https://www.scmp.com/rss/330885/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Growing up, cassava farmer Nittaya Muangklang did not think she would ever become an activist – let alone that she would lead a group of land rights defenders in the first-ever bid to challenge Thailand’s government and its “take back the forests” policy at the Supreme Court. “We did encroach on the national park, but as poor farmers, we should be eligible for exemption,” said Muangklang, who is fighting eviction, imprisonment and fines. Faced with what farmers and rights groups perceive as... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3048456/thailands-female-land-rights-defenders-activism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3048456/thailands-female-land-rights-defenders-activism?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Feb 2020 04:00:10 +0000 In 2011, Mai took out a loan of US$6,300 – more than 10 times her annual salary at a factory producing chips for Samsung phones in northern Vietnam. For that money, a broker found her a job at an electronics factory in Taichung in central Taiwan. She left behind her two sons and husband, a farmer nearly blind in one eye, because the broker told her that with overtime she could earn US$1,000 per month. But no one told her about all the fees, taxes and living costs she would face; that she would... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3004895/how-greedy-brokers-force-thousands-vietnamese-workers-seek?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3004895/how-greedy-brokers-force-thousands-vietnamese-workers-seek?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Apr 2019 01:00:04 +0000 Myra Tran was just 16 years old when she became a household name in Vietnam for her voice. Now three years later and thousands of miles away from her home country, she has her sights set on the world’s biggest singing competition: American Idol. The 19-year-old, who moved to Seattle in October 2017, brought American Idol judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan to their feet on March 3 with her rendition of former competition finalist Jennifer Hudson’s song One Night Only. “After giving... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2189249/how-myra-trans-voice-carried-vietnams-mekong-delta-american-idol?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2189249/how-myra-trans-voice-carried-vietnams-mekong-delta-american-idol?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Mar 2019 10:04:46 +0000 “I wish the roads were this clean every day,” said taxi driver Vu Ngoc Anh on the way from Hanoi’s airport into the city, taking the same route that United States President Donald Trump took upon his arrival on Tuesday. Vu had hoped for peace and a successful summit, but he said he didn’t like reading up too much into world politics. “There’s no point,” he said, implying he was more concerned about bread-and-butter issues. It’s a common viewpoint in Vietnam’s capital. Though Trump’s second... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2188079/who-says-theres-no-agreement-hanoi-trump-and-kim-made-little?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2188079/who-says-theres-no-agreement-hanoi-trump-and-kim-made-little?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Mar 2019 01:34:05 +0000 Pham Thi Anh Tuyet hopes to become the first Vietnamese chef to serve North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un in her own restaurant in Hanoi, on the sidelines of his second summit with United States President Donald Trump. The celebrated chef, who runs her namesake eatery Anh Tuyet Restaurant in the city’s old quarter, has had no indication of whether Kim might visit – she is among the other hopefuls who have made preparations for potential VIP guests as talks take place in the capital this... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/2187786/trump-kim-summit-2019-hanoi-puts-its-best-food-forward?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/2187786/trump-kim-summit-2019-hanoi-puts-its-best-food-forward?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Feb 2019 01:32:05 +0000 When Vo Van Dai started working at Vietnam’s Van Phan Dien Chau fish sauce company in the late 1980s, the state-run firm comprised five departments overseen by 18 managers. By the time he rose up the ranks to take charge of the company after its privatisation in 2000, the Nghe An province-based firm had slashed management by two-thirds. During the same time, revenues exploded tenfold to over 20 billion dong (US$860,000) and the regular workforce more than doubled to 180 employees. “In the past,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/2186206/can-north-korea-copy-vietnams-economic-miracle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/2186206/can-north-korea-copy-vietnams-economic-miracle?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Feb 2019 23:31:51 +0000