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.



latimes.com Malaysian authorities have found 139 suspected graves in the country's northern jungles at what they believe were camps used for trafficking humans, police announced. The discovery demonstrated the human cost of a smuggling trade that has engulfed the region from Bangladesh to Indonesia.

ibtimes.co.uk Loss-making Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will be rebranded and restructured into a new company. A new name and livery for the troubled carrier will be unveiled next week, Reuters reported. Chief executive Christoph Mueller, who joined on May 1, told the news agency that the new company will be like a ''start-up''.

news.com.au Malaysia Airlines' passengers have been assured ''tickets sold will be honored'' despite the appointment of an administrator, and thousands of likely job losses in coming months. A statement announced administrator Dato' Mohammad Faiz Azmi had been appointed to ''transfer selected assets and liabilities'' from Malaysia Airlines to a new company effective from September 1.



bnionline.com None of the boat people going to Malaysia come from the refugee camps of Arakan [Rakhine] State claimed a senior Arakan State Government official. The claims were made by U Hla Thein, the chairman of the Arakan State Government Information and Recording Sub-Committee at a press conference held at the state attorney's office on May 19. He claimed that the boat people, who were helped by Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, came from Bangladesh on Thai fishing boats.



channelnewsasia.com Almost half of boatpeople rescued by the Indonesian government are victims of human trafficking rings, says its national disaster management body, as the country is preparing to repatriate Bangladeshi migrants and resettle the Rohingya.

AP Rohingya brokers, eager to fill boats with human cargo that fetch $100 each, roam villages and displacement camps touting stories of jobs waiting overseas. Bored, frustrated and naive, youngsters are the easiest to trick. Once on board the ships, they are also the most vulnerable.

nytimes.com The more than 3000 migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar who recently landed in Indonesia and Malaysia ended weeks of a nightmare at sea only to fall into an administrative limbo that could last years, even decades.



salon.com Noam Chomsky reports: The most lethal are cluster bombs, which are designed to ''cause maximum casualties to troops'' by spraying ''hundreds of bomblets onto the ground.'' About 30 percent remain unexploded, so that they kill and maim children who pick up the pieces.

Full story here http://goo.gl/NjElJO



theglobeandmail.com The Philippines is seeking a ''stronger commitment'' from the United States to help its ally, the defense minister said on Monday, as China asserts its sovereignty over disputed areas of the South China Sea.



abc.net.au Almost 50 years after he was shot down by a sniper in Vietnam, Mervyn Wilson's family will be offered the chance to bring his remains home from Malaysia. About 60,000 Australians fought in Vietnam and 521 were killed. Those who died before 1966 were buried overseas.



straitstimes.com Madam Leong Lai Yee, the woman at the centre of an alleged million-dollar ponzi scam who has been uncontactable for more than a week, has been reported missing. Investors who say they are owed a total of $60 million fear that she has left the country.



aap It is only a seven-hour flight from Melbourne but Brunei is a little known and very much underrated destination for Australian travellers. If you're a traveller looking to experience a different culture or enjoy an unusual stopover en route to Vietnam you won't be disappointed.



xinhua Leading Cambodian internet provider Telcotech signed an agreement on Monday with two telecommunications companies, Symphony Communication of Thailand and Telekom Malaysia Berhad, to build the country's first undersea communications cable.