Dec. 3 (UPI) — Unregulated mining across the Mekong region is accelerating at a pace that environmental researchers warn is outstripping governance, enforcement and ecological safeguards.

From Myanmar’s jade-rich northern highlands to informal gold pits along Laos and Cambodia’s riverbanks, mineral extraction is expanding in some of Southeast Asia’s most fragile ecosystems, often beyond the reach of national law and outside public scrutiny.

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The Ministry of Finance Party Committee has intensified its anti-corruption efforts, taking action by inspecting and freezing 50 accounts while recovering substantial sums of lost revenue.

On 18 March, Ouban Suphida, Deputy Chairman of the Party Committee Inspection, presented the 2024 annual inspection report, outlining the committee’s recent investigations.

In close coordination with the State Inspection Agency, authorities seized assets and froze bank accounts linked to corruption, recovering LAK 12.3 billion (USD 569,405), USD 265,919, and THB 24.8 million (USD 740,118).

As corruption remains a serious issue, the committee is focusing on stricter monitoring of financial activities, particularly at customs checkpoints, both locally and internationally. Ouban emphasized that these preventive measures are vital to curbing illicit transactions and ensuring accountability within government operations.

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Hanoi (VNA) – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and President of Vietnam To Lam held talks with visiting General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith following an official welcome ceremony for the Lao leader in Hanoi on September 10.

The two leaders informed each other about the situation of each Party and country and exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern. They also agreed on orientations, policies and measures to develop the bilateral great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation to a new height.

The Lao leader, his spouse and a high-ranking delegation of Laos are paying a state visit to Vietnam from September 10-13 as guests of Party General Secretary and President To Lam and his spouse.

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The government will use the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) meeting this week to seek cooperation from neighbouring countries to address the problem of call centre scam gangs.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said he had instructed Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa to raise the issue with participating countries and explore effective strategies for dealing with cross-border crime, including tackling call centre scams. The 9th MLC meeting is scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Chiang Mai.

Mr Maris stressed that regional cooperation is crucial to solving transnational crime, which includes the narcotics trade, human trafficking and fraud. He said the governments of Laos, China and India have placed importance on transnational crime and agreed to enhance cooperation to address these issues.

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The head of Vietnam’s parliament has resigned over unspecified “violations and shortcomings”, the ruling Communist Party has said, as a major anticorruption campaign in the Southeast Asian country continues.

The party’s Central Committee held an extraordinary session on Friday and approved the resignation of Vuong Dinh Hue as the chairman of the 15th National Assembly, according to state media outlet VnExpress.

“Comrade Vuong Dinh Hue’s violations and shortcomings have caused negative public opinion, affecting the reputation of the party, state and him personally,” the committee said in a statement.

There was no immediate announcement about his replacement.

Pham Thai Ha, the deputy head of the office of the National Assembly and assistant to Hue, was arrested four days back, VnExpress reported.

Hue, a 67-year-old top lawmaker who rose to the chairmanship of the parliament in March 2021, has been a longtime figure in Vietnamese politics, also serving as deputy prime minister from 2016 to 2020.

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The fifth Thai – Lao friendship bridge, which links Bueng Kan province of Thailand with Pakxan town of Laos, is scheduled to open this November.

Deputy Transport Minister of Thailand Manaporn Charoensri said recently that the project features a 1.35km crossover with a dual-lane road traversing the Mekong River and a four-lane bypass on the Thailand side.

The bypass links Highway No.222 (Bueng Kan – Phang Khon) with Nong Khai, Nakhon Phanom and Sakon Nakhon provinces of Thailand. Additionally, a 2.86km dual-lane bypass in Pakxan is also included in the project.

Manaporn noted the project, worth 3.9 billion THB (105 million USD) in total, aims to facilitate transportation between Thailand and Laos. When operational, the bridge will help transporters decrease costs and time spent on cargo transportation between the two countries, thus benefiting logistics and tourism.

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Myanmar junta forces have destroyed at least 35 more hospitals and clinics – an average of one every two days – in Shan, Rakhine, Mon, and Chin states and Magwe Region in two months since the end of February, according to the civilian National Unity Government (NUG).

Wun Ma Thuu Hospital in Mindat Township, Chin State, was bombed on the night of April 25, marking the most recent targeting of health facilities by the regime.

The airstrike killed four patients and a medical attendant and left many others injured. It also destroyed the main healthcare provider for the local community and neighboring townships.

“The terrorist military has consistently and deliberately carried out airstrikes on civilian-inhabited areas and inhumane attacks on the health sector,” said the NUG in its April 28 statement.

On Feb. 28, the NUG reported that junta forces had destroyed a total of 308 hospitals and clinics since the military coup in February 2021. That figure increased to 343 health facilities destroyed with 104 health workers killed and 131 injured, according to its latest report.

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Plans are underway by the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry in Thailand to establish a new national artificial intelligence (AI) committee. The initiative is part of the second phase of the national AI strategy. The strategy is a cornerstone of Thailand’s ASEAN Digital Economy and AI Hub Plan, a key driver for the country’s digital economy.

The ministry also intends to utilise a digital ID platform to bolster the digital wallet handout scheme.

DES Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong, while giving his keynote speech at Huawei’s Digital and Intelligence APAC Congress 2024 in  Bangkok, emphasised the country’s commitment to digital and intelligence technology development. He stated that the digital economy is perceived as a growth engine to enhance Thailand’s competitiveness and electronic transaction efficiency.

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — A Vietnamese delegation’s visit to China last week has underscored increasingly close economic ties between the territorial rivals, which analysts say is posing a challenge to the dominance of South Korean investment in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue led the high-level delegation from April 7 to 12 and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Hue proposed the two countries create a new push for trade development and “connect Vietnam to China’s large development strategies.”

He also met with the heads of many large Chinese companies that want to participate in Vietnam’s infrastructure construction.

China is Vietnam’s largest trade partner and on the way to becoming its biggest foreign direct investor.

A representative of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or KCCI, in Vietnam last week told Nikkei Asia that Chinese companies are pushing back South Korean firms as China steps up investment in Vietnam.

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BANGKOK —  Myanmar’s jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest as a health measure due to a heat wave, the military government said. On Wednesday it also granted amnesty for over 3,000 prisoners to mark this week’s traditional New Year holiday.

Suu Kyi, 78, and Win Myint, the 72-year-old former president of her ousted government, were among the elderly and infirm prisoners moved from out of prison because of the severe heat, the military’s spokesperson, Maj. Gen. General Zaw Min Tun, told foreign media representatives late Tuesday. The move has not yet been publicly announced in Myanmar.

Suu Kyi’s transfer comes as the army has been suffering a string of major defeats in its fight against pro-democracy resistance fighters and their allies in ethnic minority guerrilla forces. The nationwide conflict began after the army ousted the elected government in February 2021, imprisoned Suu Kyi and began suppressing nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule.

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