The National Election Committee said Thursday it was extending by three days voter registration in 316 communes hit hard by recent flooding. The extension was made at the request of local election officials, political parties and election monitors, pushing the date from Oct.
Disaster officials said Wednesday they expected an ease in flooding in 14 provinces, but they expected the death toll to rise. At least 61 people have died in the floods, which began in August and have continued to swell rivers and inundate homes along the Mekong River and in other areas.
The dual visits this week of Thailand’s new prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, and her brother, Thaksin, who was ousted from that position in 2006, could create an amicable environment for talks on a range of issues, analysts said Tuesday. Yingluck, who was elected in July, is scheduled to arrive on Thursday, with Thaksin preparing for a weeklong trip starting Friday. Between the two, talks over an ongoing military border stand-off, on maritime petroleum resources and on the release of two jailed Thai activists could all take place, analysts said.
Activists working to protect the massive Prey Lang forest in northeastern Cambodia have delivered a petition to embassies, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank on Friday, urging the international community to help them. Villagers living near the forest say their livelihoods there are being threatened by continuous government concessions to private rubber and other companies. The petition follows a demonstration in Phnom Penh on Thursday, in which 100 villager were swept up by police for handing out fliers in public, in what authorities said was a threat to public security.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday insisted on three-party talks with Thailand and Indonesia in an effort to implement an international court ruling to resolve the border dispute near Preah Vihear temple. The International Court of Justice ruled in favor of a demilitarized zone and an observer mission earlier this week
Cambodia on Wednesday urged Indonesia to send monitors to the border near Preah Vihear temple to enforce a demilitarized zone ordered by the UN’s highest court this week. Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, who returned from The Hague on Wednesday, told reporters he was requesting Indonesia to send observers “immediately.” The International Court of Justice ordered Thai and Cambodian troops to leave a contentious border area on Monday, while also paving the way for an observer mission and creating a “provisional demilitarized zone.” Neither side has withdrawn troops from the border, the site of deadly, sporadic fighting since 2008.
Cambodia on Wednesday urged Indonesia to send monitors to the border near Preah Vihear temple to enforce a demilitarized zone ordered by the UN’s highest court this week. Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, who returned from The Hague on Wednesday, told reporters he was requesting Indonesia to send observers “immediately.” The International Court of Justice ordered Thai and Cambodian troops to leave a contentious border area on Monday, while also paving the way for an observer mission and creating a “provisional demilitarized zone.” Neither side has withdrawn troops from the border, the site of deadly, sporadic fighting since 2008.