Lao to organise biggest rocket festival

General Sources - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

The Nonhinhae village in Vientiane, Laos will organise what has been called 'the biggest rocket festival ever' on May 25.The biggest rocket set to be fired into the sky at the weekend festival has been described as the biggest ever fired in Laos. It is less than three hours drive from Vientiane to the district.News about the festival, locally known as boun bang fai teu has spread to ...

Laos Australia work to combat transnational crime

General Sources - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Law enforcement officers from Laos and Australia will work in closer cooperation to combat transnational crime, with a specific focus on the suppression of trafficking in narcotics and other illicit substances.Australia Federal Police (AFP) officers based in Vietnam are currently passing on their knowledge and experience regarding counter trafficking efforts and drug law enforcement to Lao ...

STOCKS NEWS THAILAND-BEC World drops after block trades

Reuters - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Tue May 21, 2013 11:34pm EDT Shares in broadcaster BEC World Pcl dropped 6 percent to 67 baht after block trades at a lower-than-market price of 66 baht on average, according to Thai stock exchange data. BEC's shareholders planned to sell 80 million shares in block trades at 66 baht each in the morning session, broker Maybank Kim Eng Securities said in a report. The broader SET index was ...

Laos considers requirements to adopt timber trade regulations

Asia News Network - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Laos is examining the conditions necessary to enforce international rules on the timber trade and the sourcing of wood products, which will ensure effective and sustainable forest management.Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Dr Phuangparisak Pravongviengkham, revealed the progress made at a workshop held yesterday in Vientiane to enhance and understand the Forest Law Enforcement, ...

Laos mapping out future leaders

General Sources - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Core officials from Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the Lao government are currently in the process of identifying prospective future leaders at the central and local levels, with a view to generational renewal.The move is aimed to ensure that Laos has the right people in the right places and therefore the capacity to respond to the needs of national development during this period of ...

- IFEX General Meeting and Strategy Conference - Phnom Penh Cambodia 17 to 20 June 2013

IFEX - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

IFEX Strategy Conferences take place every two years and are the largest global gatherings of free expression advocates. Local stakeholders, donors and other special guests are invited to join IFEX members in a broad dialogue -- to network, exchange skills, forge new alliances and take part in a dynamic and experiential programme of structured sessions, small group work, and a marketplace of ...

Fresh ideas needed in ties with Laos

General Sources - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Relations between Thailand and Laos in the 21st century have already moved toward a new era, which requires not only trust and cooperation, but also a new vision to make the links mutually beneficial to people of both countries. The joint cabinet meeting between the two governments jointly chaired by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Laotian Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong over the ...

Bangkok set for 2014 Formula E Grand Prix

The Nation - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Bangkok was yesterday chosen to host a race in the inaugural season of the FIA Formula E Championship for electric cars next year. The announcement came during a special unveiling for the first time in Asia of the fully-electric-powered Formula E car, witnessed by Alejandro Agag, CEO of Championship promoter Formula E Holdings (FEH), advisor to the Minister of Energy Pol Maj-General Lattasanya ...

Double Olympic champion to attend Taekwondo Youth Camp in Thailand

Inside the Games - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Frank Kugler won four Olympics medals in freestyle wrestling, weightlifting and tug of war at St Louis in 1904, making him the only competitor to win a medal in three different sports at the same Games. He claimed a silver medal in the heavyweight category in wrestling, bronze in the two hand lift and all-around dumbbell events in weightlifting and another bronze in the tug of war competition as ...

Bugs for dinner Thailand raises ‘six-legged livestock’ for global food study

The Province - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

A new study says teens who had a schoolmate die by suicide are more likely to consider or attempt taking their own lives than those who haven't lost a peer to ...

Massive power failure strikes southern Thailand affecting popular resorts

Canada.com - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

BANGKOK - A massive power failure has affected more than 8 million people in Thailand's 14 southern provinces, including popular tourist areas such as Koh Samui and Phuket, in one of the country's biggest blackouts in recent memory. Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand official Thatri Rewcharoen says the blackout was triggered Tuesday evening by the failure of the main high ...

Thailand urged to explore edible insect market to cope with global food demands

Edmonton Journal - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

BANGKOK - Researchers say Thailand is showing the world how to respond to the global food crisis: by raising bugs for eating. The United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization released a study and handbook Tuesday on what they call 'six-legged livestock' -- edible bugs and worms that can help meet global food demand that is expected to grow 60 per cent by 2050. The agency ...

Thai police seize 4.49 million meth tablets in Bangkoks largest meth bust ever

Canada.com - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

BANGKOK - Thai police have seized 4.49 million methamphetamine pills found in an apartment in the largest meth bust ever in Bangkok. Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubumrung said Tuesday the tablets and 60 kilograms (132 pounds) of crystal meth were smuggled from Myanmar. He said they were destined for sales in the capital city and nearby provinces. The value of the drugs, hidden in dozens of ...

RPT-Vietnam gives green light for bad debt bank

Reuters - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Tue May 21, 2013 7:41am EDT (Repeats to more subscribers) * Asset firm aimed at boosting banks' lending * Experts say Vietnam's real NPL ratio far higher HANOI, May 21 (Reuters) - Vietnam's government approved on Tuesday the formation of an asset management firm to buy bad debt from its troubled banks, an official said, a move that could help stimulate an ailing economy growing at ...

Oil production starts offshore Vietnam

Middle East Times - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Canadian company Talisman Energy said it expects to produce 15,000 barrels of oil per day from its newly launched development offshore Vietnam. Talisman said it started oil production at the offshore Hai Su Trang and Hai Su Den development ahead of schedule. Once the facilities are commissioned, the company expects gross production to reach 15,000 bpd. "We are delighted to have achieved ...

STOCKS NEWS THAILAND-CIMB ups SET index target after banks telecoms earnings beat

Reuters - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Tue May 21, 2013 5:20am EDT CIMB Securities (Thailand) raised its 2013 target for the benchmark SET index to 1,810 from 1,700, reflecting better-than-expected first-quarter earnings of banks, telecoms and construction contractors, and good earnings outlook for the year. The first-quarter core net profit for the companies in its universe rose 8 percent year-on-year and 32 percent ...

Vietnam Again Escapes Blacklisting As State Dep’t. Cites ‘Positive’ Moves on Religious Freedom

CNS News - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom Suzan Johnson Cook cited Vietnam as an example of a country where "positive developments" have taken place in the area of religoius freedom. (Image: State Department) (CNSNews.com) - At a time when Vietnam's communist authorities have introduced new regulations placing burdensome bureaucratic restrictions on religious ...

Proposed high-speed rail network a high investment for Laos

General Sources - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

High-speed railway lines connecting Thailand, Laos and China might soon become a reality after the Thai cabinet met with its Lao counterparts in Chiang Mai earlier this ...

Migrant Workers Face Tough Times in Thailand

IPS - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

- On the outskirts of the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, a group of twelve migrant families lives in a makeshift camp comprised of houses constructed from scrap ...

Delegation of Vientiane City Pays Tribute to Statues of Kim Il Sung Kim Jong Il

General Sources - Tuesday 21st May, 2013

Pyongyang, May 20 (KCNA) -- A delegation of Vientiane City of Laos led by Soukanh Mahalath, secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, secretary of the Vientiane City Party Committee and mayor, visited the statues of President Kim Il Sung and General Secretary Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill on Monday. The guest laid bunches of flowers before the statues and ...

Rubber factories in Laos encounter export problem with China

Asia News Network - Monday 20th May, 2013

Rubber processing factories in Lao province of Oudomxay are facing unexpected problems because China is not allowing the import of rubber from Laos at the moment, causing large amounts of the material to remain in stock.Sino-Lao Rubber Company Director Oun told the media recently that, after the company had invested in the building of a rubber processing factory, they encountered an export ...

Laos Thailand agree on future cooperation

Asia News Network - Monday 20th May, 2013

Laos and Thailand have agreed to boost their cooperation in various sectors with several agreements signed during their second Joint Cabinet Retreat (JCR) in Chiang Mai on Sunday.The three memorandums of understanding signed during the meeting were on unofficial results of the 2nd JCR, agricultural cooperation, and on ownership, management and maintenance of the 4th Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge ...