Disasters and emergency response
Disasters
Mega irrigation system to help Mekong Delta tackle drought, salinity
One of the two parts of a mega irrigation system in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta will start operation next month in Kien Giang Province. Construction of the system worth VND3.3 trillion ($142.17 million) started in November 2019, with two parts on the Cai Lon and Cai ...
Cuu Long
A year with historical drought
Looking back over the past year, we cannot help but be surprised when the agricultural sector successfully overcame the most saltwater intrusion and drought event in history in the Mekong Delta with a group of solutions. This result was seriously evaluated at the conference on implementing ...
Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper
Govt eyes more cash handouts
The government is considering giving financial assistance to people affected by the latest outbreak of Covid-19, government sources revealed on Monday. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday met for talks with Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow and Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith at Government House. Also present were ...
CHATRUDEE THEPARAT
Year in review: The winners and losers of 2020
As 2021 begins — not soon enough for most of us — we take one last look at the year that was. For Thailand, 2020 was a year of turmoil, disruption and contrasts. Simmering discontent boiled over for some in the form of protests, and the ...
CURTIS S CHIN & JOSE B COLLAZO
OPINON: Under cover of COVID, new laws in Asia threaten environmental and social protections
In addition to its devastating toll on public health, COVID-19 has exacerbated global food insecurity and economic crises. These costs have been particularly acute for Indigenous Peoples and local communities on customarily governed territories and lands. Yet some of the worst impacts have originated not from the crisis, but from ...
Kundan Kumar
Mekong Levels Reportedly Plummet Due to Chinese Dam Activity
Water levels on the Mekong River have fallen due to the filling of a Chinese dam on the upper reaches of the river in Yunnan province, according to locals and river monitors. The fall was reported on January 4, when locals in the Thai port town ...
Sebastian Strangio
Epidemic Reconstruction Reveals Gambling and Trafficking of Migrant Workers are Major Sources of Ongoing COVID-19 Spread
As many as 45 provinces have been infected by the infection cluster first exploding among migrant workers communities in Samut Sakhon, while several more have been added to the list by the clusters involving gambling dens and local gambling such as cock fighting The disease control ...
B.Tribune
Thailand scrambles to contain outbreak, secure vaccines
For much of 2020, Thailand had the coronavirus under control. After a strict nationwide lockdown in April and May, the number of new local infections dropped to zero, where they remained for the next six months. Thailand closed its borders, enforcing mandatory quarantines for its own ...
BILL BREDESEN
Frontline medical staff vaccinated, more Covid-19 vaccines expected
Some frontline medical workers have been vaccinated against Covid-19 thanks to China’s provision of 2,000 doses of vaccine, the Minister of Health has said. The first round of vaccinations has been administered to volunteer medical staff, according to Associate Prof. Dr Bounkong Syhavong. “The vaccinations produced good ...
Souksakhone Vaenkeo
Lao Dams Lower Water Levels on a Scenic River, Harming Tour Boat Operators and Other Local Businesses
Water levels lowered by seven dams along a stretch of the Nam Ou River in Laos are blocking boat travel in a scenic area popular with tourists, impacting tour and passenger boat operators and other local businesses, Lao sources say. Travel by water between Nong Khiaw ...
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney