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.



pressreleaserocket.net The palm-oil plantations of Malaysia have become magnets for refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar. Many have complained of onerous working conditions and few legal protections.

wsj.com Human-rights advocates say the $30 billion global palm-oil industry, which has boomed with demand from the US and China, is part of the human trafficking problem. Many of the undocumented Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants end up in Malaysia, which exports nearly $12 billion of palm oil a year, around 40 percent of the world's supply, and has a growing need for unskilled workers.

csmonitor.com A Malaysian man and two Thai women were arrested for using Facebook to trap women from abroad into a prostitution syndicate, AP reported. The traffickers would lure women to Kuala Lumpur by promising them work in restaurants, spas, and karaoke bars, Thai police Lt. Col. Komvich Padhanarath told the AP. Once the women arrived, they were forced into sex work.



afp Cambodian authorities arrested six demonstrators as they protested against the recent passing of a controversial law regulating non-governmental organisations, officials and a rights group said. The six demonstrators - five men and a woman - were among dozens who rallied outside of the parliament building in the capital Phnom Penh.



news.com.au Representatives of the Vietnamese community in Australia fear for the safety of asylum seekers who have reportedly been returned to Vietnam. An asylum-seeker boat was spotted off Western Australia's north coast last week, near Dampier but the federal government has declined to confirm whether the passengers have been sent back.



thanhniennews.com Police in the north-central province of Ha Tinh announced they had arrested 11 members of a Thai-led gang that allegedly smuggled 5.5 tons of drug precursors and dried marijuana to Southeast Asian countries and other countries in the world. The Ha Tinh police worked with the police of a Laotian province bordering Vietnam in a joint operation started on June 18 to bust the gang.



afp A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian island of Java Sunday, the US Geological Survey reported, but local officials said there was no risk of a tsunami.



straitstimes.com Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who lives in Singapore, confirmed on Sunday that he married Ms Elaine Andriejanssen late last month. The 33-year-old tech-billionaire updated his status on Facebook, writing: ''I am incredibly happy and thankful to have married the love of my life.''



reuters Filipino fishermen found several buoys with Chinese markings near the disputed Scarborough Shoal and towed the devices back to shore, Philippine officials said.

independent.co.uk Filipino fishermen who came upon the bright-orange booms, joined in a string half a mile long, described them as buoys intended to mark off oil spills. The fact that they were positioned within fishing grounds regarded by the Philippines as part of its territorial waters has further increased pressure on the government to counter China's claim to the outcrop and its waters, which is part of a drive to expand Beijing's military and economic reach across the whole of the South China Sea.



PTI Myanmar (Burma) has deployed an additional brigade comprising around 6000 men and officers along the border with India, apparently to prevent any more surgical strikes by the Indian army inside its territory.