Located in southeastern Burma by the Andaman Sea, Dawei, or Tavoy, is set to be a strategic channel for connecting with trade partners around the South China Sea.

Plans for the Dawei special economic zone have inched ahead after the Burmese government agreed to borrow 4.5 billion baht ($128 million) from Thailand to finance the construction of a road from Dawei’s proposed deep­-sea port to Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province.

Thai firm Italian­Thai Development Plc (ITD) says it is ready to restart construction of the long­delayed Dawei deep­sea port and special economic zone over the next few months if the Thai and Burmese governments approve continuation of the megaproject at a joint meeting on 10 February.

A man and his daughter died from severe food poisoning after eating the puffer fish that his son had caught earlier in the day. Four others were hospitalised.

Plans are afoot to revitalise the role of two committees that aim to rev up the multibillion-dollar project.

Aung San Suu Kyi should think again if she believes that going ahead with the Dawei Special Economic Zone project is a good way to create jobs in Burma.