Disasters and emergency response

China is blighting millions of Southeast Asians by choking the Mekong River. It can be sued before the United Nations. Reparations and sanctions can be extracted under international pacts. Beijing communist rulers’ global excesses amidst COVID-19 pandemic will isolate China. Eleven dams on China’s side of the Mekong have dried up farms downstream in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. ...

Thai activists and organizations have raised alarm bells following last month’s announcement that the Mekong River Commission will begin its prior consultation process on the Sanakham hydropower plant, a new Mekong River dam project in northern Laos.   The plant would be the sixth dam in Laos, costing more than $2 billion, and would follow Laos’ Xayaburi Dam, farther upstream, which began operation in November.   The MRC prior consultation ...

Many centuries ago, the great Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu observed: “The nature of water is such that it avoids heights and hastens to the lowlands. When a dam is broken, the water cascades with irresistible force. Now the shape of an army resembles water. Take ...

The southern province of An Giang has allocated VND70 billion ($3 million) to address erosion caused by a sediment-poor Mekong River branch. The emergency plan, which draws funding from the national budget, will be implemented until the end of next year to counter erosion along the ...

COVID-19 has rattled Laos’ debut in selling a U.S. dollar bond in international markets, adding pressure on a country whose “Wild West of dam building” splurge has put it in a precarious repayment situation, especially in regard to China, its leading lender. Sources familiar with the ...

A sediment-poor Mekong River branch cutting through An Giang Province is causing erosion due to rapid water flow. A three kilometer section of Hau River, a branch of the Mekong, is straitened by half in width when passing through An Giang’s Chau Phu District. Besides this natural ...

Prolonged drought and increased summer demand are exerting great pressure on the electricity industry as water levels in several major dams drop significantly. Doan Tien Cuong, director of Ialy Hydropower Company, told local media that water level at the 720 MW Ialy Hydropower Plant in the ...

COVID-19 is posing serious challenges to ASEAN in 2020. But Vietnam, as ASEAN chair, is trying to make the best of the situation and demonstrate leadership. As 2020 marks a mid-term review of the implementation of the ASEAN Community Building Blueprints 2015–25, Vietnam chose ‘Cohesive ...

Thailand may lose up to 14.4 million jobs in the second and third quarters, largely because of the coronavirus outbreak and widespread drought, says the government’s planning unit. Of the total, some 8.4 million workers are estimated to be at risk of job loss, 2.5 million ...

Amidst the spreading of the Coronavirus 2019 in every corner of the world, the government in each country, as well as the departments, organizations, and other related parties are vigorously collaborating in solving the problem with a hope of surviving the disaster that is impacting ...