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.



independent.co.uk Over 1000 refugees have been detained in Malaysia, after Thailand, once the go-to destination for refugees in south east Asia, began a crackdown on people smuggling. The group of refugees, which included dozens of children, arrived on three boats in the middle of the night, and were taken into custody once they came ashore.

bbc.com Karisma is one of more than 100,000 children in the country who do not have proper documents. Under Malaysia's immigration rules, low-skilled foreign workers are not allowed to have families. It's one of the ways the government tries to limit the number of immigrants.



afp A Russian woman who smuggled drugs into Indonesia was sentenced to 16 years and six months jail, escaping the death penalty just weeks after seven foreign nationals including two Australians were executed for trafficking narcotics. Aleksandra Magnaeva, 26, was arrested in December after arriving in Bali on a flight from Hong Kong with 2.1 kilos of crystal methamphetamine stashed in her bags.

independent.co.uk Six-hundred migrants were rescued off the coast of Indonesia, after their boat ran out of fuel. According to Mark Getchell of the International Organisation for Migration in Indonesia, the migrants were told that they were in Malaysia, and that they got what they payed for.

bloomberg Gridlocked and cash-strapped cities in tropical Indonesia may find a solution in ski resorts. In the former Dutch hill station of Bandung, city planners have approved Indonesia's first urban aerial gondola system, which could move as many as 4800 people an hour between two shopping areas.



npr.org In Singapore, political discourse is highly controlled. And a 16-year-old blogger named Amos Yee has pushed those limits. A verdict in the case is expected on Tuesday.



reuters Vietnam is showing progress on human rights but must signal stronger commitment to win over hesitant US legislators who could complicate the country's accession to a lucrative Pacific trade pact, a top American official said. Tom Malinowski said he had seen Vietnam show more restraint this year, with fewer political prisoners and no new dissident prosecutions, but gains were fragile and ''very significant problems'' remained.



thestack.com The Philippines has become the first of Uber's territories to provide the app-hailing ride-sharing company with a legitimate legal framework within which to operate in Asia - a global region where the company is experiencing some of its fiercest governmental antagonists.

weather.com Typhoon Noul slammed into the northern Philippines, sending thousands evacuating and killing at least two people. According to the Philippines' weather bureau, Noul has since weakened.



afp Three tourists have appeared in a Cambodian court accused of taking photographs of their bare bottoms inside the country's famed Angkor temple complex, an official says. Two men - an Italian and an Argentinian - and a Dutch woman, were arrested after a guard spotted them taking the cheeky pictures at one of the temples at the ancient site on Sunday.

AP The Cleveland Museum of Art has returned a 10th-century statue to Cambodia after it uncovered evidence the sculpture was probably looted during the country's civil war. The museum announced that the statue of the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman, was returned, The Plain Dealer reported.



state.gov Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Catherine Russell will travel to Burma, May 11-19, 2015. During her visit, Ambassador Russell will meet with members of civil society, business owners and entrepreneurs, journalists, religious leaders, young people, women in technology, and internally displaced people. She will also meet with members of the Burmese government.