Author: Chalermchai Lamwilai

The outgoing caretaker government of Thailand hailed the Thailand-led informal meetings to engage Myanmar—joined by representatives of a few members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and neighbouring countries, namely Laos, Cambodia, India, China, Brunei, and Vietnam, as well as Myanmar—on 19 June as successful, amidst growing criticisms from several quarters. Only Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar had sent their Foreign Ministers for this meeting. The invitation sent from Thailand read, “ASEAN should fully reengage with Myanmar at the leaders’ level.” The Thai Foreign Ministry statement read, “informal dialogue would not amount to a formal ASEAN meeting, the ministry said, but would help…

Vietnam has fast become one of the most popular destinations in Southeast Asia, as tourists enjoy the county’s diverse landscapes, beaches, mountainous rice terraces and bustling cities. According to a report by Google Destination Insights, Vietnam was the seventh most searched destination from March to June, and the only country in Southeast Asia in the top 20. The popularity of Vietnam is showing in the number of international arrivals. The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism announced in June that the country had welcomed over 5.5 million foreign visitors in the first six months of 2023, already exceeding the total number of international arrivals…

A conference was held in Hanoi on Tuesday to evaluate the role of green hydrogen in Việt Nam’s energy policy, contributing to implementing the National Power Development Plan for the 2021-30 period. At the conference, jointly held by the French Embassy in Việt Nam and the Hydrogene de France SA (HDF Energy) of France, participants noted that the Vietnamese Government must further develop renewable energy sources in order to meet domestic power demand and realise its net-zero emission commitment by 2050, aiming for a total contribution to the county’s power sources of 30.9 to 39.2 per cent by 2030 and 67.5 to 71.5 per…

Foreign direct investment (FDI) that flowed into Myanmar plunged over 38 per cent year-on-year to more than US$13.59 million in the first quarter of the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Wednesday (July 5). The country attracted more than $21.99 million in the same period of the previous FY 2022-23, the DICA’s figures showed. Foreign investors who made investments in Myanmar during the three-month period included China, India, South Korea, Samoa, Singapore and the United States, the DICA’s figures showed. Myanmar attracted more than $1.64 billion dollars in foreign direct investment in…

Core inflation, which has become the de-facto basis for Bank Indonesia’s interest rate policy, eased to 2.83 per cent in April, the lowest since June 2022 and down from 2.97 per cent logged a month prior. Speaking in Japanese and bowing, 24-year-old Siti Maesaroh offers a tray with a mug and two bowls to a fellow student pretending to be an elderly person, before asking him if he wanted chopsticks and a spoon to eat with. The role play is an example of the type of training being offered by vocational institutions across Indonesia catering to students seeking to fill job vacancies…

Staff Sgt. Ken Wallingford had only days left to serve in the US Army when he found himself trapped – and seconds away from being burned alive. He’d spent the previous night hiding in a bunker with another soldier at a base that had been overrun by the North Vietnamese forces and was already nursing 17 shrapnel wounds when he realized his position had been spotted. His life flashed before his eyes, frame by frame, like an old 8mm film. “We started smelling gasoline on top of the bunker that we were in and knew a Molotov cocktail was coming…

Canada-based oil and gas company Valeura Energy has restarted production from an oil field project in the Gulf of Thailand and increased its interest in the licence containing this field. Additionally, the firm opted to divest its stake in another licence. Back in November 2022, Valeura entered into a letter of award (LOA) with PT Buana Lingas Lautan (Buana) for the charter of the MT Vula tanker, which would be used as an FSO vessel for the production from the Wassana oil field, where production was suspended in May 2020 by the previous operator. Following a sale and purchase agreement in April 2022, Valeura completed the acquisition of the entire…

An ethnic Uighur man who was detained by Thailand in 2014 after fleeing China has died in immigration detention, the second Uighur refugee to die in Thai custody this year. Mattohti Mattursun died of suspected liver failure in the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok on April 21, according to an April 24 statement from the World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP). He was 40 years old. Mattohti, who was also known as Muhammad Tursun, was one of 350 Uighurs, including children, who were detained as they headed towards Malaysia in the hope of making…

The Myanmar military regime is reinforcing its positions in Bago Region’s Kyaukkyi Township after the recent loss of two of its bases there to resistance forces, according to local residents. Six junta trucks from Penwegon town arrived in the village of Nat Thankwin on the eastern bank of the Sittoung River on Monday, a resident told The Irrawaddy. “[The military] has been sending in reinforcements after it lost its bases. I don’t know how many soldiers were in those trucks or which military units they belong to,” the resident said. Nat Thankwin is located on the road linking Penwegon and…

Revenge travel is out (in fact, it never really felt “in” to us). Instead, this year we’re all about reconnection travel, which is proving to be the top reason for travel postpandemic. After a tough few years, people are going out into the world again with real excitement—and purpose. So we interviewed 11 globe-trotting celebrities to find out what “reconnection” means to them, whether that’s hitting the road solo, feasting through Italy, gallivanting with old friends, paying tribute to loved ones who’ve passed, or making an all-important visit to mom. Below, Andrew Zimmern—the chef and restaurateur known for his former TV show Bizarre Foods and…