Southeast Asia – Thai stocks cautiously up; Malaysia at 1-week low (The Malaysian Insider)

Thai stocks cautiously up; Malaysia at 1-week low (The Malaysian Insider)
BANGKOK, March 15 Thai stocks ended with slim gains today as banks, expected to benefit from a recovery in the economy, outperformed, but many investors opted to stay away as they waited to see how anti-government protests evolved. The Thai index added 0.2 per cent in a listless session, as thousands of protesters moved to a military base in Bangkok, where Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has …

Thailand: Protests gain momentum as Thai PM refuses to resign (The Christian Science Monitor)
Thailand protests entered their third day Monday, paralyzing parts of Bangkok. Earlier in the day, demonstrators thronged the military base where Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva is staying.

Indonesia urges US to reconsider ban on training (AP via Yahoo! News)
Indonesia urged the U.S. on Monday to consider lifting a ban on working with a commando unit accused of human rights abuses a decade ago, saying the country’s military has undergone significant reform.

Thailand: Protests gain momentum as Thai PM refuses to resign (The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News)
Thailand s prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, rejected calls Monday for his resignation as red-shirted opponents sought to expand their street campaign to unseat his government.

Indonesian president understands Obama’s Indonesia visit delay: official (People’s Daily)
Spokesperson of Indonesian president said Monday that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appreciated the delay of U.S. President Barrack Obama’s visit to Indonesia due to the unsettled discussion on healthcare bill at home, the Detik.com reported. “The president totally understands political situation in the United States which is now focused on the new healthcare bill that President Obama is …

Hun Sen Tells Cambodian Workers Not To Joint Protests In Thailand (Thailandnews.net)
While red-shirt protests are being held in Bangkok aiming to topple the current government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen told all Cambodian workers working in Thailand on Mon…

(AFX UK Focus) 2010-03-15 10:49 SE Asia Stocks-Thai stocks cautiously up; Malaysia at 1-week low (Interactive Investor)
By Viparat Jantraprap

Laos issues warning on travel to Thailand (The Nation – Thailand’s English news)
Vientiane – The Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a travel warning for Thailand, especially to Bangkok where a mass protest was underway this weekend, media reports said Monday.

Thai Parliament Postpones Session Amid Protests (International Herald Tribune)
Protesters continued to occupy the streets in Bangkok, but there were signs that crowds were thinning out.

03/15/2010 17:43 MYANMAR Win Tin s story, 7,000 days in a Burmese prison (AsiaNews.it)
Journalist and co-founder of the National League for Democracy, Win Tin spent 19 years in prison, 12 under isolation. He recently celebrated his 80th birthday. In a book, he says Myanmar is prison. In 1989, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison for anti-government propaganda.

58th anniversary of the Indonesian Army in Jakarta, Indonesia (The Record and Herald News)
Indonesian elite soldiers of Special Forces Commandos (KOPASSUS) sporting their signature red beret march during a parade at a ceremony commemorating the 58th anniversary of the Indonesian Army in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Philippine jailhouse rocks (Malaysian Mirror)
CEBU – From the moment teenager Egan Torrecampo and his fellow prisoners step out of their crowded cells, the maximum-security Philippine jailhouse rocks. Dressed in tangerine jump suits, the roughly 1,500 convicted murderers, rapists and other inmates perform a series of Michael Jackson-inspired dances that have helped boost their morale while also making them Internet sensations. “When we are …

Malaysia ‘detains 93 Myanmar boat people’ (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Malaysian maritime authorities said Sunday they had picked up 93 members of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority who had drifted aboard a boat for 30 days after fleeing their country.

US-Indonesia military deal uncertain ahead of Obama visit (AFP via Yahoo! News)
The United States said Monday it could not predict when it would resume full military ties with Indonesia, as it laid out the details of President Barack Obama’s trip to Jakarta and Bali next week.