#Vietnam - Explore Ha Long, the land of 'descending dragons'

Tour guide Pham Huy Trung's photographs offer a glimpse of the unique charm of Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO natural heritage site in northern Vietnam. 

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At around 3 a.m. fishing boats gather at a wharf in Ha Long Bay, adjacent to Hon Gai seafood market, after a long night out at sea. The wholesale market is open from early morning until 10 a.m., but its busiest time is between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. when traders rush to buy the freshest fish.

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Rocky islets amid mist at 6:30 a.m.

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 The bay in Ha Long, which literally means "descending dragons," was formed by millions of years of geological activity, which created thousands of islets. It became a fixture on the world tourism map after being recognized as a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1994.

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.A boat on the emerald green waters surrounded by limestone karst.

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 While hordes of people come to explore the majestic beauty of the bay, not many know about the legend and mystery associated with it.

Legend has it that in the earliest days of the nation Vietnamese had to fight off hostile invaders attempting to enter through the sea. The Jade Emperor sent the Mother Dragon and her children to help the Vietnamese defeat their enemies.

The mother dragon and her children incinerated the enemies with their fire and emeralds, which scattered around the sea, creating an impassable barrier which sank the enemy’s battle fleet. Finally the invaders were repelled, and peace returned to the country. When the battle ended, the dragons did not return to heaven and instead decided to stay there.

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 Besides luxury cruise ships, visitors can see the image of fishermen sailing on small boats to earn a daily living in Ha Long. Tour boats often stop at floating houses for visitors to get a glimpse of how the fishermen live. 

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Most of the islets in Ha Long Bay are uninhabited; many of them are inaccessible to human visitors due to their sheer limestone cliffs.

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British travel magazine Rough Guides last month listed Ha Long Bay as one of the 100 most beautiful places to visit next year.

In the "The Rough Guides to the 100 Best Places on Earth," it describes "the scattering of limestone pinnacles jutting out of the smooth waters of Ha Long Bay," around four hours east of Hanoi, as an "incredible sight."

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 An overnight cruise trip has been recommended as a "must-try" travel experience in Asia by  the U.S. news site Business Insider.

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Source - VN EXPRESS

16 Myanmar workers rescued from Malaysian fishing boat

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Sixteen Myanmar migrant workers, including three minors under 18 years old, who were allegedly ‘sold’ to a Malaysia fishing boat in southern Thailand were rescued by Thai officials on July 13, according to a Thai-based migrant rights groups.

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 “We were asked to rescue migrants on July 8, and we spent about four days collecting information about the victims and their location. After that we asked Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation to help rescue the victims,” said U Kyaw Thaung, director of the Myanmar Association in Thailand (MAT), on Monday.

He said that initially 13 Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand were sold by a broker to the Malaysian fishing boat that had docked with fake documents at Naya Thiwa Port, Pattani province, in Thailand.

U Kyaw Thaung said each worker had paid 17,000 baht to the broker to find jobs in Indonesia, but the broker sold them to the fishing boat instead.

“When we asked the DSI to help save our workers, it asked for a recommendation letter from the Myanmar Embassy. They rescued our migrants on July 13 when we provided the recommendation letter,” Ko Shwe Tun Aye, chair of Migrant Workers’ Network in Phuket, said Monday.

He said the workers were rescued with the help of the Thai army.

According to MAT, they also rescued other Myanmar migrants, one aged 14 and two aged 17, who had been sold by another broker to the fishing boat on the day the rescue team reached them.

According to U Kyaw Thaung, the 16 Myanmar workers were to be sent to a fishing vessel in Indonesia. Fifteen of the victims are from Rakhine State and one is from Bago Region.

All the rescued victims are being held at a detention center, and Thai officials are planning to arrest the brokers for human trafficking.

Source - mmtimes

Thai tuna maker says slave labour report a "wake-up call"

The world's largest canned tuna maker Thai Union Group said any migrant labour abuse in the seafood industry was unacceptable following a report by the Associated Press.

The report found that shrimp processed in plants using forced and child labor in Thailand was  products sold in the US, Europe and Asia.

One of those plants allegedly supplied a subsidiary of Thai Union, AP reported.

Many workers have been tricked or sold to factories where they are forced to work long hours for little or no pay, the agency said.

US politicians have called for a boycott of the products, while Greenpeace called on the company and the Thai seafood sector to do more on the issue.

"Any illegal or unethical labour practices are unacceptable to Thai Union," Thai Union's chief executive Thiraphong Chansiri said.

"This is yet another wake up call not only to us, but to the entire industry."

The news comes as Thailand faces pressure from the European Union to clean up in another problem area in the industry - illegal fishing - or face a trade ban.

Thai Union's subsidiary Okeanus had terminated its relationship with a supplier it suspected of breaking its code of conduct, the company said in the statement.

Thai Union, which counts Wal-Mart and Costco Wholesale among buyers, said last week it had decided to stop working with external shrimp processing plants.

It would bring those operations in-house from Jan. 1, because it was difficult to guarantee external suppliers were following its rules, Thai Union said. The company would offer jobs to a thousand of the workers from those external processing plants.

Greenpeace called on the Thai Union to do more.

"The inaction by the entire industry and shiny PR moves are no longer acceptable," Greenpeace US oceans campaign director John Hocevar said.

"It is time for Thai Union and its buyers to audit and clean up every single link in their seafood supply chains - not just the one implicated in the latest of many investigations."

Thailand, the world's third-largest seafood exporter, was given six months by the European Union in April to address issues that had allowed fish caught illegally to enter the supply chain.

The US State Department said in a report this year on human trafficking that some Thai and migrant workers were subjected to forced labour on Thai fishing boats.

Story: Reuters

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