Regional news from Southeast Asia in English — ASEAN politics, economy and diplomacy, covered by Thai PBS World.
ASEAN leaders will join their EU counterparts in Belgium in December for their first summit, according to an informed source. The summit will reportedly be held on December 14th and 15th at the EU Headquarters in Brussels and comes at a time when the international strategic environment is becoming more volatile. The EU became a strategic
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said today (Friday) that the incursion into Thai airspace of a Myanmar MiG-29 jet, which flew over Tak province yesterday, is not a big deal, noting that the Myanmar military has already offered an apology and that the two countries enjoy good relations. After the incident, he said that the Thai
The Royal Thai Air Force sent two F-16 jet fighters after an aircraft, believed to be a MiG 29 of the Myanmar air force, was found to have intruded into Thai airspace in the western province of Tak, according to RTAF Spokesman Air Vice Marshal Prapas Sornchaidee. He said that the RTAF also instructed its
The Oukayithta military base, located in the northern Myawaddy Township in Kayin State, came under attack on June 26th. A major offensive was launched by the Karen National Defence Organization and Karen National Liberation Army (KNDO/KNLA). So far, reports of casualties on both sides have been largely obfuscated, with military spokesperson General Zaw Min Tun
June 24 (Reuters) – Myanmar military authorities have transferred deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to a prison in the capital from an undisclosed location where she had been held since she and her government were ousted in a coup last year, a military spokesman said. The Nobel laureate, who turned 77 on Sunday, had
MANILA (AP) — Sara Duterte, the daughter of the outgoing populist president of the Philippines, took her oath Sunday as vice president following a landslide electoral victory she clinched despite her father’s human rights record that saw thousands of drug suspects gunned down. The inauguration in their southern hometown of Davao, where she’s the outgoing
A Phnom Penh court convicted around 60 opposition figures including an outspoken US-Cambodian activist in a mass trial Tuesday as long-serving leader Hun Sen cracks down on dissent ahead of national elections next year. The defendants faced charges ranging from treason to incitement and conspiracy over opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s failed bid to return to
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, the current ASEAN chair, has asked Myanmar’s junta to reconsider the death sentences imposed on individuals opposed to them, according to his letter of June 10th, addressed to Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing. The two-page letter, seen by Thai PBS World, reads that Cambodia believes that the planned executions, if
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) – Malaysia’s government said Friday it has agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty, with campaigners welcoming the move but cautioning the country had failed to deliver on previous vows to improve rights. The death penalty remains mandatory for several offences in the Southeast Asian nation, including murder and drug trafficking. A reformist alliance
ASEAN special envoy, Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, will make his second trip to Myanmar, on June 29th and 30th, to follow up on the implementation of the ASEAN five-point consensus (5PC), according to an informed source. The source said that the trip was postponed from this week due to some
Spokesperson for Myanmar’s State Administration Council (SAC), General Zaw Min Tun, has confirmed that four prisoners, two of whom are politicians, will be sentenced to death. The four include ex-NLD MP Phyo Zayyar Thaw and 88 Generation Student leader Kyaw Min Yu, aka “Jimmy”, who had their appeals rejected. In response to a question at
Indonesia has summoned India’s envoy in Jakarta over “derogatory” remarks made about the Prophet Mohammed by two officials of the South Asian country’s ruling party, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The move by the most populous Muslim-majority country came after anger spread across the Arab and Muslim world, with various Middle Eastern nations summoning New Delhi’s envoy and a Kuwaiti supermarket removing Indian products. Remarks by a spokeswoman
