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.

THE THAI NAVY impounded two Vietnamese fishing boats and arrested 12 crew members on Sunday for illegally fishing in Thai waters. A navy coastal patrol ship intercepted the trawlers north of Kra island in Nakhon Si Thammarat and led them to a pier at the navy base in Songkhla, said Second Naval Area command chief Naris Prathumsuwan.

ASEAN has long been criticised for being a predominantly state-led talk shop with little participation from the citizens of its members. Yet, recent developments in ASEAN suggests its approach may be shifting, reports the Japan Times..



cbc.ca A Philippine town mayor says more than 30 police commandos have been killed in a clash with Muslim rebels while hunting a top terror suspect in the south. It was the biggest single-day combat loss for Philippine forces in many years.



japantimes.co.jp Cambodia decided to allow its national interest and cozy ties with China to trump its responsibility as Asean chair in 2012. For the first time in its history, Asean was unable to agree on a closing statement on the South China Sea. Will Malaysia let this happen again?

fourthofficial.com Malaysia are the champions of the World Hockey League Round 2 after clinching a sensational 8-0 victory over Poland in the final.



algemeiner.com During this year's Operation Smile campaign in Vietnam, two Israeli doctors joined 300 delegation members from 18 countries to provide free reconstructive surgery for children born with conditions such as a cleft lip or cleft palate, as well as other facial deformities.



metro.co.uk A British grandmother convicted of smuggling drugs to Bali has been asked to sign a court document that will formally confirm her death sentence. Lindsay Sandiford, 58, was convicted of smuggling cocaine to the Indonesian island in 2013, and now fears that her execution is imminent.

au.news.yahoo.com Indonesia has refused to remove its entry visa requirements for Australians visiting Bali, despite relaxing the rules for other nations including Japan, South Korea and Russia.

afp Indonesian salvage teams failed again Sunday to retrieve the fuselage of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 from the seabed after a sling snapped during a sudden change in the weather, officials said.



Kyodo News North Korea has asked Cambodia to ban the sales and screening of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc's controversial comedy The Interview, about an assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying the movie insults Kim, according to a government document.

phnompenhpost.com The government has dismissed a report in Thai media claiming that Cambodia has agreed to jointly develop villages in a disputed border area, saying ''the information was wrong''.



post-gazette.com By embracing a stringent variant of Islam, the government of Brunei increasingly represents the region's deepest anxieties about its own future. Brunei is likely to become more economically isolated, all the while serving as a useful, cautionary tale for Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries in the region tempted to turn their backs on pluralism's material successes.



nationmultimedia.com On Wednesday, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to bring to a close the Mekong River Commission's six-month prior consultation process for the Don Sahong Dam, the second Mekong mainstream hydropower project. The future of the Mekong hangs precariously on what happens next.



dvb.no The question of child soldiers has been one of the most enduring human rights issues that Burma's President Thein Sein has had to acknowledge in the face of persistent international attention since taking power in 2011. Low rates of birth registration, an inaccurate and decentralised military record system, and a lack of government forthcoming - factors that lend themselves to easily recruiting minors - make it hard for observers to gauge the numbers affected.



abs-cbnnews.com Aside from Sim Lim Square, two more shopping complexes in Singapore - People's Park Complex in Chinatown and Lucky Plaza in Orchard Road - have been identified as having an alarmingly higher incidence of complaints lodged by customers, especially tourists. Singapore's Minister of State for Trade and Industry Teo Ser Luck told Parliament that over the last three years, there have been 2000 complaints lodged against retailers in these three shopping malls alone.