International relations

Barely able to make enough money to survive in her hometown, Sok Chenda* picked up her passport and a few belongings last year and headed to the provincial capital of Kampong Cham. It was a journey she would regret. The eldest daughter among five siblings, Chenda, 28, ...

The Lao government has agreed to a lengthy public consultation process with its neighbors before building a controversial hydropower dam on the Mekong River, within 2 km of the Cambodian border, according to the environmental group WWF. Laos announced the 256-MW Don Sahong dam last year ...

Thai authorities have found five Cambodians employed illegally at a clothing store in Phuket after they were allegedly sold into slave-like conditions by a human-trafficking network, according to Thai media. ...

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, on Sunday evening for a three-day official visit and will sign to provide more than 143 million U.S. dollars to Cambodia. ...

The Union Media of Asean, an association of Thai and Cambodian journalists based in Sa Kaew, has agreed to set the record straight about the policy of Thailand’s ruling junta towards migrant workers, particularly those from Cambodia. Reporters affiliated with UMA would pass on the truth ...

Thailand’s military government has announced plans to fast-track work visas for thousands of Cambodians after a crackdown on illegal workers. Three temporary offices have been set up along the Thai-Cambodian border where migrants will have their work permits processed. ...

Realco Cambodia Ltd., a U.S.-owned company, plans to invest $7 million to build a market at the Phnom Din checkpoint on the border with Vietnam in Takeo province’s Kirivong district, a senior official at the Takeo, Kampot and Kep Provincial Chamber of Commerce said Friday. Realco ...

The Lao government said yesterday that it would have the controversial Don Sahong dam undergo a formal process of prior consultation – a decision that will probably delay the project further. “The government has already demonstrated that it is committed to developing the Don Sahong project ...

Cambodia on Thursday rejected four recommendations for improving its human rights situation that it initially accepted earlier this year during its second universal periodic review at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. It also “noted” 38 recommendations—meaning it has not committed to implementing them—some relating ...

More than 250,000 Cambodian migrant workers, mostly undocumented, have fled Thailand since early this month in fears of a military junta’s clampdown on illegal foreign workers, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday. “Up to now, over 250,000 Cambodians have crossed the border from Thailand back ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday called on Thailand’s ruling junta to ensure the safety of Cambodian migrant workers and to treat well those that are being deported. Up to 250,000 Cambodians have fled Thailand or been deported since the junta took control in a May ...

Three border provinces with Cambodia opened offices to document Cambodian workers entering Thailand on Thursday, to combat human trafficking and illegal labour, with a fourth to open on Monday. Three new one-stop centres were opened at the border in Sa Kaeo, Chanthaburi and Trat provinces, to issue  temporary ...

Cambodian Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol concluded a trade mission in the United States this week, emphasizing his government’s willingness to make “deep” reforms to improve its investment climate. Cambodia meanwhile needs more foreign investment to create jobs for the 300,000 young Cambodians who enter the ...

Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training ordered all recruitment agencies to charge only US$49 for each worker who wants to work legally in Thailand. The fee of US$49 included US$10 for worker card, US$4 for passport, US$15 for transportation, and food, and US$20 for labor ...

Authorities from two provinces in southeast Thailand met recently with representatives of Cambodia’s Third Military Region in Chantaburi, the National News Bureau of Thailand says. In a report Tuesday, the official news agency said the  meeting was to “boost stability and strengthen security along the Thai/Cambodia ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen met with a Vietnamese premier’s special envoy here on Wednesday, discussing on South China Sea and ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. ...

A top court in Thailand agreed on Tuesday to hear a lawsuit brought by villagers against the country’s decision to purchase power from the planned Xayaburi mega dam in neighboring Laos, which green groups say could threaten the region’s environment and food security. Overruling a lower ...

Cambodia’s National Employment Agency (NEA) said Wednesday that there are 16,146 vacant jobs awaiting workers who have recently been deported from or fled Thailand in fears of a military regime’s clampdown. “NEA would like to inform laborers who just returned from Thailand that NEA has collected ...

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida is to make a three-day visit to Cambodia from Sunday, Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry said Monday. While in Cambodia, he will pay courtesy calls and meet with King Norodom Sihamoni, Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong, the ministry ...

Members of Parliaments (MPs) of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) gathered here on Tuesday to promote ties and draft internal regulations to strengthen APA Secretariat. Leng Penglong, Secretary General of the National Assembly of Cambodia, said the two-day meeting is participated by 29 MPs from Bahrain, ...

The Japanese government will offer more than $21 million in grant aid and loans to Cambodia when Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida visits later this month, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the statement, Kishida will ink a number of ...

Border trade between Surin province in Thailand and Oddar Meanchey province in Cambodia is rising following military measures, the National News Bureau of Thailand said Sunday. ...

As part of the ongoing effort to create agreed-upon border posts between Cambodia and Vietnam, officials from both countries will demarcate land in Svay Rieng province this month, setting the stage for a possible confrontation with an opposition lawmaker-elect who intends to visit the same ...

With Thailand and Cambodia both feeling the pinch from the sudden exodus of more than 200,000 Cambodian workers out of Thailand, the two countries are now working together to try and get them back to their old jobs legally, as fast as possible. Some 225,000 Cambodians, ...