Author: Darrell Anderson

Rohingya activists in Bangladesh are calling on the international community to increase pressure on Myanmar following a renewed call at the UN for safe and sustainable repatriation of the persecuted minority to their homeland. Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar have endured decades of systematic discrimination and persecution, including the 2017 military crackdown that killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands from Rakhine State. Earlier this month, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on the human rights situation of the Rohingya and other Myanmar minorities, making it among the latest to call on the government in Naypyidaw…

Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son has told Israeli Ambassador to Vietnam Yaron Mayer that Vietnam attaches importance to its friendship and cooperation with Israel, one of its important partners in the Middle East. At a reception in Hanoi on July 6 for the Israeli diplomat, Son hailed his efforts to bolster multifaceted cooperation between the two countries. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties this year, Son proposed the two sides jointly prepare for the exchange of delegations at all levels as well as cultural and sport events to raise mutual understanding between the two…

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) delivered a statement at the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council for the Interactive Dialogue on the oral progress report by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar. The statement urged Myanmar’s neighbors to act decisively to ensure the country’s human rights and humanitarian crises do not become a greater threat to regional peace and security. Read the statement below. Mister Vice-President, FIDH and its member organizations ALTSEAN-Burma and Women’s Peace Network are saddened by the mounting civilian casualties of the junta’s war on Myanmar’s people. So far this…

Thailand’s consumer inflation growth fell to its lowest level in 21 months in May due to lower energy and food prices and the high comparative base from last year, official data showed on Tuesday. The country’s consumer price index (CPI), a key indicator of inflation, slowed for the fifth straight month to 0.53 percent year on year in May, down sharply from a 2.67 percent increase in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The May inflation growth remained within Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) target range of 1 percent to 3 percent for the third consecutive month. The…

Seven people were killed and 23 others injured after a school sports arena collapsed in northern Thailand, a Thai government spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday. The accident occurred at around 7:00 p.m. local time on Monday when the roof of a primary school sports arena in Phichit province collapsed in a heavy rainstorm, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM). In response to the accident, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha expressed condolences to the affected families and instructed relevant agencies to prioritize search efforts for the missing, assess the extent of the damage, and provide prompt…

Thailand is seeing a surge in the number of flights from China, although the figures remain below pre-pandemic levels, according to Thai transport authorities. Between October 2022 and April this year, a total of 12,805 flights were operated between Thailand and China, marking a 98 percent rise compared to the same period the previous year, as reported by the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (AEROTHAI) lately. China’s optimization of its COVID-19 policy early this year has led to increased demand for flights and higher flight frequencies connecting the two countries, AEROTHAI President Nopasit Chakpitak said in a recent statement. According to…

Some 40 million voters in Thailand delivered on Sunday an unmistakable message: They are unhappy with nine years of military rule and want change. The official results aren’t expected for weeks, and there will be a period of intense jockeying among the parties to form a governing coalition. But the generals who have ruled the country since 2014 should respect the people’s unequivocal verdict and return to the barracks. This is far from guaranteed, even though, in the long term, it is neither in Thailand’s or in its military’s interest to suppress the popular will. The pro-democracy camp’s success on…

The junta claims she had a document connecting her to the shadow National Unity Government. Junta troops have arrested a teacher in Myanmar’s southwestern Ayeyarwady region claiming she has links to the shadow National Unity Government, according to pro-junta Telegram messaging channels. Residents of Bogale township told RFA Tuesday that 30-year-old Theint Theint Soe was arrested on May 23. She has been working as a teacher for eight years and participated in the civil disobedience movement following the February 2021 military coup, the locals said. “Her husband was arrested a week earlier. The teacher was arrested on the same day…

YANGON/MANIPUR, May 29 (Bloomberg): Indian police forces killed at least 30 people from tribal groups identified as militants, part of an ongoing security operation in a northeastern state bordering Myanmar that’s seen unrest over the access to affirmative action benefits. The government will not allow the disintegration of Manipur state by “armed terrorists,” Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said in a statement Sunday. Security operations were still ongoing after recent clashes which saw some feuding groups attack some homes. While Singh didn’t specify the identity of the so-called militants that the police have been clashing with, local news outlets identified…

BANGKOK — Law enforcement officials in Thailand said Monday they seized more than a ton of crystal methamphetamine in a southern province last week that they believed was bound for Australia. Officials from police and the Narcotics Control Board announced that the 1.2 metric tons (2,646 pounds) of the drug, also known as “ice,” likely came from Thailand’s northern border region, which is part of the Golden Triangle where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet. Myanmar is a major producer of methamphetamine, which over the past decade has become the dominant illegal drug in Southeast Asia for both…