue partner of ASEAN, according to an informed source. After a long delay, Canada will finally become the bloc’s latest strategic partner. Currently ASEAN has five suchpartners, including New Zealand, Japan, the EU, South Koreaand Russia. China, Australia,
