Showing 1 - 10 of 12
Green rush
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 20/01/2020
» Attitudes toward marijuana are starting to change in Southeast Asia. In some countries there is increasing social acceptance, growing research interest, easing of regulations and even modest legalisation, with Thailand leading the way.
Meth menace
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 18/11/2019
» Boshe, a community of 14,000 in Guangdong province in southern China, was once known as the "Breaking Bad Village" because it supplied one-third of the methamphetamine consumed in the country.
The scourge of human trafficking
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 28/10/2019
» The case of 39 people, most Vietnamese, found dead in a refrigerated trailer in Britain highlighted the fact that human trafficking and modern slavery are still a huge problem for Asia, and the entire world for that matter.
End game for malaria
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 17/06/2019
» Malaria is one of the deadliest infectious diseases known to humankind, killing around 400,000 people every year. And while great strides have been made in recent years in prevention and treatment, especially in Asia, eliminating the disease entirely remains a major challenge.
Duterte can run but he can't hide
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 25/03/2019
» Last week the Philippines became the second country in the world to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) after Burundi, which left in 2017. Many observers, myself included, see this as an attempt to evade an investigation into President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly war on drugs, but it is not going to work.
Making musical waves
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 25/02/2019
» Many people associate a cruise holiday with being in a floating hotel, with buffet lines and various forms of entertainment and recreation, plus the obligatory port calls for shopping. As for the passengers … well, grey is the dominant hair colour.
Hope for refugee children
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 28/01/2019
» The cause of children's rights got a lift last week when immigration police in Thailand announced that they would stop holding migrant and refugee children in the country's crowded immigration detention facilities.
Dying and dignity
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 21/01/2019
» In rapidly ageing Asian countries, a growing number of people are starting to worry about what their old age will be like. Medical advances may make it possible for us to live to 100, but what if the last decades of life are filled with infirmity, pain and suffering?
Loved to death
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 22/10/2018
» In March, Thai authorities ordered the temporary closure of Maya Bay on Phi Phi Leh Island for the first time since 1999 to halt the environmental damage caused by too many tourists. A month later the Philippine island of Boracay, one of the world's most famous beach destinations, was closed for the same reason.
Childhood's end
Asia focus, Erich Parpart, Published on 23/07/2018
» More than 1.2 billion children, or 53% of young people worldwide, are at risk of being robbed of their childhoods by poverty, conflicts and discrimination against girls, according to Save the Children.