Laotian police have carried out Asia's biggest-ever single seizure of illegal drugs, finding more than 55 million methamphetamine pills in the back of a beer truck, a United Nations (UN) official confirmed Thursday.The Southeast Asian country has in recent years been a gateway for drug traffickers moving meth shipments out of Myanmar's troubled Shan state and into Thailand and beyond. On Wednesday, police stopped a truck carrying beer crates in Lao's northern province

Lao has locked down its capital Vientiane and barred travel between COVID-hit provinces, as cases soared to a record high.The communist country appeared to have escaped the brunt of the pandemic in 2020, and by March this year had reported fewer than 60 cases – though the low number was due in part to limited testing.But a surge since mid-April has seen its caseload steadily increase, and on Saturday the country reported 467 new cases of community infection, its highest ever single-day tally.

An elderly French-Vietnamese woman failed Monday in her bid to sue Monsanto and other makers of the toxic chemical Agent Orange over its use by the United States (US) as a weapon during the Vietnam War, after a French court ruled that the companies had legal immunity because they were working for a sovereign government.Tran To Nga, born in 1942 in what was then French Indochina, accused 14 agrochemicals firms of causing grievous harm to her and others by selling Agent Orange to the American m

Vietnam has detected four cases of a COVID-19 variant believed to be behind a devastating surge of the virus in India, state media said Thursday.Separately, the country also reported its first community outbreak in weeks on Thursday.Vietnam has so far kept case numbers low – reporting 2,910 of them and 35 deaths – thanks to mass quarantines and extensive contact tracing.All four of those infected with the B.1.617 variant of COVID-19, which was first found in India, had recently travelled from

Thailand's prime minister was fined for not wearing a mask Monday after new COVID-19 restrictions came into force to try to halt the country's spiralling outbreak.Wearing masks is now compulsory in public spaces in 49 provinces and the capital, Bangkok – where the latest outbreak has been traced back to a nightlife district. Some locations are backing up that requirement with a 20,000 baht (US$640) fine.After a picture of a maskless Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha attendin

A village watchman trains his binoculars on a suspicious fishing boat - the first line of defence as Thailand braces for a fresh methamphetamine influx after a coup in neighbouring Myanmar.The kingdom's narcotics bureau has already seized more than 80 million "yaba" pills just in the past six months, a record haul partly blamed on a supply glut caused by the coronavirus pandemic.But now the United Nations (UN) warns of an even bigger deluge as Myanmar's legal economy tanks

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a train that you either get on or you’ll find yourself being left far, far behind. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is aware of this. We’ve seen countries like Indonesia and Thailand take lessons from Germany’s model of a 4.0 economy.

Elderly residents and small children clung to inflatable tyres as soldiers and police used rope lines to get them to safety from rising floodwater on Saturday in Cambodia's western province of Battambang.Hundreds of families in three Cambodian provinces – Pursat, Battambang and Pailin – have been forced to evacuate amid extreme rainfall ahead of the arrival of a tropical depression across the Mekong region."A two-year-old child and 57-year-old man have drowned in the flood," Se

As nations around the world scramble to combat the deadly COVID-19 virus, it is important to remember that old diseases continue to remain a threat to many. Recently, the bubonic plague, once considered an ancient disease, triggered a health warning in China and Mongolia as fresh cases were reported, whereas ASEAN member state Malaysia reported its first polio case in 27 years late last year.

Water levels in Southeast Asia’s largest river may be at its lowest in a century.Low rainfall, high temperatures and poor dam regulations are contributing to a historic low at the Mekong, affecting lives, the region’s agriculture and fishing industries and leading to rapidly drying taps.Chinese dams control the flow of the 4,350-kilometre (km) river which originates in the Tibetan highlands before travelling across Myanmar, Lao, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.