Disasters
Pandemics
Laos gets more funding to mitigate impact of COVID-19 on education
The Global Partnership for Education is allocating a grant of US$7 million via UNICEF to help respond to and mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s education in Laos. According to the UNICEF Laos Office, the grant agreement was signed on Thursday between Deputy ...
Times Reporters
Conservation activists urge post-pandemic tourism reset in Thailand
It is 9 a.m. on a sultry Sunday morning off the coast of Koh Phangan, a popular tourist island in the Gulf of Thailand. More than 30 divers are getting ready to plunge into the tropical waters — not to marvel at the underwater world ...
TOM VATER and LAURE SIEGEL
Covid-induced energy plunge shrinks coal development in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia’s response to the Covid‑19 outbreak has curtailed electricity use and industrial production, pushing down coal consumption even further this year, according to the latest report from a non-governmental organisation which monitors worldwide fossil fuel infrastructure. Even before Covid-19, new coal plant construction was already slowing in the ...
Hannah Alcoseba Fernandez
‘We have upset the balance of nature’, Thai environment minister warns amid green recovery efforts from pandemic
Thailand’s Environment Minister has warned that urgent action is needed to rebalance humans’ relationship with nature, or mankind may not live into the next century. In an address to diplomats, politicians and journalists on Friday (Aug 7), Mr Varawut Silpa-archa compared the challenges of fighting the ...
Jack Board
Public debt of Laos set to increase due to pandemic effect
The public debt of Laos may increase to as much as 65 to 68 per cent of GDP in 2020 following a sharp fall in national revenue collection alongside an increase in loans due to the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, according to a government official. Revenue collection ...
Thailand Ranks First in the Global COVID-19 Recovery Index
Thailand ranks first among the countries with the highest COVID-19 recovery index, according to a report issued by the Global COVID-19 Index (GCI). The GCI report, published on 28 July 2020, gave Thailand an index score of 82.06 from 100 points, putting it on top of ...
PR Thai Government
Thailand ranked number one on the Global COVID-19 Recovery Index
Thailand has ranked number one in the world out of 184 countries for its ongoing COVID-19 recovery effort, according to the Global COVID-19 Index (GCI). Published on 28 July, Thailand received an index score of 82.06, putting it on top of the global chart as an ...
Maya Taylor
Can Vietnam Prevent the Next Pandemic?
A growing awareness of the links between wildlife trafficking and SARS, COVID-19, and other infectious diseases has prompted the Vietnamese prime minister to issue an executive order to clamp down on this vast smuggling trade in endangered species. During recent months, conservation NGOs and Hanoi’s Ministry ...
Tom Fawthrop
Coronavirus: Vietnam bans wildlife trade over pandemic risk
Vietnam has banned the import of wildlife and wildlife products to reduce the risk of new pandemics. The move also bans wildlife markets for such items, including online sales. Vietnam has previously been accused of turning a blind eye to the sale of products such as pangolin ...
New Covid-19 infection confirmed
A Korean electric technician of the Nam Ngieb hydropower project has tested positive for Covid-19, according to the Ministry of Health. Seventeen people who have close contact with him have been placed under a 14-day quarantine. The infection is the 20th case ever reported in the Lao ...