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Thailand Crackdown on Migrant Workers who Missed Deadline
March 10, 2010: Thai authorities have begun to round up migrant workers who failed to file for national verification papers by the March 2 deadline.
850,000 migrants register in Thailand
March 7, 2010: Around 850,000 migrant workers in Thailand have met a deadline to start a registration process, the labour ministry said Thursday, as rights groups made renewed calls for a halt to the policy.
Eight Myanmar police officials killed on drug patrol
March 6, 2010: Yangon, Myanmar troops confiscated grenades and other weapons from a border hide-out used by suspected drug traffickers after an earlier shootout killed 13 policemen and members of their patrol, state media reported today.
Thai government wary of migrants joining red shirt protests
March 5, 2010: Chiang Mai, The government of Thailand will increase restrictions on the movement of migrant workers from neighbouring countries, apprehending they may join the ensuing major political demonstration in the country by the red shirts.
Exim Bank reassesses loan to Burma
March 5, 2010: The Export-Import Bank of Thailand will open talks with the government on whether its four billion baht low inteerst loan to the Burmese government should be reviewed, Deputy Finance Minister Pruektichai Damrongrut says.
Mahachai Migrants Eye Passports
March 3, 2010: MAHACHAI, Thailand—A dozen migrant workers sit around chatting openly in Burmese outside the National Verification (NV) office in Mahachai near Bangkok.
Drugs Seized, Smuggler Killed in Clash with Thai Army
March 2, 2010: Thai army soldiers patrolling the Thai-Burmese border seized 650,000 amphetamine pills in a clash with drug traffickers in which one smuggler was killed.
Burmese Official Urges Migrants in Mahachai to Register
February 27, 2010: BANGKOK, Burmese Home Minister Maung Oo told Burmese migrant workers in Thailand today that they should register under the Nationality Verification program and apply for temporary passports so they can remain in the country legally.
Troops face probe over child killings
February 28, 2010: Local media reported that police are sending a case of "manslaughter in the line of duty" to prosecutors to consider.
Burmese, Thai Officials Discuss How to Combat Drugs Trade
February 23, 2010: Burmese police and Thai authorities discussed on Monday how to cooperate effectively in combating the drugs trade in the Golden Triangle area, following an attack by traffickers that killed at least 10 Burmese police officers.
Exports push lube sales
February 19, 2010: Exports to China and Burma are expected to lift PTT's sales of lubricant products by 50% this year, says Rachadech Khemthong, a vice-president of the country's biggest oil company.
Former Foreign Minister Reviews Thai-Burmese Relations
February 10, 2010: BANGKOK, Former Thai foreign minister Dr Surakiart Sathirathai said that Thailand's relations with Burma have deteriorated since the 2006 military coup and the current government has been “putting more pressure on the Government of Myanmar [Burma],” with the number of high-level meetings much reduced from the pre-coup era.
UN migrants’ expert alarmed over Thailand’s deportation policy
February 20, 2010: Chiang Mai, The Thai government’s policy that threatens massive deportation of millions of migrant workers from Thailand has alarmed the UN expert on human rights of migrants.
27,000 Burmese pass ID process
February 17, 2010: DOE chief Jeerasak Sukhonthachat said that some 200,000 Burmese workers applied for the process but only 26,902 completed it.
Thai Cabinet to Reconsider Migrants' Work Permits
February 18, 2010: Nearly 60,000 Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, whose migrant registration cards are due to expire on Jan 20, could be deported if they do not get work permits within the next few days or if the Thai government does not quickly change its policy to allow them to stay, according to leading rights groups in Thailand.
In Thailand, Bringing Justice to Burmese Refugees
January 4, 2010: For a long time, Saymeh* lived in terror. Every evening, her husband would come home to their thatched stilt house in a camp for Burmese refugees in western Thailand, drunk and angry. The beatings and rapes that ensued would sometimes last for hours.
Thai cabinet permits PTT to purchase gas from Zawtika
December 30, 2009: Chiang Mai, The Thai cabinet has permitted the country's largest state-owned energy provider, PTT to sign a new gas deal in the Zawtika Field in the Gulf of Martaban of Burma.
PTT can sign natural-gas MoU with Burma
December 28, 2009: The PTT Group has received permission to sign a memorandum of understanding to purchase natural gas from Burma's Zotica Block, as part of Thailand's natural-gas supply plan.
Trade in Mae Sot–Myawaddy border up 27 per cent
December 28, 2009: Chiang Mai, Border trading in Mae Sot–Myawaddy has increased 27 per cent from 2008 totalling more than 24 billion baht (724 million US$) in 2009.
Thai natural gas demand seen at 5.14 bln cfd in 2015
December 28, 2009: Bangkok, Thailand's natural gas demand is expected to reach 5.14 billion cubic feet per day (cfd) in 2015 due to rising demand from the industrial and transportation sectors, Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul said on Monday.