- Despite many misstatements by government and criticism from many quarters, there have been some developments in the investigation of the Bangkok blast. Police arrested one man (and gave themselves the reward money) and have released photos of several other suspects. Two of the suspects, including the yellow-shirted man seen in CCTV footage, are believed to have fled to Cambodia.
- Anthony Davis, analyst with Jane’s Intelligence, provided his convincing theory of events and motives of the attack.
- ISEAS’ Le Hong Hiep explored the new dynamics of the Vietnam-US-China Triangle.
- Vietnam will release over 18,000 prisoners in amnesty but no activists.
- China’s Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig will continue drilling near the Vietnamese coast until October, according to officials.
- The Cambodian government has begun relocating thousands of villagers to make way for the unpopular and little discussed Lower Sesan 2 dam (Thanks, Milton). And there’s also this excellent account by Brian Eyler on the 990MW Wunonglong dam on the Upper Mekong, which could impact heavily downstream.
- The NYT's Thomas Fuller questioned whether the tide is turning on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a democracy icon.
- Myanmar set its highly disputed minimum wage at 3,600 kyat (US$2.80).
- Over at New Mandala, Gerhard Hoffstaedter offered an excellent photo essay from inside the weekend’s huge Bersih 4.0 (‘clean’ in Malay) rally which shut down Kuala Lumpur and called for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib.
- Tens of thousands turned out for the Bersih 4.0 rally:
Southeast Asia links: Bangkok blast, Vietnam triangle, Cambodia dams, Myanmar's minimum wage, Bersih 4.0 and more
Published 1 Sep 2015
Follow @elliotbrennan