Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
After arriving from Vietnam today (Tuesday), Han Lay, Miss Grand Myanmar 2020, was denied entry to Thailand at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok by immigration officials for not having a passport. Pol Maj-Gen Archayon Kraithong, spokesman for the Immigration Bureau, said that Han Lay is not in the possession of a passport or any official
Government helicopters have attacked a school and village in north-central Myanmar, killing at least 13 people including seven children, a school administrator and an aid worker said Monday. Civilian casualties often occur in attacks by the military government on pro-democracy insurgents and their allies. However, the number of children killed in the air attack last Friday
Southeast Asian nations must decide if they are going to push ahead with a so-far failed five-point peace plan for Myanmar or “decide what’s next” before their leaders meet in November, Malaysia‘s Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said on Monday. Myanmar has been in crisis since the army ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in February last year, detaining her and
Thai military forces based along the Myanmar border in the northern province of Chiang Rai have stepped up border surveillance, especially in Mae Sai district, to prevent the smuggling of a new narcotic, known locally as “Happy”, from Myanmar’s Tachilek township. Thai anti-narcotics officials say that the drug is easily available in almost every entertainment
Indonesian rescuers have recovered seven bodies after a landslide at an illegal gold mine buried an estimated 20 people, officials said on Saturday. The victims were mining gold on a bare hillside when the landslide triggered by heavy rains struck the area on the west of Borneo island, in West Kalimantan province. Unlicensed mines are
JAKARTA, Sept 11 (Reuters) – About 200 people evacuated to higher ground after an earthquake of magnitude 6.1 struck islands in western Indonesia on Sunday, causing some property damage, the country’s disaster mitigation agency BNPB said. The quake in the Mentawai Islands west of Sumatra struck at a depth of 27 km (17 miles) and
Vietnamese carmaker VinFast on Saturday (September 10) began handing its first batch of 100 all-electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs) over to local customers, with U.S. deliveries of the vehicle due to begin as soon as December. VinFast, which began operations in 2019, is gearing up to expand in the U.S. market, where it hopes to
An earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck the region of Papua in Indonesia on Saturday and has no potential to trigger a tsunami, the country’s geophysics agency (BMKG) said. The quake struck about 262 km (163 miles) east-northeast of Biak in Indonesia, at a depth of 16 km (10 miles), BMKG reported. There were no immediate reports of damage
Telecom giant Ooredoo has reportedly sold its Myanmar operations to a Singapore based company for US$576,000,000. The last of the internationally based telcos in Myanmar, it was reported by Reuters that Oredoo had finalised the deal with Nine Communications on September 8th. According to Oredoo’s official statement, as well as reports in local news media,
The death toll from a fire that tore through a karaoke bar in southern Vietnam has risen to 23, an official said Wednesday. The blaze engulfed the second floor of the building on Tuesday night, trapping customers and staff as dense smoke filled the staircase and blocked the emergency exit, reports said. Many crowded onto
The leader of Myanmar’s military junta will travel to Russia next week for economic talks, state media in the Southeast Asian nation reported Saturday. Min Aung Hlaing’s visit comes as both governments face diplomatic isolation — Moscow for its February invasion of Ukraine, and Naypyidaw for a military coup last year. He will attend the
A Myanmar junta court sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to three years in jail “with hard labour” on Friday, for electoral fraud in the 2020 polls that her party won in a landslide, a source said. The latest sentence, handed down by the closed court, takes the total jail time the Nobel laureate
