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.



bbc.com Thailand has trebled to three million baht ($84,000) its reward for information leading to the arrest of the main suspect in the deadly bomb attack on the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok.



reuters The Malaysian ringgit fell to a fresh 17-year low on Friday as investors awaited foreign exchange reserve data for signs on how much ammunition the central bank has left to defend the currency.The ringgit fell nearly 1.0 percent to 4.1780 per dollar, its weakest since August 31, 1998.



bloomberg Indonesian stocks slid the most in 19 months, with the benchmark index poised to enter a bear market, as capital outflows accelerate amid a weakening economy and the prospect of higher US interest rates.



bbc.com Singapore's central bank has apologised after misspelling the name of the country's first president on the packaging of bank notes commemorating the city-state's 50th anniversary. The name of late president Yusof Ishak was misspelt ''Yusok Ishak'' twice - once on the folders carrying the notes and once in an enclosed booklet.



rfa.org Cambodia's opposition party vowed to continue tracking the country's border disputes with Vietnam, despite a threat from Prime Minister Hun Sen to arrest anyone who accuses the government of using fake maps to demarcate the territory. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was responding to a letter issued by Hun Sen and published by the government-affiliated media group Fresh News, cautioning opposition leaders and lawmakers not to use the border issue for political gain.



thinkprogress.org Myanmar's parliament passed two bills that are widely believed to offer further legal cover to the country's harsh policies toward its Rohingya Muslim population. Proposed by hardline Buddhist nationalists who claim that their traditions are threatened by the country's Muslims, the bills regulate religious conversion and polygamy.

AP Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi compared Myanmar's young democracy on Friday to a malnourished child that is unable to thrive in an environment in which politicians are more interested in personal power than the rights of the people.



accuweather.com After turning deadly in the Philippines, Typhoon Goni will track near Taiwan this weekend before taking aim at Japan and South Korea. Despite its center and worst of its fury raging just offshore, Typhoon Goni has claimed four lives in the Philippines' Luzon Island



radio free asia Illegal logging in southern Laos' Champassak province was particularly devastating on forests in July, according to a local police officer, who said businessmen working in tandem with high-ranking officials raced to cut timber in the region ahead of the start of the rainy season.



VNS The US continues to impose countervailing duty (CVD) as well as old duty rates on polyethylene retail carrier bags (plastic bags) from Viet Nam after the first sunset review on the duty in May, reported Viet Nam Competition Authority.