Dozens of Cambodian researchers tap away at keyboards in a nondescript house-turned-office in downtown Phnom Penh, their humming efficiency giving no hint of the grim task at hand. While the rocky road to establishing a UN-backed trial of surviving leaders from the genocidal Khmer Rouge has grabbed the headlines, the Documentation Centre of Cambodia has…
Read moreCambodia lurches towards political resolution but uncertainties remain
After months of inertia following inconclusive elections last year, Cambodia’s political parties jumped into action last week and finally seem poised to form a working government, analysts said. The exact shape it will take however remains uncertain, they warn, with the three parties winning seats in last July’s elections in this young Southeast Asian democracy…
Read moreThai premier’s credibility dented by bird flu screw up””
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s credibility has taken a severe beating over the bird flu crisis, with allegations that his government covered up the outbreak of the lethal disease in Thailand for weeks. After repeatedly denying that the illness killing millions of chickens in Thailand since November was avian influenza, the government on January 23 finally…
Read moreThailand’s poultry industry faces devastation as bird flu reported
Thailand’s first reported case of the bird flu sweeping through parts of Asia stands to devastate the region’s largest poultry export industry. Up to six million chickens have been culled in Thailand since last November, when the government said that an outbreak of what it described as "fowl cholera and bronchitis" had hit several central…
Read moreViolence in Thailand’s south more serious than in past: analysts
A series of bloody attacks in Thailand’s Muslim-majority south represents a marked departure from previous violence and could spell a political crisis for the government, analysts said Tuesday. Four soldiers were killed on Sunday during a brazen arms heist by dozens of assailants in Narathiwat province as 18 schools were set ablaze, while two bomb…
Read moreThai economy to move ahead at cracking pace in 2004
Thailand’s economy steamed ahead in 2003 to become Southeast Asia’s top economic performer and is poised to continue its dizzying comeback from the 1997 financial crisis in the year ahead, analysts said. Although some signs of overheating emerged towards the end of the year, the kingdom’s economic fundamentals remain solid and foreign investors are eyeing…
Read moreThai architect hits on blueprint for sustainable living in the tropics
PATHUM THANI, Thailand – In a gated community just outside the teeming megalopolis of Bangkok, Soontorn Boonyatikarn’s three-bedroom home appears much like any other, with the solar panelling on the roof the only hint that something out of the ordinary lies beneath. Soontorn calls this home a blueprint for sustainable living in the tropics: the…
Read moreThailand prepares for avalanche of speed pills after drugs war
CHIANG RAI, Thailand – Thailand’s army is bracing for an influx of millions of speed pills which were buried by traffickers along the border with Myanmar at the height of a drugs crackdown this year. Lieutenant Colonel Jeerapan Khrutthalai, assistant deputy director of intelligence for Thailand’s Third Army which is responsible for patrolling the rugged…
Read moreModerate Thai Muslims shocked at arrest of Hambali in their midst
AYUTTHAYA, Thailand – Thai Muslims in this ancient former capital expressed shock Friday at the arrest of terror chief Hambali in their midst, and said they were not interested in his radical form of Islam. The historic city in Thailand’s central region is home to some 50,000 Muslims, one of the biggest communities in the…
Read moreThailand’s new opium hall casts light on dark history
CHIANG SAEN, Thailand – Nestled in the heart of Southeast Asia’s infamous Golden Triangle region, a gleaming new museum portraying the chequered global history of opium is about to open its doors to the public. The 400-million baht (9.5-million dollar) Hall of Opium, built amid mountains that a decade or two ago were covered with…
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