Units of a newly deployed, 100-strong military police force stationed around Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town after Pchum Ben snared 23 workers seeking to illegally cross the border into Thailand for work on Tuesday. Twenty mobile, five-man units were patrolling in rotating day and night shifts ...

On his first foreign trip since Tuesday’s electiOn, US President Barack Obama is planning a historic visit to encourage reforms in Myanmar – seen as a key success during his first term – and he’ll also go to Thailand and Cambodia. Secretary of State Hillary ClintOn ...

More than 100 people in Kratie province staged a peaceful protest on Sunday after excavators mobilized by a South Korean timber firm tried to clear and demarcate concession land, a commune official said yesterday. The company, Think Biotech, was granted 34,000 hectares of land on May ...

The government has promised to monitor the progress of local conglomerate Royal Group in its implementation of a $781 million dam project in Stung Treng province, that has been guaranteed by the government, CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said yesterday. Mr. Yeap said yesterday that the ...

Just 6 percent of 12,006 commercial freight vehicles passed recent road safety inspections, while an estimated 70 percent of car drivers bought their driving licenses illegally from private driving schools, a meeting at the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation was told yesterday. Many of the ...

Farm mechanization is steadily on the rise, with the number of tractors and power tillers in the country nearly doubling to more than 67,000 between 2008 and 2011, according to figures released by the Ministry of Agriculture this week. ...

Moody’s Investor Service yesterday placed local currency long-term deposit and issuer ratings of two of Cambodia’s largest banks, ACLEDA Bank and Cambodian Public Bank (Campu Bank), on review for downgrade, according to a statement from the rating service ...

The Sihanoukville Autonomous Port was making every effort to speed up preparations for its listing on the Cambodia Securities Exchange, the port’s chief executive officer, Lou Kim Chhun, said this week. The company would list 15% of it’s stock to begin with, and would ‘study ...

While the CPP in Phnom Penh has spent much of the campaign period broadcasting speeches by Prime Minister Hun Sen, hosting music concerts and sending well-known comedians into the streets to work the crowds, the SRP has a starker campaign focus. When the sun sets, 10 ...

The Phnom Penh municipality defended itself for the first time this weekend against sustained criticism from rights groups over the jailing of 13 female protesters from Boeng Kak, blaming the backlash on the “insanity” of unnamed foreign provocateurs. SRP lawmakers, meanwhile, met with the women in ...

A lack of economic diversity, faith in the banking sector and slow growth in vocational training and education topped the list of concerns among economists and investors yesterday at a meeting organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government. According to data released ...

Thai media reports yesterday offered conflicting information on whether members of Cambodia’s Cham community were joining a long-running Muslim insurgency in Thailand’s southern provinces. According to the [Bangkok] Post, General Prayuth said most of the Cambodian Muslims were traveling on to other countries in search ...

Almost 500 Tropicana Casino staff from gambling hub Poipet have threatened to strike on Saturday if the casino’s Thai owner does not reinstate their union leader, Sath Ser, sacked by the company for supporting another terminated employee, workers said yesterday. A staff member who did not ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday amended a directive on economic land concession (ELC) taxes, which will mean that owners of agricultural ELCs must pay tax of $5 on every hectare of land after the fifth year of ownership, according to the Council of Ministers. Mr. ...

Masahiro Kawai, dean of the Asia Development Bank Institute, believes too great a focus is being placed on the realization of the 2015 ASEAN Economic Community at the cost of considering middle- and longer-term issues in the ASEAN region. “Economic community-building is not going to be completed in ...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, along with Prey Veng provincial agriculture experts and villagers in Svay Ourntor district, are taking measures to eradicate golden apple snails, which feed on rice seedlings, agriculture officials said. According to Prey Veng agriculture chief Ouk Samnang, only a ...

Laos has given the go-ahead to build a massive dam on the lower Mekong river, despite opposition from neighbouring countries and environmentalists. A formal ceremony marking the start of full construction at Xayaburi would be held on Wednesday, the government said. ...

A Thai ban on Cambodian corn and other agricultural products led to a 65 per cent year-on-year drop in the Kingdom’s corn exports during the first two months of the year, officials claimed yesterday. January and February exports fell to 2,333 tonnes from 6,694 a year ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday issued a moratorium on economic land concessions, temporarily halting a long-standing policy of granting land to private companies and those with powerful political connections that has sparked growing concerns from national and international human rights groups. The prime minister’s announcement comes ...

In an effort to bolster bilateral trade, Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh and his Thai counterpart, Boonsong Teriyapirom, agreed in Bangkok on Sunday to establish a special economic border zone, Thai media reported yesterday. Though it remained unclear when or where the zone would be set up, ...