25/06/2025

WEDNESDAY | JUNE 25, 2025

7

Border checkpoint confusion ARANYAPRATHET: Dozens of tourists and workers, some carrying children, were left stranded into Thailand for trade, found themselves stuck at the checkpoint, unable to return home. o Thailand shuts land crossings with Cambodia Travelling with his wife, brother, two-year-old daughter and a one month-old baby, he was seen changing his infant son’s nappy on a bench near the checkpoint. “I was warned away by the police .. I’m very concerned,” he said. Thailand and Cambodia are at odds over several small sections of their border in a row that dates back to the drawing of the 800km frontier in the early 20th century during the French occupation of Indochina.

41 go on trial in US$45m corruption case HANOI: A US$45 million (RM191 million) corruption trial against 41 people including state officials began in Vietnam yesterday, part of a wide ranging anti-graft drive. The so-called “burning furnace” campaign against corruption has swept up dozens of senior government figures, including two presidents and three deputy prime ministers as well as top business leaders. In the latest case, a court in Hanoi began proceedings against 30 former officials of northern Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho and central Quang Ngai provinces. Eleven others – businesspeople and company employees – are also accused of involvement in corruption that prosecutors say caused damage to the state worth more than US$44.6 million. They are accused of offences including bribery, abuse of power, and violating laws on bidding and accounting. Prosecutors say that between 2010 and 2024, chairman of the Phuc Son Group, Nguyen Van Hau, spent over US$5 million bribing officials to win contracts in 14 infrastructure projects in the three provinces. Hau brought suitcases of cash to the offices or private residences of the officials for the bribes, prosecutors say. Former party chief of Vinh Phuc province Hoang Thi Thuy Lan received the biggest bribes from Hau, totalling almost US$2 million – in suitcases weighing up to 60kg. In April, Vietnam jailed a former deputy minister of industry and trade for six years after finding him guilty of “abuse of power” in a solar energy development plan. Hoang Quoc Vuong, 62, had admitted to taking a US$57,600 bribe to favour solar power plants in southern Ninh Thuan province, but his family had paid the amount back before the sentencing. – AFP Indonesia races to rescue Brazilian hiker JAKARTA: Emergency responders were struggling to find a Brazilian woman who fell off a cliff while hiking around the country’s second highest volcano at the weekend as rescue efforts entered a fourth day. Juliana Marins, 27, was walking with five friends on Mount Rinjani on Saturday when she slipped and fell off a cliff on the side of the 3,726m mountain, said head of local rescuers Muhammad Hariyadi. Located in West Nusa Tenggara province, the active volcano is a popular tourist site. Marins fell off a cliff on the mountain, but not into the volcano crater, Hariyadi said. “We are going down ... It is very steep so very difficult for us to reach her,” Hariyadi said, stressing that the soft sand in the area made it difficult to retrieve her using ropes, and that a helicopter was on its way to the site. He said Marins, who was located on Saturday, was slipping further on the sandy terrain of the cliff face. She was at a depth of 150m when first discovered, but had slipped to 500m by Monday morning, he added. “There was also thick fog that made it even more difficult.” – Reuters

Violence sparked by the dispute has led to at least 28 deaths in the region since 2008, but the issue had died down in recent years until last month’s flare-up. Peace-seeking talks stalled, and Cambodia has banned imports of fuel and oil from Thailand, as well as Thai fruit and vegetables. The row has also gravely wounded Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is facing calls to quit over a leaked phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen which saw her accused of appeasing Phnom Penh and undermining her own military. Thai border police said it was unclear when the crossing would reopen, adding that officers on the ground were following orders with limited information. – AFP

“I wanted to go back last night but had to sleep at my shop instead because police didn’t allow me to cross,” said Malin Po, 38, a clothing seller. “I usually cross every day because I come to work in Thailand and go back home to Cambodia.” She said no one had explained why the checkpoint was closed, leaving many frustrated. Riot police were stationed near the crossing point, a grand archway sealed shut with yellow railings, as people trudged back towards the Thai side after being turned away. Chanta Wo, 32, a Cambodian carpenter based in Sa Kaeo, said he was trying to cross the border after learning that his 73-year-old mother-in-law had just died.

As well as Cambodian workers, a handful of tourists hoping to cross the border also found themselves stuck. Matteo Toso, 34, from Turin, Italy, said he was backpacking across Asia and had spent two months starting from Nepal before attempting to cross into Cambodia. “I might have to go back to Bangkok and take a plane to Cambodia but of course that’s more expensive,” he said. He said he was concerned that tensions between Thailand and Cambodia could impact Thailand’s tourism in the long run. “I haven’t seen many tourists, but it’s the low season,” he said. “During the high season, this could be bad for the country.”

yesterday at Thailand’s main land crossing with Cambodia, after the army stopped almost all border traffic in an escalating territorial dispute. Thailand has closed crossing points in all seven border provinces to everyone except students and those seeking medical treatment, after a long-running row erupted into military clashes last month in which a Cambodian soldier was killed. There was confusion at the Ban Khlong Luek checkpoint in Sa Kaeo province – the main crossing for people travelling overland to Cambodia’s Siem Reap, where the Angkor Wat complex is located. Around 50 Cambodian workers, mostly vendors who regularly cross

A Cambodian military personnel (green uniform) escorts Cambodian students as they are allowed to cross to the Thai side at the closed Ban Khlong Luek checkpoint in Aranyaprathet yesterday. – AFPPIC

Turmoil impacting global growth, says WEF head TIANJIN: The world is facing the “most complex”geopolitical situation seen in decades, the head of the World Economic Forum (WEF) said yesterday, warning that turmoil was “impacting global growth”. Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is among officials attending this week’s WEF meeting in the port city of Tianjin, known colloquially as the “Summer Davos”. Brende said it was still too “That is a new chapter ... especially since trade was the engine of growth.” Brende also warned

something that is important,” Brende said. Beijing is looking to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence as potential sources of future growth. “In the past, trade was the driver of growth, but you cannot exclude that new technologies including AI can ... maybe replace the important role that trade had.” While trade will remain “very important”, he said, disruptive technologies can provide the productivity boost needed to“avoid a decade of sluggish growth”. – AFP

mounting conflict could have a “very negative impact” on global growth. “China really does matter,” Brende said,

“It is the most complex geopolitical and geo-economic backdrop we’ve seen in decades,” WEF president and CEO Borge Brende (pic) said ahead of a meeting of the forum in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin. “If we are not able to revive growth again, we can unfortunately see a decade of lower growth.”

soon to predict the impact of United States’ swinging tariffs. It is “too early to say what these tariffs will end with because the negotiations are still ongoing,” he said. “I think the jury is still out, but the traditional globalisation we saw is now changed into a different system.

adding he expects the country to account for almost 30% of global growth this year. “China is pivoting its economy more towards digital trade, towards services and also now opening up for increasing domestic consumption –