PHUKETWAN recognises the importance of Asean with the Economic Community approaching and marks what's happening around the region with a new column, Asean Today.



straitstimes.com Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has expressed his condolences over the death of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding founder, who died on Monday morning at the age of 91. Gen Prayut, who was supposed to make his first official visit to Singapore this week, postponed the trip due to Mr Lee's deterioriating health, according to Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

fortune.com Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew has made his prosperous little realm a nice place to do business. But it's not much fun to live there. [Article from 1974 republished.]
http://fortune.com/2015/03/23/singapore-leekuanyew-corporation-1974/

theguardian.com Gum control: how Lee Kuan Yew kept chewing gum off Singapore's streets. For anybody with at least the occasional authoritarian twinge (which is, I'm guessing, all of us), Singapore offers hope that you can ''stamp out'' even the mildest forms of antisocial behavior.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2015/mar/23/gum-control-how-lee-kuan-yew-kept-chewing-gum-off-singapores-streets



AP A Philippine court began the trial of a US Marine charged with murdering a transgender Filipino after allegedly discovering her gender when they checked into a hotel, in an emotional case that has tested the two countries' military ties.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/trial-begins-philippines-us-marine-charged-murder-29837529



goal.com Malaysia will be facing Tottenham Hotspur on 27th May as part of the EPL club's visit to Kuala Lumpur this year.



wsj.com The leaders of Japan and Indonesia said they would work together to maintain peace in the region at a time of tensions between China and its neighbors over maritime territorial disputes.



bloomberg Perched along one of the world's most crucial shipping routes, and with a young and growing population, Vietnam is - once again - being tipped for economic lift-off, after years of disappointment.



kyivpost.com The international police network Interpol put Ukrainian lawmaker Mykola Kniazhytsky on an international wanted list as of March 23. He is wanted by Cambodia on suspicion of raping a minor. Kniazhytsky, 46, denied the accusation and called it a provocation against him.



washingtonpost.com Letter: The March 15 editorial ''A failing engagement with Burma'' was right to point to serious challenges in Burma's democratic reforms. But to suggest that Burma's transition is so flawed that other totalitarian states should not follow its example is a mistake.



xinhua Cambodia and Laos signed an agreement on security cooperation with an aim of intensifying the fight against all kinds of trans-national crimes.