Disasters and emergency response
20 major dams and reservoirs in Thailand present overflow risk
Thailand’s Office of the National Water Resources has requested that irrigation officials be ready to manage the discharge of excess water from 20 major dams and reservoirs. The heavy monsoon rains this year have led to potentially dangerous overflow conditions. Officials from the ONWR have instructed people living ...
Ann Carter / SOURCE: Thai PBS World
Fact check: Post wrong to link vaccinations to a COVID-19 spike in Cambodia
The claim: Cambodia did not have a COVID-19 outbreak until vaccines arrived Vaccine opponents are looking to Cambodia to falsely assert that vaccines may actually make COVID-19 more dangerous. “Cambodia is one of the most vaccinated countries in the world: 81.3% of its population has received at least ...
Devon Link
Mekong Delta localities join forces to fight pandemic, restore economy
Seven delta localities will cooperate to prevent Covid-19, protect people’s health and develop production and business. Authorities in Can Tho City and six provinces of An Giang, Kien Giang, Hau Giang, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau are expected to join an online meeting on ...
Cuu Long
Mass vaccination boosted in Mekong Delta
Mekong Delta localities are accelerating Covid-19 immunization now they have access to more vaccines. On Tuesday, Can Tho City allocated 500,000 Sinopharm and 40,000 Pfizer doses to its nine districts for mass vaccination. As planned, from now until December, the city will administer at least 36,000 vaccine ...
Huy Phong, Ngoc Tai
Untold impact on northern Thailand’s wildlife from Mekong dams
About a year ago, the Boon Rueang Wetland Forest Conservation Group began a survey of wildlife in the 483-hectare community forest in northern Thailand. “We have recorded some leopards, otters and other animals,” says Songpol Chanruang, chair of the group. Though only around 130 kilometres long, ...
Tyler Roney, Piyaporn Wongruang
Outbreak fears as Mekong Delta struggles with returning migrant workers
With the Mekong Delta laboring under large quarantining burdens as migrants return from the southeast region in the thousands, officials fear outbreaks if the localities’ capabilities are stretched. An Giang Province, for instance, had more than 15,000 migrant workers return on motorbikes over the past three ...
Cuu Long, Ngoc Tai
Lao villagers still disenfranchised three years after eviction
Villagers who were evicted from their homes in northern Laos to make way for a new hydroelectric dam remain disenfranchised three years on, according to media reports. The villagers relocated from Xayaburi province in 2018 are housed in resettlement towns where they lack enough land and ...
UCA News reporter, Vientiane
Lao Villagers Displaced by Xayaburi Dam Still Lack Farmland, Water
Lao villagers displaced by construction of the Xayaburi Dam, a hydropower project on the Mekong River in northwestern Laos, are struggling to survive in resettlement towns three years after being moved, saying they lack sufficient farmland and water to support themselves, Lao sources say. Construction began ...
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Dams lift discharge rate, flooding downstream
The Chao Phraya Dam on Wednesday increased its discharge rate, sending a huge volume of water downstream, where four villages in Bang Ban district of Ayutthaya were flooded. Extra water is also being released from the Pasak Jolasid Dam, with flood warnings for five central provinces. The Chao ...
SUNTHON PONGPAO AND ONLINE REPORTERS
China Courts Vietnam With More COVID-19 Vaccines, Mistrust Remains
Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi concluded a three-day visit to Vietnam, making him the second high-ranking Chinese official to have visited the country since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019 and early 2020. Wang’s trip to Hanoi came on the heels ...
Hai Hong Nguyen