Thailand

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi this month will give courtroom testimony for the first time in one of the several cases against her since the military took power in February, her lawyers said Tuesday.

She and two co-defendants charged with incitement will testify in their own defense but will not call any other witnesses, said lawyer Khin Maung Zaw. Suu Kyi’s testimony is scheduled to begin Oct. 26.

BANGKOK, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's central bank on Wednesday maintained its key interest rate at a low level again amid efforts to promote economic recovery.

The Bank of Thailand Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held the policy rate unchanged at 0.5 percent, for the 11th straight meeting and since May 2020, citing high uncertainties of the economic outlook.

The MPC maintained its growth forecast for the economy at 0.7 percent this year, but raised that for 2022 to 3.9 percent from the projection of 3.7 percent it made in August.

BANGKOK (AP) — In his speech last week to open the U.N. General Assembly, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres bracketed Myanmar with Afghanistan and Ethiopia as nations where “peace and stability remain a distant dream.”

He declared unwavering support for the people of the turbulent, military-ruled Southeast Asia state “in their pursuit of democracy, peace, human rights and the rule of law.”

BANGKOK (AP) — With increasingly strong talk in support of Taiwan, a new deal to supply Australia with nuclear submarines, and the launch of a European strategy for greater engagement in the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. and its allies are becoming growingly assertive in their approach toward a rising China.

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s detained former leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was unable to attend a scheduled court hearing Monday because she felt ill, her lawyers said.

Suu Kyi is being tried in the capital Naypyitaw on charges of sedition — defined as spreading information that could cause public alarm or unrest — as well as two counts of flouting COVID-19 pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign, illegally importing walkie-talkies that were for her bodyguards’ use and the unlicensed use of the radios.

BANGKOK, Sept 11 (NNN-TNA) – Thailand today reported 15,191 new COVID-19 cases and 253 more fatalities, according to the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

The new cases brought the country’s total number of infections to top 1.36 million, while that of fatalities to 14,173, since the pandemic began, according to the CCSA, the country’s COVID-19 task force.

BANGKOK (AP) — The main underground group coordinating resistance to Myanmar’s military government called for a nationwide uprising on Tuesday.

The National Unity Government views itself as a shadow government composed of elected legislators who were barred from taking their seats when the military seized power in February.

The group’s acting president Duwa Lashi La called for revolt “in every village, town and city in the entire country at the same time” and declared what he called a ”state of emergency.” A video of his speech was posted on Facebook.

BANGKOK (AP) — For two months, carpenter Tun Nye hasn’t been able to send any money home to his parents in Myanmar to help them care for his 11-year-old son, after authorities in Thailand shut down his construction site over coronavirus concerns.

No work has meant no income for him or his wife, who have been confined to one of more than 600 workers’ camps dotted around Bangkok, living in small room in a ramshackle building with boards and blankets to cover missing windows.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha won votes of confidence in Parliament on Saturday, helping to steady his government after it had come under intense criticism for bungling its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Prayuth still faces pressure from street protests that have been demanding he step down. Pro-democracy activists opposing his policies have been seeking his resignation since last year and stepped up their efforts in recent weeks.

BANGKOK, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Thailand logged 14,653 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the fourth consecutive day of infections below 15,000, data from the country's Center for COVID-19 Administration (CCSA) showed.

With the new infections, the number of cumulative cases in Thailand rose to 1,249,140, of which over 97 percent recorded since April 1, when the third wave quickly spread across the country.