Southeast Asia
- World News
Bali is open, but only 45 international tourists have visited this year
As Thailand’s most popular beach destination, Phuket, failed to draw in an influx of tourists throughout 2021 with the debut of its “Phuket Sandbox” program on July 1, it fared far better than its Indonesian neighbour. Only 45 international tourists have visited Bali in the last ten months as borders have been shut down and so has Ngurah Rai Airport in…
- Thailand News
Thailand and Cambodia to discuss reopening borders along Sa Kaeo
Thai officials plan to hold talks with their counterparts in Cambodia to discuss reopening the land borders between the two countries. The governor of the border province Sa Kaeo held a meeting yesterday to discuss plans for reopening entry checkpoints. Four border crossing spots are in the plan included with permanent crossing point Ban Khlong Luek – PoiPet in Aranyaprathet…
- Thailand News
US Secretary of State Blinken cancels Thai visit, meeting with PM due to Covid concerns
The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken cancelled the Thai leg of his Southeast Asia tour and his meeting with PM Prayut chan-o-cha after a journalist with the travelling press corps tested positive for Covid-19. Blinken had arrived at his second destination in Southeast Asia, Malaysia, on Tuesday for a two-day visit after he left Indonesia. The US embassy issued…
- World News
11 dead, 25 still missing after boat capsized off Malaysian coast
11 people drowned and another 25 people are still missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Johor in southern Malaysia. Bodies of Indonesian migrants were found on a beach in Tanjung Balau early yesterday morning. Officers at Johor Fire and Rescue Department found the overturned boat on the shore near the bodies. So far, 14 people survived. The…
- World News
Cambodia, Phillippines report first cases of Omicron Covid-19 variant
Omicron appears to be quickly making its way into Southeast Asia, as the Philippines and Cambodia both reported the first cases of the new variant on the same day. The Philippine Department of Health said today that it has detected the country’s first two imported cases of the Omicron virus strain following the 48 samples sequenced yesterday. Those two patients…
- World News
Two lions escaped at Singapore’s Changi Airport facility while being loaded aboard
Officers at Singapore’s Changi Airport may have encountered the real-life Jumanji prop on Sunday as two lions escaped from their container while being loaded aboard a Singapore Airlines flight. Authorities had to contact the vets right away, who used a tranquiliser gun on the two massive cats, one of which was found relaxing atop their cage. According to The Straits…
- World News
Malaysia donates 283,400 AstraZenaca vaccine doses to Laos
Laos received a total of 283,400 AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane, which were donated by Malaysia as a part of ongoing global efforts to end the pandemic. Laos is set to reopen to international tourists in 2022 and plans to vaccinate at least half of the adult population by the end of the year in order…
- World News
Vietnam’s Hanoi Metro faces boycott, lacks of passengers
The Cát Linh-Ha Dong line of the Hanoi Metro, Vietnam’s first mass transit train service, which was launched on November 6 this year, is reportedly facing a public boycott for cooperating with China despite its initial excellent service and high expectations. It came to attention as local media reported last month that the service is lacking passengers, at around 12,000…
- World News
Meta removes Myanmar military businesses from its Facebook following lawsuit
Myanmar military junta chief Min Aung Hlaing yesterday woke up to see his partly-owned telecom company Mytel being removed from Facebook as Meta started to ban businesses related to Tatmadaw, also known as the military, from functioning on its platform. The move came just hours after lawyers from the US and the UK launched a $150 billion lawsuit on behalf…
- World News
Philippines to ban France visitors from December 13 due to Omicron
Starting from December 13 onwards, tourists with a two-week travelling history in France will be barred from entering the Philippines, according to the acting presidential spokesperson, Karlo Nograles, yesterday, amidst fear of the new variant, Omicron. France has been added to the Philippines’ “Red List” of countries after over 20 cases of the Omicron were discovered in the European nation,…
- World News
President Joko Widodo visted displaced areas in East Java after volcano eruption
More than 34 people were killed, hundreds hospitalised, 22 seriously injured (mostly burned), and nearly 3,000 houses and 38 schools were damaged after a Mount Semeru volcano erupted in the Lumajang district of East Java on Saturday. Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited the ravaged areas yesterday to reassure people that communities will be restored quickly and assistance is reaching those…
- World News
Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen to visit Myanmar next month
Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen has accepted an invitation to visit Myanmar military coup leader Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on January 7 and 8, following the discussion between two countries’ foreign ministers at a meeting in Phnom Penh today, according to the Khmer Times. Hun Sen is appointed to take ASEAN chairmanship from 2022. Deputy Prime Minister Park Sokhonn,…
- World News
Myanmar ousted leader’s prison sentence reduced to two years
Myanmar’s ousted State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday, but it was then reduced to two years following a partial pardon by the military junta’s commander, according to state television. Her indictments were unrest and violating Covid-19 epidemic guidelines, according to the junta’s ruling court, which ordered the first judicial decision in a…
- World News
Malaysia reports first case of Omicron variant
Every nation’s fear finally arrives in Malaysia, as its health minister today announced that a foreign student in her quarantine after arriving from South Africa two weeks ago had tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus. Following the World Health Organisation’s announcement on November 24 that Omicron was causing a variety of concerns, authorities re-tested earlier positive samples, according to minister…
- World News
Taiwan sets up nighttime vaccination spots with gifting plans
In an effort to enhance the Covid-19 vaccine coverage, a number of hospitals in Taiwan have started giving evening appointments yesterday, and the Central Epidemic Command Centre, or CECC, is considering setting up vaccine booths at PX Mart supermarkets. At a news conference held yesterday, CECC spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang said that hospitals established by Taiwan’s Armed Forces, Ministry of Health…
- World News
Detained Cambodian monk with refugee status says he could jailed if deported from Thailand
Possible deportation and jail time is looming for a Cambodian refugee monk who was recently detained by Thai authorities, despite the recent condemnation from the United Nations. Last month, three Cambodians under UN refugee protection were deported from Thailand and arrested in their home country. On Wednesday, Thai authorities arrested a Cambodian monk and an environmental activist Bor Bet, who…
- World News
Singapore man jailed for consorting with friend who smuggled firearms
A 27-years old Amirul Asyraff Muhammad Junus was sentenced to five years and two weeks in prison with six strokes of the cane (Yes, caning is a form of corporal punishment in Singapore) for consorting with a fellow gang member who smuggled a firearm into Singapore from Malaysia. His friend, Muhammad Ikram Abdul Aziz, 26, had illegally carried a Shooters…
- Expats
Bangkok is 4th best place to live in Southeast Asia, according to expat survey
Bangkok has come in at number 4 in a survey ranking the best places to live in Southeast Asia. And the Thai capital has come in at number 11 out of 57 cities in the global rankings. This is a big jump on last year’s result, when it was ranked at number 30 out of 66 cities. According to a…
- World News
Vietnam to welcome fully vaccinated tourists from Thailand this month
Vietnam is setting up a “travel bubble” scheme with Thailand to allow vaccinated travellers to enter the Southeast Asian country. The head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Nguyen Trung Khanh, today says his department is working with Thai officials to set up the scheme, adding that the first batch of Thai tourists will arrive in Vietnam this month…
- World News
Myanmar junta likely to be temporarily barred from the UN, along with Taliban
The Myanmar military junta and the Taliban in Afghanistan are likely to be temporarily barred from representing their nations at the 193-member United Nations credentials committee, which includes Russia, China, and the United States. The committee will meet at UN headquarters to assess the credentials of all 193 members of the UN General Assembly for the current session, and Reuters…
- China News
Shanghai halts 500 flights, issues closure order after 3 three local Covid cases
After three locally-transmitted Covid-19 cases were reported in Shanghai on Friday, hundreds of flights were cancelled, schools were closed, and tourists activities were shut down. The three positive cases, according to a municipal government statement, were friends from the nearby city of Suzhou who attended an old architecture lecture last week. The three friends had close contact with nearly 200…
- World News
Verdicts in Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi trial postponed until Monday
According to a source acquainted with the proceedings in Myanmar, the first verdicts in the trial of former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were adjourned to Monday by a court under the military junta. The court was set to rule on allegations of incitement and violations of Covid-19 guidelines under a natural disaster law today, one of nearly a…
- World News
Desperate to hire nurses, hospitals and clinics in Singapore offer “finder’s fee”
As the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the healthcare system in Singapore, the demand for nurses grows even as many have quit their jobs due to higher levels of stress and long hours duty to deal with the patients. For the first time in more than two decades, the number of nurses working in Singapore decreased in 2020 and the situation…
- World News
Thailand, 5 other countries added to Singapore’s Vaccinated Travel Lane list
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore today announced that travelers from Thailand, Cambodia, Fiji, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Turkey will be able to enter Singapore quarantine-free starting in mid-December Vaccinated Travel Lane scheme. Visitors from VTL countries who are fully vaccinated are able to enter Singapore without having to go through quarantine and simply have to take a Covid-19 test.…
- World News
Vietnam urges to give third doses of Covid-19 vaccine
Vietnam’s Ministry of Health is urging local governments to accelerate giving out a third dosage of Covid-19 vaccines, prioritising people over 50 years old despite a recent spike in the Mekong Delta region with approximately 4,000 new infections per day. The MoH said 135.15 million of the 136 million vaccination doses received by Vietnam were distributed to various localities, which…
- World News
World’s largest Ikea store opens in Philippines
The Swedish ready-to-take furniture giant has made its first appearance in Manila, Philippines by opening its largest store in the world, with a new 730,000-square-foot facility that includes a 2-story, 270,000-square-foot store, dining area, and showroom, as well as warehouses, an e-commerce centre, and a call centre. The opening ceremony of Ikea Pasay City was held at the store’s restaurant…
- World News
Myanmar military will not attend Asia-Europe Meeting, sources say
Myanmar’s military has reportedly notified Cambodia that it will not attend the 13th ASEM Summit, where leaders from Asia and Europe meet (virtually) for two days, saying it would only send a technical team to watch the talks. The meeting, which starts today and ends tomorrow, will focus on the interaction of four main ideas: multilateralism, growth, sustainable development, and…
- World News
Philippines prepares for reopening as quarantine lifted for 44 countries
Following the headline on Tuesday that the Philippines is waiving quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated visitors from 44 “green list” countries, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) is reportedly gearing up for the eventual reopening of Philippine borders to international tourists, despite a steady decline in Covid-19 cases in the country. According to the Manila Times, the Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente…
- World News
Myanmar’s shadow government raises US$6.3 million for “revolution”
In a campaign for a “revolution” against Myanmar’s military following the February 1 coup and bloody crackdown, the country’s shadow government began issuing special “treasury bonds” and say they raised more than US$6.3 million on the first day. The National Unity Government, or NUG, is a coalition of pro-democracy organisations, ethnic minority militaries, and remnants of the country’s deposed civilian…
- World News
Cambodian refugees under UN protection arrested after deportation from Thailand
Following the arrest of a third Cambodian refugee deported from Thailand, the UN Refugee Agency says it is “dismayed” by Thai authorities’ move to force refugees back to the territory where they face prosecution. Earlier this month, two Cambodian nationals, who were both registered refugees under UN protection, were expelled from Thailand. This past Saturday, a third refugee, who is…
