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.



AP About 4000 workers are striking at clothing factories outside of Yangon, demanding that their overtime pay of 17 cents an hour be doubled. The workers at plants in two industrial zones vow to camp outside their factories unless employers meet their demand, claiming they cannot live on pay amounting to 80,000 kyats ($80) a month.



cambodiadaily.com Indonesian authorities rescued 17 Cambodian migrants enslaved aboard two Thai vessels illegally fishing the archipelago nation's waters, according to a statement issued by Cambodia's Foreign Ministry. The ministry's spokesman, Koy Kuong, said the men told a now-familiar story of deception to Indonesian authorities about how they ended up on the boats.



latimes.com There are now 119 measles cases confirmed in California, state officials said, as the number of cases in the California-centered outbreak rose to at least 145 patients. The particular measles virus in the California cases shares the same genetic material as the type most commonly found in the Philippines, according to lab tests of the virus in 30 patients.



nytimes.com A property sales tax of 18 percent for foreigners has reduced buyers' enthusiasm. Signs of a [high-end property] slowdown are just beneath the shiny surface. Levies are nearly as high for those hoping to flip their properties in the first or second year.



travel.iafrica.com The UK Advertising Standards Association (ASA) has banned an advertisement which encouraged women to go to Malaysia for a ''boob job''. The ASA says the ad trivialises surgery.

channelnewsasia.com In a rare comment on one of Malaysia's most sensitive topics, the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak dismissed the claims of a fugitive policeman that he was ordered by ''important people'' to kill a woman linked to highly sensitive corruption allegations.



dailymail.co.uk Millions of Indonesians have watched on television exactly how Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan will be executed on 'Death Island'. Chilling video has emerged of the mobile paramilitary brigade called Brimob in firing practice ahead of the last round of executions on Nusa Kambangan, where Chan and Sukumaran are due to be shifted 72 hours ahead of their deaths by firing squad.



eastasiaforum.org As of December 2014, South Korea has been Vietnam's biggest investor, with US$37.23 billion of foreign direct investment in 4110 projects throughout the country. In 2009 Samsung invested US$1.5 billion in Vietnam, building its second largest factory worldwide.



law360.com An openly gay member of the US Congress pushed the White House to use ongoing trade talks as an engine for reforming laws in Malaysia and Brunei targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens, departing from his LGBT colleagues who earlier called for halting negotiations with those countries entirely.



bangkokpost.com Laos will raise the minimum wage for unskilled laborers by almost 50 percent in April in a move reflecting the government's concern about a worker shortage.