PHUKETWAN recognises the importance of Asean with the Economic Community approaching and marks what's happening around the region with a column, Asean Today, that will cease when Phuketwan closes on December 31.



bangkokpost.com Twenty leading businessmen will meet Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha this Thursday - possibly on Phuket - on ways to help make the government's economic stimulus package, known as Pracha Rat, a success.



aa.com.tr Survivors of rape in Cambodia are being failed by a judicial system mired in corruption, where perpetrators can pay to have charges dropped and some victims have to marry their attackers, according to a report. The report by human rights NGO Licadho outlined some of the key problems, where ''almost 100 percent of cases settled by compensation involved a corrupt payment'' to an official.



thanhniennews.com If the growth of labor supply is not improved, Vietnam would face an annual shortage of some 78,000 IT professionals in the next five years, according to a new report. Online recruitment company VietnamWorks said that the labor supply in the industry grew only eight percent a year in the last three years, much lower than the 47 percent annual increase in the number of new jobs.



aljazeera.com Drawing tens of thousands of people from all around Myanmar to the "wild west" town of Taunggyi, the Tazaungdaing Festival of Lights is held each year at the end of the rainy season, around the time the moon is full. Hundreds of 7.6 to 9 metres high hot-air balloons with fireworks and candles strapped to the bases are launched skyward in what is considered to be one of the most beautiful and dangerous festivals in Southeast Asia.



wsj.com China's sputtering economy has spooked some foreign investors into fleeing, but not the Philippines' richest man, Henry Sy: He's ramping up plans to build more malls in the country of his birth. Mr Sy, a retail-to-banking tycoon who made his fortune in the Philippines after leaving China almost 80 years ago, is doubling down on his bet on China's consumer class.



asiaone.com Indonesian security forces are on high alert in Bogor, West Java, where President Joko Widodo attended an event. This was after the East Indonesian Mujahidin (MIT) extremist group had threatened to attack various targets across the country over the weekend.



channelnewsasia.com The Jubilee Walk, a commemorative eight-kilometre trail that takes visitors through more than 20 iconic locations in Singapore's civic district and Marina Bay area, was launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.



vanityfair.com In Thailand, the existence of systemic slavery on fishing boats and in seafood-processing plants has been extensively documented by several investigations, including an exceptional effort by The Guardian. The slaves come primarily from Laos, Burma, and Cambodia.



thesundaily.my Malaysia's success rate in deradicalising extremists and terrorists, which stands at 95 percent, caught the attention of leaders attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2015 in Malta. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said during a presentation, the leaders of the 53 Commonwealth member countries expressed their interest to learn from Malaysia.



bruneitimes.com Brunei is well on its way to becoming a ''medical hub'' that can treat patients from neighboring countries, said the executive director of the Brunei Neuroscience, Stroke and Rehabilitation Centre at Jerudong Park Medical Centre.