Five days of dialogue in Thailand on the role of the family in the Catholic Churches of Asia: 52 delegates from 11 countries discussed pastoral challenges, synodality, the role of young people and interfaith dialogue. The Christian family is at the heart of the Church’s mission and the transmission of the faith. A roadmap inspired by the 2023 Bangkok Document has been approved.
Cambodia rejects Thailand's unilateral decision to register border sites as national heritage. Over the years, the area has been the scene of armed clashes, the latest a few months ago, when a temple suffered damages. Phnom Penh slams Bangkok’s action as a violation of its territorial integrity without any validity under international law.
The activist is currently held at a detention centre over her visa. The UNHCR office in the Thai capital had granted her protection status. Hong Kong authorities accuse her of "subversion" under the territory’s national security law. Her "crime" is membership in the Hong Kong Parliament group of exiles.
A study by a research centre linked to Thailand’s central bank highlights a spiralling debt crisis in the agricultural sector, exacerbated by ineffective payment practices and short-term government policies, to the point that in recent years farmers have been able only to pay the interest.
Keeping a nationalist election promise made during the campaign, Anutin’s government has scrapped the 2001 agreement (which never got off the ground) for the joint exploitation of energy reserves in disputed maritime areas. This signals how tensions remain high despite the ceasefire in place since December. Cambodia is concerned about the intensification of Thai naval patrols.
New data released by Thailand shows that in some tributaries, arsenic concentrations caused by active mining operations exceed the limits set by guidelines. Civil society initiatives are calling for greater cooperation among the countries in the basin, as well as more concrete measures to halt the pollution.
