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Laos, Thailand mark first direct passenger train between Bangkok, Vientiane

Editor03 mins

The first direct passenger train between Bangkok and Vientiane arrived earlier this month.  Previously, passengers could ride from Bangkok to the Thai city of Nongkhai on the border with Laos. But now they can travel straight into Vientiane – and also have the option of transferring to the high-speed rail line that travels north to Kunming in southwest China.  The first State Railway of Thailand train began servicing the route on July 19. A return train on July 20 left Vientiane at about 6:25 p.m. and arrived in Bangkok at about 7:35 a.m. the next day.  Prices ranged from between 158,000 kip (US$7) to 560 million (US$24) kip. It was so popular that officials added an additional carriage after passengers bought most of the available tickets. “I always commuted by train when I was studying,” one Lao passenger told Radio Free Asia. “I wanted my kids to take this train, so they could experience it.” Eventually, passengers could travel from Bangkok and Vientiane on a high-speed rail line. Earlier this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Thailand’s prime minister that he hopes to speed up construction of a high-speed rail line in Thailand that would connect with Laos’ high speed line, which China built in 2021 as part of its Belt & Road Initiative. China has said that it plans to construct and connect a 3,000-kms (1,864-miles) pan-Asian railway network, in which Chinese rail lines would extend all the way to the tip of the Malay Peninsula, linking Beijing to Singapore. Edited by Matt Reed.

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Another day, another fraud case in Vietnam

Editor012 mins

The week that Vietnam was in an official state of mourning for Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, whose tenure was centered on a “Blazing Furnace” anti-corruption campaign that toppled dozens of top officials, another big corporate fraud trial began in a Hanoi court.  While its scale and scope pale in comparison to the Van Thinh Phat scandal orchestrated by businesswoman Truong My Lan, who was convicted and sentenced to death in April 2024, the FLC (Finance, Land, and Commerce) scandal is garnering significant media attention.  Trinh Van Quyet, was a young, brash, high-flying tycoon, and briefly in 2021, the country’s wealthiest person.  Established in 2010, his property company, FLC, quickly grew into a sprawling conglomerate with some 17 subsidiaries and affiliated companies in real estate, resorts and golf courses, as well as Bamboo Airways, once the second largest privately-owned airline in the country.   Quyet, 49, was arrested in March 2022 along with his two sisters for stock market manipulation, appropriation of property, and fraud. Authorities arrested 47 other people, including FLC executives and several regulators. In all, 15 relatives are on trial. At least one other FLC executive is at large. FLC Group CEO Trinh Van Quyet holds a model of a Boeing Dreamliner passenger jet at his office in Hanoi, July 30, 2018. (Nhac Nguyen/AFP) Perhaps more importantly, police arrested the former chairman of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, Tran Dac Sinh, its director, Le Hai Tra, and two other bourse executives. The four were charged with “abusing positions and powers while performing official duties.” Quyet is accused of running $156 million “pump and dump” stock fraud between May 2017 and January 2022. He had his two sisters and 43 other family members establish some 500 different brokerage accounts.  False documents Quyet and his family members traded FLC stock amongst themselves at a frenzied pace, creating the perception of demand and causing the price to soar. On many occasions, his sister would cancel a stock purchase at the last minute, having already created the impression that the shares were in demand. In another scheme, from 2014-2016, Quyet had family members and employees at another subsidiary, FLC Faros Construction, falsify documents to make it look as though they were making investments and increasing the firm’s charter capital from VNĐ1.5 billion ($59,000) to VND4.3 trillion ($169 million).  Thus when the once loss-making private company was publicly listed, which was only possible because of the intervention of corrupt bourse officials, it appeared to be worth significantly more than it was.  Police escort FLC Group CEO Trinh Van Quyet to court on July 22, 2024, for his trial on fraud charges in Hanoi. (Anh Tuc/AFP) Quyet and other defendants quickly sold the 391 million of 430 million shares that they controlled, netting $142 million, and collapsing the stock price for other investors. All in all, the various schemes resulted in the six listed FLC companies seeing the value of their shares rise between 70% and 1,700%.   In addition to the fraud, Quyet sold large shareholdings without notifying financial regulators, a requirement for corporate executives. In January 2022, he sold nearly 75 million shares of FLC stock, collapsing share prices, and prompting the Ministry of Public Security to open an investigation.  RELATED STORIES Mendicant monk Thích Minh Tuệ offers an embarrassing contrast to Vietnam elites Breaking the laws of the land: Vietnam’s real estate scandals Ouster of parliament chief bares Vietnam corruption, power struggle Cleaning house in the Communist Party of Vietnam ahead of Tet Meet To Lam, Vietnam’s Communist Party chief and successor to Nguyen Phu Trong  Regulatory shortfalls The FLC case matters for three reasons. First, it was only possible because the regulators were in on the fraud. As was the case in Truong My Lan’s massive fraud case at Saigon Commercial Bank, the scheme was abetted by poorly paid regulators.  This once again raises the question “who regulates the regulators?” If Vietnam cannot get a baseline financial regulatory system running, it will negatively impact its domestic capital markets, corporate governance, and deter foreign investment.   While the Ministry of Public Security did a good job in investigating the fraud, as they did with Lan’s Van Thinh Phat (VTP) and Saigon Commercial Bank, it never would have gotten to this point if there was proper regulatory oversight. Second, while Vietnam’s stock market is not that large, it stands as one of the few opportunities for Vietnamese citizens to invest their money.  With a lack of confidence in their currency, Vietnamese tend to buy gold. In fact, in the past half year, the price of gold in Vietnam was trading well above international prices. The government had to auction off some of its gold reserves just to cool the market.  A woman displays gold at a shop in Hanoi, Oct. 11, 2009. (Kham/Reuters) Vietnamese also buy real estate, but that’s not always a safe investment. The domestic real estate market in Vietnam resembles China’s in many ways. Many property firms are saddled with debt and have defaulted, especially on dollar-denominated bonds.  A domestic credit crunch caused by the VTP scandal in late 2022 led to even more defaults and stalled real estate projects. Many Vietnamese were left paying mortgages on unfinished real estate that they could neither inhabit, nor rent.  The third place Vietnamese park their savings is in the stock market. The majority of shares in the Vietnam stock market are owned by individual, not institutional, investors. So when there is widespread fraud, it really hurts the burgeoning middle-class.   Quyet’s fraud was fairly simple, but the effects were widespread: There were nearly 100,000 victims. Although Quyet has paid some $8.3 million in restitution, it’s a drop in the bucket.  Cost to taxpayers Third, the FLC fraud trial has an impact on the larger economy.  The company – which is one of the largest private companies in the country – is still in operation, but barely.  The Ho Chi Minh Stock exchange delisted the company due to the fraud. Trading…

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North Korea to sell gambling rights at vacant 105-floor Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang

Editor06 mins

A North Korean hotel which has been under construction for 37 years has plans to sell the rights to operate a casino on the premises if the operator promises to complete construction of the building’s interiors, a resident of the capital Pyongyang told Radio Free Asia. The 105-floor Ryugyong Hotel began construction in 1987 and at 330 meters (1,080 feet), it is the tallest building in North Korea and the most iconic structure in Pyongyang’s skyline. Though it was supposed to open in 1992, the collapse of the Soviet Union ended the steady stream of aid from Moscow, and the North Korean economy entered a period of crisis that culminated in the 1994-1998 famine, so finishing the hotel became less of a priority. External construction was completed in 2011 and the Ryugyong was supposed to open partially in 2013, but those plans fell through. Though it remains vacant, LEDs have been installed on one side of the building’s facade, converting it into one of the world’s largest displays. It’s currently used to show propaganda signage, visible from much of the city at nighttime. Gamblers play a slot machine in Pyongyang, April 12, 2012. (Pedro Ugarte/AFP) “A plan to install a casino at the Ryugyong Hotel has been reviewed,” a resident of the capital told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “The plan is to try to attract foreign investment.” The review happened after the country’s leader Kim Jong Un ordered that the government take practical measures to promote tourism, according to the resident.  “The authority to determine the location of the casino to be installed at the hotel and the right to operate the casino will be granted to a foreign entrepreneur who invests in the cost of internal construction,” he said.   “This project was approved by the Central Committee after reviewing and discussing the profitability of the casino installed at the Yanggakdo Hotel, also in Pyongyang.” The Yanggakdo is North Korea’s first luxury hotel, opened in 1996. It is perhaps most well known as the site of the 2016 Otto Warmbier banner-stealing incident that led to the U.S. citizen’s detention and eventual conviction and 15-year prison term. Warmbier was repatriated in a vegetative state in June 2017 and died shortly afterward. Authorities hope to capture the success of the foreigners-only casino at the Yanggakdo in the Ryugyong. Light designer Kim Yong Il smiles during an interview with the Associated Press as his creation, the light show displaying propaganda messages on the facade of the pyramid-shaped Ryugyong Hotel, is seen in the background in Pyongyang, North Korea, Dec. 20, 2018. (Dita Alangkara/AP) Casinos in North Korea are very profitable for the government, as they siphon away foreign currency from international tourists,  a resident from the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.  Currently the country has two such casinos, at the Yanggakdo in Pyongyang and the Bipa Hotel in the Rason Special Economic Zone in the northeast near the border with China and Russia. The 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel, the highest building under construction in North Korea, is seen lit up ahead of 70th anniversary of country’s foundation in Pyongyang, September 6, 2018. (Danish Siddiqui/Reuters) “When the casino is built at the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang and the hotel’s accommodations, restaurants, swimming pool, and billiards room are finally completed … tourism in Pyongyang is expected to be revitalized,” the North Pyongan resident said. “This is why overseas investment is desperately needed.”. He said trade representatives would advertise the investment opportunity at a Chinese government-sponsored product exhibition event involving North Korea, China, Russia and Mongolia scheduled to start on Saturday in the Chinese city of Dandong, which lies across the Yalu River from North Korea’s Sinuiju. Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.

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Thousands flee junta raids in central Myanmar

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Myanmar junta forces raided a string of villages in central Myanmar killing three civilians and sending some 10,000 fleeing from their homes after anti-junta insurgents attacked a nearby military base, residents told Radio Free Asia on Friday.  The Sagaing region has been regularly battered by airstrikes and artillery bombardments as junta forces crack down on insurgent groups that have stepped up attacks in the past nine months. On Thursday, about 150 junta soldiers in a convoy of vehicles raided at least nine villages in Kanbalu township, residents said, following an attack on an army camp by members of an anti-junta People’s Defense Force allied with the shadow National Unity Government, which was formed by civilians after the military seized power in a 2021 coup. “After the Kyi Kone Bridge camp was attacked, the army launched an offensive on the villages,” said one resident who declined to be identified in fear of his safety. “The junta troops stationed at Tha Yet Khaung village are burning houses this morning. Revolutionary groups are monitoring the situation,” he said, referring to anti-junta fighters.” Three civilians in Tha Yet Khaung and Tha Pyay Thar villages were killed in junta artillery and drone attacks. Kanbalu district and Ye-U township-based People’s Defense Forces said  they killed 16 soldiers and seized weapons in their attack on the army camp. RFA has not been able to independently verify the claim.  RFA called Nyunt Win Aung, the junta spokesman for the Sagaing region, to request comment on the incident, but he did not answer the phone. RELATED STORIES Junta deploys first round of military recruits to Myanmar’s frontlinesSome 13,700 schools in Myanmar are closed due to civil warMyanmar airstrike on monastery where villagers were sheltering kills 17 activists Sagaing, for years a peaceful heartland region of central Myanmar, inhabited mostly by members of the majority Burman community, has seen unprecedented opposition to the military since the 2021 coup dashed hopes for reform.  In the months that followed, the junta crushed protests against military rule and many activists then took up arms, some linking up with ethnic minority insurgents who have battled for self-determination from remote border lands for decades.  Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn. 

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Lao Christian pastor shot dead in home by masked men

Editor05 mins

A Christian pastor was shot and killed Tuesday evening in his home in northwestern Laos by two men dressed in black suits, according to a relative and provincial police.  Thongkham Philavanh, in his 40s, was a Khmu, an ethnic group in Southeast Asia, the majority of whom live in northern Laos. As a religious leader, he often participated in Christian church activities in Oudomxay province. The pair fired twice at Thongkham at his home in Vanghay village in the province’s Xai district, according to a statement his wife gave to police. She took him to the provincial hospital, but he died upon arrival.  Police said they are investigating the incident and could not provide further details. Assaults and legal action against Christians in the one-party communist state with a mostly Buddhist population are not uncommon, despite a national law protecting the free exercise of their faith. Those who practice Christianity are objects of suspicion by authorities and subject to persecution. RELATED STORIES Lao house church reopens after being attacked     Burned Bibles and broken homes Officials tell Lao Christians to remove videos of attack by authorities, villagers       Lao Christians fearful after police report no progress in pastor’s suspected homicide Christians attacked, driven from their home in southern Laos      Christian communities in Oudomxay province and other parts of Laos told Radio Free Asia on Thursday they were mourning Thongkham’s loss.  “Last night, our community was shattered by the tragic loss of our beloved pastor, who was senselessly taken from us in an act of violence,” some of them wrote in English on Facebook. “His profound wisdom, unwavering faith, and boundless compassion touched the lives of so many.” A relative of the pastor, who didn’t want to be identified for safety reasons, said the two men wore face masks and rode motorcycles, though she didn’t know where they came from. “I am not sure why they killed him, but I believe that it must be because he serves Jesus Christ,” she said. “One thing that I am sure of is that there are some groups of people who dislike what Thongkham does as Christian pastor.” Thongkham’s funeral will be held on July 27 at the village cemetery, his family said. Lao Christian pastor Thongkham Philavanh is seen in photos in a July 23, 2024, Facebook post. (Bong Vip via Facebook) One Christian believer told RFA that it appears as though Thongkham was killed because he was a Christian pastor and religious leader, and that some people may not have liked that. Another believer who knew Thongkham some years ago said he was unhappy to learn about the pastor’s passing via social media. Other Christian communities in Laos expressed concern about the safety of their pastors and members, fearing they too may be killed.  A member of the Lao Evangelical Church said anti-Christian groups in the country seek opportunities to harm Christians. In October 2022, Christian pastor Sy Sengmany was found dead near a forest in Khammouane province after two men visited his house earlier in the day, and village authorities warned him to stop his religious activities. The case remains unsolved. Translated by Phouvong for RFA Lao. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.

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Rights group, senator speak up for dissident fighting extradition from Thailand

Editor04 mins

Pressure built on Thailand Thursday over the detention of a detained Vietnamese dissident fighting extradition back home with one human rights official warning of a stain on the government if it deported him. Y Quynh Bdap, from Vietnam’s Ede minority, was detained on June 11 and is being held in a special prison in Bangkok while a court decides his fate.  In January, Vietnam sentenced the 32-year-old to 10 years in prison in absentia on terrorism charges, accusing him of involvement in 2023 attacks on two public agencies in Dak Lak province in which nine people were killed.  Bdap has been in Thailand since 2018 and denied any involvement in the 2023 attacks. The U.N. refugee agency has recognised him as a “person of concern”. “Put simply, if he is sent back, chances are he dies, disappears, is tortured. That will stain the hands of the Thai government,” Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, told a seminar in Bangkok. The Thai government did not respond to a request for comment from Radio Free Asia. RELATED STORIES Thai court postpones Vietnamese activist’s extradition hearing Rights groups call on Thailand not to extradite Vietnamese activist 10 defendants given life sentences for Dak Lak attacks Sunai said the terrorism charges that Bdap is facing at home did not meet international standards of justice. Referring to a previous military government in Thailand that was intolerant of dissent, he said he questioned the behavior of the civilian administration that replaced it. On July 15, a Bangkok court postponed Bdap’s extradition hearing until Aug. 1, He is also facing an immigration offense related to overstaying his visa. Bdap’s lawyer, Nadthasiri Bergman, told a hearing this month the case reflected intensified transnational repression, through which governments exert their influence across borders to silence dissent. A Thai senator, Angkhana Neelapaijit, told the seminar that Thailand should live up to international standards on human rights, ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention, update its immigration law to take into account enforced disappearance and torture, and insist that all extradition requests from other countries go through its Court of Justice. Thailand and Vietnam have not signed an extradition treaty but regularly exchange each other’s nationals on a reciprocal basis.  Vietnamese officials have not made a public comment on Bdap’s case but Sunai and Bergman said they believed Vietnam was exerting pressure for the extradition case to be resolved in their country’s favor. Edited by Mike Firn.   

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Police in Vietnam fine YouTuber for filming pagodas

Editor02 mins

Police in Vietnam fined a YouTuber 7.5 million dong (US$300) for filming activities at a local pagoda. According to a police announcement, residents in the southern province of Dong Thap reported suspicious filming activities at a pagoda in Cao Lanh city’s Ward 4 on July 5.  The police then summoned Nguyen Binh Dan, born in 1984, to the police station and issued him the fine for “abusing social media to share and post numerous false information, insulting the prestige of organizations/damaging the reputation of organization.”  During the meeting with police, Dan said that he regularly recorded videos of local pagodas and uploaded them to his personal YouTube channel, which has more than 11,000 subscribers. The police said Dan’s videos contained false and religion-dividing content which generated offensive and negative comments. The announcement did not specify any details about the videos or the name of Dan’s YouTube channel. Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong.

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Myanmar flooding destroys 20,000 acres of crops

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Flooding has devastated crops and forced schools to close  in 30 villages across central Myanmar, residents told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday.  The rain-swollen Ayeyarwady River in the Magway region flowed over its banks , destroying 20,000 acres of green beans, peanuts and sesame in the key agricultural region, where most households farm as a  primary means of income, one resident of Kamma township said.  “Flooding this year is very bad,” said the resident, who declined to be identified for fear of reprisals due to the military regime’s crackdown on independent media. “Most of the bean fields are flooded and that’s the primary crop in this area.” Yae Lel Taung village school in Kamma township in Magway region flooded on July 23, 2024.(Facebook: Aung Kyaw Thu)   About 20 schools have been closed, he said, adding that five more townships in Magway are also experiencing rainy-season flooding. Since the beginning of July, flooding has displaced tens of thousands in the region, washed away homes and killed several people, residents and relief workers said. RFA telephoned Magway region’s junta spokesperson, Myo Myint, for comment but he did not respond by the time of publication. RELATED STORIES Myanmar floods displace thousands, destroy hundreds of homesFloods in Myanmar force 10,000 from their homes, many trappedCollapse at notorious Myanmar rare earth mine kills 15 people The rainy season is not due to end until late October but for now, the worst may be over. The junta’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology reported early on Wednesday that water levels had receded below the danger level in Mandalay’s Nyaung-U township, to the north of Magway, and in areas to the south, near the river’s delta including in the towns of Seik Thar, Hinthada and Zalun. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn. 

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North Korea bans hit war movie 5 months after release

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A hit North Korean big budget film that took four years to make and was intended to usher in a new era of high quality movie production has been banned only five months after its release, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia. The blockbuster “72 Hours” tells the story of the opening moments of the 1950-53 Korean War – which it says South Korea started – and it details how the North Korean army captured Seoul in only three days. In reality it was the North that attacked first, but Pyongyang maintains that the first sacking of Seoul during the conflict–it changed hands four times–was part of a counteroffensive. The government has not announced a reason why the film has been mothballed, but a resident of the northwestern province of North Pyongan said on condition of anonymity for safety reasons that it might be because of the government’s recent crackdown on the term “unification,” in line with leader Kim Jong Un’s policy of considering South Korea a separate hostile country, rather than part of the same race of people. She also said it might be because the government is trying to scrub media that has references to South Korean place names. The word “Seoul” is spoken many times in the film, for example. “The movie is about our army advancing south after we were attacked … on June 25, 1950, which makes residents think that it was actually us who lit the fuse of war,” she said.   The resident also said the plot of the film blames military commanders for resting on their laurels after taking the capital, when they should have advanced and taken all of South Korea before it could catch its breath. “Usually, the price of a movie ticket is 1,000 (10 US cents) won, or 3,000 won (30 cents) if it’s new,” she said. “However, ‘72 Hours’ … cost 18,000 won ($1.80)” That amount is an enormous sum, equivalent to about half a month’s salary for the lowest paid government jobs. Related Stories In new movie, the South started the Korean War, as Pyongyang has always claimed North Korea bans more than 100 patriotic songs that refer to reunification Kim Jong Un to revise constitution, label S Korea as ‘primary enemy’ “The authorities suddenly banned the screening of the movie ‘72 Hours’ and issued a policy to retrieve all copies of ‘72 Hours’ that had spread among residents,” she said. “They did not specify the reason for banning it and they just suddenly designated it as prohibited.” Most copies of the film were distributed from person to person on USB flash drives, so the crackdown not only forbids viewings of “72 Hours,” but also distribution, a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “The movie ‘72 Hours,’ which was first released in February this year, attracted a lot of attention from residents from the beginning,” he said. “It is on an entirely different level than previous movies and has been highly anticipated since its production.” It was supposed to be a film that represented the priorities of the Kim Jong Un era, he said. The high ticket price made it a premium film that poorer residents could not afford to see in theaters. “The Party said the movie would not be aired on television until all production costs were recovered. And now, the movie has been banned,” he said. Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.

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North Korea brushes off any hope of better U.S. ties under Trump

Editor04 mins

North Korea dismissed on Tuesday a suggestion by former U.S. President Donald Trump that he could improve relations if he were to win November’s election, saying it did not expect any change in U.S. hostility and it was ready for confrontation. Trump spearheaded an unprecedented diplomatic push on North Korea when he was president in an effort to get it to abandon its nuclear and missile programs. He met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times, including once at the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas. But the effort brought no tangible progress and North Korea has been relentlessly building up its nuclear arsenal and developing the missiles with which to carry the bombs. As Trump prepares for his bid to win the presidency for a second term, he has referred to his efforts on North Korea, implying he could make progress if he returned to the White House.  He said in a speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week: “It’s nice to get along with somebody who has a lot of nuclear weapons.” RELATED STORIES Surprise Trump-Kim DMZ Meeting Wins Applause, But Raises Doubts About Real Progress Rumors of Breakdown in US-North Korea Summit Spread in North Korea Abrupt End to US-North Korean Summit Disappoints Experts, But Some See Prospect of Future Negotiations But the state Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, appeared to rule out in a commentary any hope for warming ties, even if Trump becomes president again. “No matter what administration takes office in the U.S., the political climate, which is confused by the infighting of the two parties, does not change and, accordingly, we do not care about this,” said the news agency, which reflects official thinking. “It is true that Trump, when he was president, tried to reflect the special personal relations between the heads of state but he did not bring about any substantial positive change,” it said. The KCNA said the U.S. had pursued “the most vicious and persistent hostile policy” towards it for decades and it was prepared to defend itself. “The DPRK has bolstered its self-defensive capabilities to safeguard its ideology, social system, dignity and life and is fully ready for all-out confrontation with the U.S.,” it said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.  The U.S. has long argued that North Korea’s nuclear program is illegal and subject to U.N. sanctions aimed at pressing it into disarmament talks, while backing staunch U.S. ally South Korea. Edited by Taejun Kang.

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