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 Singaporean Mohamed Aslam Shahul, 21, died after falling into the ocean from a cliff during a holiday with eight friends at the Sandi Bay Beach in Bali. He was unable to swim, friends said, and drowned.



wsj.com Malaysia is sending search-and-rescue operations to aid thousands of migrants believed to be adrift in Southeast Asian waters, backtracking on its previous statements that it wouldn't send such missions to avoid becoming a magnet for illegal immigrants.



AP Burma's navy found two fishing trawlers filled with around 200 people during a patrol, while four Malaysian navy ships were searching for boats, said navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar. He said three helicopters and three other ships were on standby.

reuters Burma's military commander-in-chief said some ''boat people'' landing in Malaysia and Indonesia this month are likely pretending to be Rohingya Muslims to receive UN aid and that many had fled neighboring Bangladesh, state media reported.



channelnewsasia.com The Philippines government has held a series of high level meetings with UNHCR to formalise plans to temporarily house about 3000 Rohingya refugees.



theaustralian.com.au In a foreign ministers' meeting in Seoul, Indonesian officials told AustralianForeign Minister Julie Bishop that only 30 percent to 40 percent of those stranded on boats and in camps in the region were Rohingya refugees. ''[The Bangladeshis] have been promised or are seeking jobs in Malaysia.''



gulf-times.com Being aware that medical tourism is a success story in Southeast Asia, Cambodia has embarked on a particular segment of this business: Dental care. And since a bunch of specialised clinics opened in Phnom Penh and other cities over the past two years, word of mouth has spread and attracted interest of a growing number of medical tourists from as far as Japan, Australia and the Middle East.

cambodiadaily.com Foreign Minister Hor Namhong hit back at claims he is serving the Vietnamese government by siding with it - and not a group of Cambodian villagers - in a dispute over which country owns 16.6 hectares of land along the border of Tbong Khmum province.



bloomberg China's territorial maneuvers in the contested South China Sea are bringing its Communist neighbor Vietnam and the US closer together, according to the new ambassador to Vietnam, Ted Osius.



freebeacon.com The government of Brunei contributed between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation in 2002, which said that the donation went toward the construction of the Clinton Presidential Library in Arkansas.