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.



bangkokpost.com On May 27, the Ministry of Public Health announced the IQ survey results, indicating that the IQ of Grade 1 students has dropped from 94 in 2011 to 93. The international standard is 100.



AP China says Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi will visit for five days next week. Suu Kyi is an international democracy icon for her years long defiance of an authoritarian military regime in Burma (Myanmar). She now has ambitions for her country's presidency, which would involve the need for smooth relations with Beijing.

nytimes.com According to interviews with real estate brokers, economists, and current and former law enforcement agents, illicit drug profits have been a major source of investment in rebuilding the country, and companies linked to the drug trade are building new roads and bridges and reshaping the skyline of Yangon.



cnn.com As of early Saturday evening in Malaysia, the death toll from the quake and its aftermath stood at 13 - 11 bodies were found earlier in the day on Mount Kinabalu - with six people there still unaccounted for, according to the director of northern Malaysia's Sabah Parks conservation area.



3news.co.nz Passengers from France, Italy, the United States, Australia and New Zealand were among those injured when a small explosion occurred on a ferry crossing between the islands of Lombok and Bali, media reports say. Kiwi Paul Sinclair, who has a back fracture, burns to his legs and a suspected broken ankle, was flown to Darwin Hospital on Saturday night.

cnn.com Thick plumes of volcanic ash and flowing lava are spewing from Mount Sinabung. About 2700 people have been evacuated from the Indonesian island of Sumatra because of the increased volcanic activity in the region during the past two weeks.



straitstimes.com With reports that the outbreak of the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) in South Korea could be worsening, some holidaymakers here are playing it safe by cancelling their trips to the country.

hindustantimes.com A presenter at Singapore's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games' opening ceremony has apologised after she shocked onlookers by mocking a small, ethnic Indian girl about her accent. Sharon Au, who is ethnic Chinese, also teased the girl about her name, Kavya, calling her ''caviar'' instead.



bangkokpost.com Editorial: ''Australia is basically paying blood money to a much poorer, less developed state with a shoddy record of refugee protection to take people that Canberra doesn't want,'' Human Rights Watch deputy director for Asia Phil Robertson told AP. ''When they get there, the refugees will find huge hurdles to integrate, jobs that are few and far between, and a resentful local population.''
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/584573/refugee-olution-shames-the-region

kyodo news Cambodia has sent a protest to the government of India asking it to prevent the building of a replica of Angkor Wat.

npr.org In 2008, Cambodia passed a law that closed its brothels. The goal was to prevent human trafficking. But there was a tragic unintended consequence. It upended a government program designed to distribute condoms and screen for sexually transmitted diseases like HIV at brothels. When the sex workers scattered, there was no easy way to reach them.
http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/06/06/412303138/the-hidden-world-of-cambodias-sex-workers-new-risks-new-hope



nationalinterest.org The US and Vietnam have just signed a Joint Vision Statement, but don't expect them to join forces against China. An alliance is ultimately straw-man talk, but provides a useful way to look at the US-Vietnam-China triangle.



straitstimes.com Maria Claire Adorna from the Philippines put in a dominant performance at the women's triathlon to clinch her country's first gold medal at the 28th SEA Games.



bangkokpost.com Thailand picked up three more points with a 5-0 hammering of Brunei in their fourth Group B match of the SEA Games football competition.