The South Korean Embassy on May 9 declined to get involved in a dispute between a group of residents and a company which wants to clear forest near their homes. Activists from Prey Lang Community Network went to the embassy at Koh Pich to deliver a petition ...

Activists on September 28 released a 30-minute documentary as part of a campaign against a mega-dam in central Shan State. The documentary, called Drowning a Thousand Islands, includes local people from the remote Kunhing area voicing their concerns that the proposed Mong Ton hydropower project will irrevocably ...

Vietnam is the ninth safest place in the Asia-Pacific to get through Covid-19, a study released by Hong Kong’s Deep Knowledge Group says. It scored 594.91 to become one of only three Southeast Asian nations to make the top 10 along with Singapore and Thailand, the ...

The Shenzhen Urban Planning and Design Institute has been commissioned to undertake a masterplan to transform Sihanoukville into a modern sprawling metropolis, using the Shenzhen experience as its secret recipe. The institute is a planning, consulting, research and design agency that focuses on creating and pragmatically ...

As heavy rains brought by tropical storm “Rai” persisted over the upper part of Thailand on September 15, many homes and tracts of farmland in downstream provinces were flooded by runoff. Phitsanulok ordered all scenic waterfalls linked to the Wang Thong River to be closed to ...

Despite a ban on the export of timber to Vietnam and the creation of a much-publicised anti-logging task force, Cambodia last year still exported nearly $33 million dollars’ worth of unprocessed logs to its eastern neighbour, a volume more than double that of 2015, according ...

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has  ordered the Vietnam Environment Administration to collaborate with Hau Giang province to investigate media reports about environmental pollution caused by Vietnam Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Limited after its waste treatment plant developed problems. Media reports this week ...

An official delegation led by the head of the nation’s illegal logging task force found hundreds of felled trees inside protected forest areas in Pursat province on February 14, officials said. National Military Police chief General Sao Sokha, who heads the task force, and more ...

Opposition lawmakers Nhay Chamroeun and Kong Sakphea were viciously beaten and left seriously injured on 26 October morning as a protest outside the National Assembly against Cambodia National Rescue Party deputy leader Kem Sokha descended into violence. The ruling Cambodian People’s Party denied any involvement in organising ...

Millions of textile & garment and footwear workers could be replaced with robots in the future. Robots are already being used at the 20-hectare Vinamilk actory in Binh Duong province. There are 19 robots and several workers. Everything runs on an automation process. Some robots carry ...

In the ‘crisis’ involving the displaced Rohingya people in Southeast Asia, the preferred institutional label is “irregular migrants.” It is a term which implies that migration is well-regulated, which is not the case in South East Asia.  The ‘labeling’ or construction of identities of social groups ...

With the recent enactment of the investment law and lifting of sanctions, Myanmar has become friendlier to foreign investment, particularly in infrastructure, transport and energy, according to its state investment agency. The Myanmar Investment Law was passed on Oct. 18 by combining the country’s foreign ...

Hundreds of children work in Cambodian brick factories, according to a survey by labor groups. A government spokesman denied the report’s findings. The Labor Ministry last year launched a campaign to end child labor in brick kilns and announced it would crack down on brick kiln ...

District 12 alone has 18 canals that need to be improved with needed investment capital of VND817 billion. Millions of people living along black canals in the suburbs of HCM City were happy to hear about the good news that city authorities will spend big money ...

The central province of Quảng Nam should become a rapid, sustainable and comprehensive development model, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc told the province’s leaders in a meeting on September 28 in Hà Nội. The PM asked the province to work with neighbouring Đà Nẵng City and Quảng ...

The US plan to invest over 20 million USD to support Mekong countries in clean energy transition, environmental protection, and regional interconnection was made at the end of the Bangkok APEC meeting. In the eyes of civil societies along the riverbank, the final picture still ...

The slow growth of the agricultural sector starting in 2015, shortcomings of small-scale production, poor quality and productivity amid fiercer global competition are threatening the sustainability of farming in Việt Nam and demanding institutional and mechanism changes. These concerns were shared among participants of the ...

A court in Insein Prison last week indicted freelance journalist Soe Yarzar Tun under Section 52a of the Counter-Terrorism Law, which carries a prison sentence of up to seven years, lawyers have told Myanmar Now.  The reporter was detained in Bago Region’s Thone Sel Township on ...

Foreign investors are parking money in Thai assets in the short run because they see the baht as a safe haven backed by solid Foreign reserves amid global market fluctuation, the central bank chief says. But the Bank of Thailand has instruments up its sleeve ...

The volume of freshwater on canals in the Mekong Delta has decreased quickly, while saline intrusion has begun in many areas. Kien Giang has 200 kilometers of coastline. The sea is only several kilometers from production areas and the province’s central areas such as Rach Gia ...