World News
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Sponsored Why health insurance costs more each year and how expats in Thailand can save more money
Each year, many expats living in Thailand see their health insurance premiums go up and often without a clear reason. This can be frustrating, especially when you're trying to plan your budget. But by understanding why prices rise and learning...
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Saving ancient stone – restoration of the Angkor heritage sites
by China Daily – Asia News Network August is probably not the best time for tourists to travel to Angkor Was (Angkor Archaeological Park) in northern Cambodia – the rainy season brings particularly muggy conditions. But for Yuan Mengxi, an assistant researcher at the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, her trip last month was perhaps one of her most exciting although…
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Businessman arrested in Thailand not linked 1MDB
PHOTO: File photos In an exclusive story, the New Sunday Times in Malaysia is reporting that the businessman arrested in Thailand by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over the SRC International case, is not linked to former Malaysian PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak and financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low. A highly-placed investigator told the New Sunday…
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Indonesian croc attack kills man
PHOTO: Sangkulirang Police 45 year old ‘Muslim’, a resident of the Aurgading village in Jujuhan district, Jambi, Indonesia, died after being mauled by a 6 meter crocodile when he went to bathe in the Jujuhan river on Saturday evening. The Jakarta Posts reports that the village head, Hamrozi, said that during the past six months he saw three crocodile attacks…
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Mekong water level drops but surrounding areas remain submerged
Even though the levels of the Mekong River in Nong Khai’s Phon Pisai district continue to drop, farmlands,20 homes and a school remain submerged, as the river continues to block the drainage of floodwater from a swollen creek. Most of the families have moved to stay with relatives while others have sought shelter in tents set up by the Tambon…
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Disruptive passenger causes mega-route QANTAS flight to return
PHOTO: KarryOn A QANTAS flight has been forced to turn back after just two hours in the air. It was on the Australian airlines’ new non-stop ‘mega route’ from Perth to London – 17 hours in the air in a Boeing Dreamliner 787 – 900. The service is the first direct flight from Australia to London. The flight usually takes 17 hours…
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Thailand accepts the Chair for ASEAN 2019
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that Thailand will assume the ASEAN chairmanship next year. ASEAN has ten member states. Find out more about ASEAN HERE. At a press conference today, the Director-General of the Department of Information and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ms. Busadee Santipitak indicated that the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Don Pramudwinai…
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Facebook spends $1.4 billion in its first Asian data centre in Singapore
Facebook has announced it’s going to construct a $1.4 billion data centre in Singapore. It will be Facebook’s first in Asia and 15th in the world. The tech giant say it will be built in Tanjong Kling, formerly known as Data Centre Park. Facebook says the new Singapore facility will form part of their “growing presence in Singapore and the…
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Malaysia’s President-elect condemns caning of two women
from Asia News Network The Malaysian president-elect, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, has criticised the caning of the two women convicted of lesbian sex, saying that it lacked due process and understanding. “I’m a practising Muslim, but I don’t share that interpretation and certainly that sort of action to publicly cane without proper due process and understanding,” Anwar said during a…
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Reuters reporters jailed for seven years in Myanmar
PHOTO: Reuters journalist Wa Lone followed by Kyaw Soe Oo arriving in court in Yangon. They were sentenced to seven years in jail today for breaching state secrets law – Reuters Reuters reports that a Myanmar judge today found two Reuters journalists guilty of breaching a law on state secrets and jailed them for seven years, in a landmark case…
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Who dares stamp out the practice of child marriage in southern Thailand?
When an 11 year old married a 41 year old at a mosque near the Golok river on the border between Thailand and Malaysia, no locals thought much of it. Child brides are legal in Malaysia, if Islamic sharia law grants approval for the marriage. The 11 year old was the 41 year old Malaysian’s third wife. At the time…
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Australian filmmaker gets 6 years in a Cambodian prison for ‘espionage’
PHOTO: cambodiadaily.com 69 year old Australian filmmaker James Ricketson has been sentenced to six years in prison by the Phnom Penh municipal court in Cambodia. The Court found James guilty of ‘espionage’ for flying a drone over an opposition party’s political rally, this according to Reuters. Thai PBS reports that the Australian was arrested last June after he was photographed…
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Myanmar rebukes UN over Rhakine genocide report
By Khine Kyaw , Yangon Myanmar has responded to the UNs Fact Finding Mission that concluded genocide had been committed in Rakhine, saying the Myanmar Government did not recognise the mission and accused the writers of the report of intending to create a rift between the civilian government and the military. “We have already dissociated ourselves from the resolution of…
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Malaysian investigators arrest human trafficking ‘kingpin’
PHOTO: Mass graves discovered in southern Thailand mid-2015 The Malaysian Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has arrested a person they allege is the godfather of a human trafficking ring that ran boats to carry people from Bangladesh to Malaysia. “Mohammad Asem, also a business teacher at Tejgaon College in Dhaka, and his cohorts have raked in a lot of money, evident…
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Spectacular opening for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta
by Ramadani Saputra From Asian Games website… Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo officially opened on Saturday night Asia’s biggest sporting event at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, in a dazzling ceremony that showcased the nation’s traditional cultures. “On behalf of the Indonesian people, we are proud and we are honored to welcome our special guests from 45 countries. With…
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Chinese tourists love going local and doing their own bookings – Hotels.com
PHOTO: Jing Daily How much have Chinese millennials (that’s the people born after 1990) increased their spending in the last year? 80%! Research by accommodation booking portal, Hotels.com, reveals that younger Chinese spenders are pushing the boundaries of international travel, increasing their expenditure over the past year by a staggering 80%. Part of the increased expenditure goes to fund social…
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77 reportedly shot in Asian Games crackdown – Amnesty International
From Jakarta Post, via Asia News Network The Asian Games have barely opened in Jakarta. The last thing they need is this explosive claim from Amnesty International. Dozens of people have been shot by the police as part of an escalating crackdown against petty crime in the months leading up to the Asian Games, a human rights organisation alleged on…
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Australian police detain five Thai nationals involved in human trafficking
Human trafficking from Thailand to Australia’s capital city, Canberra, is under investigation after raids on Fyshwick brothels (massage parlours) this week. An Thai-Australian woman has been charged and five Thai nationals detained over immigration offences as a result of simultaneous raids on ‘escort agencies’ in Fyshwick, Canberra, this week. The Canberra Times has reported that a Canberra court has heard one…
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HM The King thanks Lao people for their assistance in the Tham Luang rescue
FILE PHOTO His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun has sent a letter to the Lao President, Bounnhang Vorachit, to thank the Lao people for their participation in the rescue to retrieve 13 young footballers from the Tham Luang caves in Mae Sai district. In the letter, His Majesty referred to the incident, in which the boys and their coach from…
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World’s most liveable cities 2018 – Two Asian cities in the Top 10
PHOTO: Vienna pips Melbourne for the top spot this year The popular, and often-quoted ‘World’s Most Liveable Cities’ have been announced for 2018 and there’s only two Asian cities in the list, both in the same country. After seven years at the top of the list, Australia’s southern capital, Melbourne, has lost its crown as the world’s most liveable city. The…
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Thailand takes over the chair for ASEAN next year. What’s at stake?
“As Thailand takes over the ASEAN chairmanship next year, it is important for the country to drive ASEAN forward to achieve the utmost benefits for Thais and peoples across the ASEAN region.” The integration story of Southeast Asian nations, widely known as ASEAN, began in 1967 and has since brought about significant changes to the Southeast Asian region. For decades,…
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Damage toll continues to rise on Lombok
Whilst the death toll continues to rise – and will rise as rescuers scramble through the rubble – the toll mounts on those that remain to try and rebuild their lives. It’s now nearly a week after the 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian island. Damages and loss caused by last week’s earthquake in Lombok and Bali are estimated to…
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Boracay closure dents Philippine’s economic numbers
PHOTO: Wikipedia The Philippine’s economy has slowed in Q2 2018, this year’s second quarter, and fell well short of predictions. Some are blaming policy decisions including the shutdown of tourist magnet Boracay Island. The quarter’s 6% expansion was the weakest in three years and ends a run of 10 consecutive quarters where growth was at least 6.5%. AFP reports that…
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The mystery of Myanmar’s missing airlines
PHOTO: Asian Wings Airways Any trip on a local airline usually means planes either full or mostly full. But some of Myanmar’s smaller local airlines have been struggling through this year’s wet season along with a drop in tourism to the country of around 6% for the past 12 months. At least three airlines appear to have thrown in the…
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11 year old Thai child bride sent back to Thailand
The 11 year old Thai girl, caught up in the middle of a ‘child marriage’ storm, has been sent back across the border to Thailand. The girl’s ‘marriage’ to a 41 year old Malaysian man caused a social media meltdown and strong negative response from human trafficking groups, human rights groups and the Malaysian government. A Malaysian social activist claims…
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Laos government inspecting all dams, shelving new hydro projects
PHOTO: EJAtlas The Laos government is announcing a full examination of safety standards applied to the construction of hydropower dams across the country. This follows the avoidable deadly disaster when a dam in the southern Attapeu province breached spilling millions of cubic litres of deadly floodwater downstream. Vientiane Times is reporting that the Laos cabinet made the announcement shortly after…
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Cambodian tour guides cry foul over new tour guide audio Apps
Digital technology is disrupting many older technologies – travel bookings, buying real estate, booking flights, media, dating – and now tour guides are getting the digital make-over with new Apps taking their jobs. Tour guides at Cambodia’s historical sites are voicing concern over a new audio tour App they say is threatening their careers. Developed by local company Angkor Audio,…
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Rescuers try to free people trapped in collapsed mosque – Lombok
PHOTO: Basarnas National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho says that on Monday at 3pm heavy equipment arrived in the Lading-lading village, Tanjung district, Lombok, to assist with the search for people thought to be buried under the debris from a collapsed mosque. Local devotees were busy with their evening prayers when the quake hit. At 7pm last…
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98 confirmed dead. Rescuers fear more as relief pours into Lombok.
International aid organisations are now seeking assistance some of the key groups get people onto the ground to start providing much-needed relief to the northern parts of the island. Following the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Indonesia’s Lombok Island on Sunday evening, rescue workers are actively searching the province to rescue and aid victims. According to The Guardian, Katy Flay, who…
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Earthquake toll rises to 91, state of emergency announced
PHOTO: Jakarta Post The death toll from the powerful earthquake to hit Lombok and Bali on Sunday evening has climbed to 91. The latest figures announced this afternoon by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) in Jakarta. North Lombok island suffered the largest number of fatalities with 72 people killed, while Bali has so far recorded two fatalities. Most victims…
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132 aftershocks recorded in aftermath of 7-magnitude earthquake on Lombok
Around 132 aftershocks have shaken up Lombok Island following the 7-magnitude earthquake that left 82 people dead and hundreds of others injured when it hit the Indonesian holiday island last evening. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reports that the quake was centered in the slopes of Mount Rinjani. This is in a similar area as the shocks that hit Lombok on…
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