Asian Legal Review

Thailand will lose more than half a million Chinese tourists in response to a deadly boating accident that killed nearly 50 people last month, a potential blow to the country’s vital tourism sector.
The Phoenix was carrying 105 people – mostly Chinese – when it sank on the way back from a popular snorkelling spot on July 5 off the southern resort island of Phuket.
It was among three vessels which ignored a bad weather warning against island day trips.
The boat’s captain…

US President Donald Trump has thanked North Korea’s leader for “sending home” the remains of dozens of presumed casualties from the Korean war.
“That you to Chairman Kim Jong-un for keeping your word & starting the process of sending home the remains of our great and beloved missing fallen! I am not at all surprised that you took this kind action. Also, thank you for your nice letter – l look forward to seeing you soon!,” Trump said in a tweet. Thank…

Fears that embankments could burst under fresh rains mounted on Wednesday in flooded southeastern Myanmar, where more than 130,000 people have been forced from their homes and a dozen people killed.
A vast area of farmland across four provinces lies under muddy water with rescue teams trying to reach villages by boat to provide food to those who are unable or refuse to leave their homes.
Above the town of Madauk in Bago region, floodwaters are only inches from the top of vulnerable embankments…

New anti-corruption laws have come into force in Ireland, introducing a raft of new offences and stiff penalties for businesses that fail to comply.

Cambodia’s long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, 65, whose party claimed victory in a general election that many have said was neither free nor fair, met with supporters for the first time since the vote on Wednesday.
The former Khmer Rouge commander, who has ruled Cambodia for nearly 33 years, took “selfies” with supporters and enjoyed a boat ride following Sunday’s election in which his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) said it had won all 125 parliamentary seats,…

A Vietnamese military court in Hanoi on Tuesday sentenced the a military official to 12 years in jail in what was the communist-ruled country’s first trial in its crackdown against corruption.
Dinh Ngoc He, a former colonel known by his nickname “Little Baldy”, was convicted of “abusing power in performance of official duties” and “using fake documents”, the news website of state radio Voice Of Vietnam reported.
“The court said the [nature of the…

A review of UK modern slavery laws has been commissioned by the UK government in a move that could lead to new obligations being imposed on businesses.

More than 500 hikers and their guides have been successfully evacuated from an Indonesian volcano after a deadly earthquake triggered landslides that trapped them on the mountain, officials said Tuesday.
Tonnes of rock and mud were dislodged on Mount Rinjani in the 6.4-magnitude quake, which struck early Sunday and was followed by scores of aftershocks, blocking the hiking routes that criss-cross the mountain.
Some 560 trekkers were originally thought to have been stranded, including citizens…

The Philippines has expressed concern to China over an increasing number of Chinese radio messages warning Philippine aircraft and ships to stay away from newly fortified islands and other territories in the South China Sea claimed by both countries, officials said Monday.
A Philippine government report showed that in the second half of last year alone, Philippine military aircraft received such Chinese radio warnings at least 46 times while patrolling near artificial islands built by China in…

Parties to building contracts are free to agree on how to allocate the risk of concurrent delay to works, the Court of Appeal ruled on Monday.