Prison guards in Myanmar on Friday shot and killed a political prisoner and wounded more than 60 other people – including eight critically – after inmates protested their beating of the victim a day earlier, Radio Free Asia has learned. The incident at Pathein Prison is the latest in a string of more than 15 […]

Promises of high-paid entertainment jobs lured the three Thai women to Myanmar, but they found themselves trapped into prostitution in Shan state near the Chinese border before they escaped, they said in telling the stories about their ordeal. Sisters A and Aoy, and their friend, Ploy – all in their late 20s – said they […]

  On 30 December, Lao Prime Minster Phankham Viphavanh (72) resigned ostensibly on health grounds, but amidst an economy in sharp decline and saddled in foreign debt. He is succeeded by the scion of one of the country’s two political dynasties, Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (56). Politics in Laos are secretive and elite. The ruling Lao […]

A junta military airstrike on a popular gold prospecting area in Myanmar’s Kachin State killed one man and injured more than 30 other people, some critically, forces loyal to the country’s parallel National Unity Government told RFA. Three fighter jets from Myitkyina Air Force Base opened fire near two villages on the banks of the […]

Fighting between junta troops and Karen National Liberation Army joint forces continued in Kayin State Thursday, a day after the rebel group attacked three military camps in Kyainseikgyi township, according to Liberation Army members and local residents. A Karen National Liberation Army member who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons told RFA the KNLA […]

Myanmar’s military rulers ordered the release of 7,012 inmates, including some political prisoners, in an Independence Day amnesty Wednesday. Detainees held in prisons and police stations across the country had their sentences reduced in accordance with Section 401 of the Penal Code, according to junta news releases received by RFA. Wednesday marks the 75th anniversary of […]