Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
A Thai virologist has warned that Thailand must raise its guard following the death of an 11-year-old girl in Cambodia from bird flu, in the country’s first known human H5N1 infection since 2014. Dr. Anan Jongkaewwattana, a virologist at BIOTEC of the National Science and Technology Development Agency, said in his Facebook post on Thursday
More separatist groups will be invited to join the BRN in peace talks with the Thai government, the Malaysian facilitator of the peace process said on Wednesday. BenarNews quoted former Malaysian military chief Zulkifli Zainal Abidin as saying that representatives of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) have given their consent to other rebel groups taking
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Wednesday he discussed with his Philippine counterpart pursuing joint patrols in the disputed South China Sea. Marles was speaking at a joint news conference with Philippines Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez after holding talks in Manila. “As countries which are committed to the global rules-based order, it is natural that we should think about ways
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn will arrive in Bangkok on Thursday for a two-day visit to strengthen bilateral ties and forge new areas of cooperation. It will be his first official to Thailand since taking over the foreign affairs portfolio in 2016. Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said
Peace negotiators, representing the Thai government and a separatist group, ended their first day of talks in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon (Tuesday). A Thai PBS news team reports that they will resume tomorrow. It was the first peace dialogue between the two sides in more than year. The session was held at a hotel in
ASEAN will stage its first region-wide online shopping event in August, to promote cross-border trade through e-commerce, according to an informed source. The new ASEAN chair, Indonesia, has recently proposed the idea to promote e-commerce among ASEAN members, involving consumers and small and medium size enterprises. The flagship event will be held on ASEAN Day,
A life-long bachelor mayor in the Philippines is giving single staff extra pay on Tuesday for Valentine’s Day, to show gratitude for the extra hours they work and show that “someone loves them”. Lonely hearts at General Luna town hall in Quezon province will receive three times their normal daily wage if they have been single for more than five years, Mayor Matt Florido told AFP. Other
When the current military government took over, one of the very first aims of leader Min Aung Hlaing was to make Myanmar adopt Electric Vehicles (EV). He has been reported to have given several speeches at events about EVs and even about trains at meetings with his aides. On November 22nd, 2022, the finance and
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the shutdown of one of the last independent local news organizations in the country on Sunday night, saying it had attacked him and his son and hurt the country. The Voice of Democracy, also known as VOD, will no longer have a license to publish or broadcast from 10am
The 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was on formal visit to Thailand. He discussed various issues, from the South of Thailand, economic cooperation between the two countries, ASEAN’s role in dealing with the Myanmar crisis to his fight against corruption in Malaysia. PM Anwar Ibrahim talked to Nattha Komolvadhin in an
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has called on ASEAN to explore new approaches to resolving the ongoing crisis in Myanmar which, he said, can no longer be treated as the country’s internal affair because of its impact on the region. He said the so-called “constructive engagement” being used by ASEAN has not produced any concrete
Myanmar’s ethnic armed force has attacked and managed to take over the main police station in Thantlang, according to the Chin National Army (CNA). CNA announced that they started the attack on the night of February 8th and managed to take it over an hour after midnight. The group said that there was one casualty
