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.

AS SOME in the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) anticipate lucrative benefits from deeper trade and economic integration, there are mounting warnings that some communities and even whole countries may lose out because of the risk of human rights being sacrificed to the imperatives of big business, reports theguardian.com .



buzzfeed.com Khai is one of many single, mostly young Cambodian women who have been trafficked to China as brides since 2013. Thanks to China's infamous one-child policy, experts say, there are more single men than women in the country, and as those men age, they seek marriageable women.



theguardian.com Indonesia has formally protested to the Malaysian government over a vacuum cleaner advert it says is ''utterly insensitive'' to the hundreds of thousands of its citizens working as maids in the country.

dailymail.co.uk Australian radio station Triple J has defended its decision to publish an opinion poll on how many Australians support the death penalty following claims the station should be held accountable if the pair are executed. The poll, titled 'Australians think Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran should be executed.' found 52 percent of Australians, in principle, support death sentences for overseas drug traffickers.

thejakartapost.com Letter: It's bizarre to see that the Indonesian government asks for mercy for its citizens convicted of crimes overseas and sentenced to the death penalty and they have been successful, too. So why is it okay to give the death penalty to two Australians who are fully reformed after being in a Bali jail for 10 years?



irawaddy.org Australian MP Luke Simpkins, who last month made a covert visit into eastern Burma, has conveyed his support to Karen ethnic armed groups and spoken against continuing human rights violations in the country.

voanews.com Myanmar, also known as Burma, has slammed a visiting UN official for using the term ''Rohingya'' to refer to a beleaguered ethnic minority group the government does not officially recognise.

irrawaddy.org The United Nations human rights envoy to Burma hit back at government claims she was infringing upon state sovereignty and exacerbating tensions in the country, saying the criticism was ''hard to comprehend.''



channelnewsasia.com For corruption and abetting four people to fraudulently claim GST tourist refunds, Mohamed Yusof Bin Abdul Rahman was sentenced to five years' jail and ordered to pay a penalty of more than S$673,000.



vientiane Times Laos must produce a vast sum of money to upgrade its arterial roads so they conform to the Asean Highway (AH) standard and facilitate regional production networks, trade and investment, transport, and tourism. ''Laos has only two national roads that meet the Asean standard, while the other six will have to be upgraded,'' said the Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.



hrc.org The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organisation, called on all potential guests of L.A. Confidential's pre-Grammy party at the Beverly Hills Hotel to follow John Legend's leadership and refuse to attend the event, which is being thrown in his honor. The Sultan of Brunei's draconian new laws that could lead to the stoning of women and LGBT people



eastasiaforum.com Vietnam has recently upped its diplomatic efforts to strengthen relations with major powers by signing comprehensive and strategic partnership agreements. The underlying diplomatic philosophy is to create interdependent relations with as many major powers as possible, while avoiding taking sides.



theaustralian.com.au Not since the presidency of Fidel Ramos (1992-1998) has the country enjoyed this kind of reputational glow. Only in 2011, of the last five years, has economic growth slipped below 6 percent per year. In that time, GDP per head has soared by 57.5 percent as a result.