Disasters and emergency response
Cambodia drought spawns fish fears
Fishing communities along two of Cambodia’s principle rivers say their livelihoods are threatened by droughts that have reduced water levels and devastated fish numbers. “The Tonle Sap is 3 metres lower than last year,” Long Sochhet, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Fishing Communities, said on ...
Thai Government tells rice farmers to choose another crop
The government has called on farmers across the country to grow plants that require less water than rice amid the ongoing risk of drought. “Farmers, for example, can grow corn-for-animal feed and pods instead,” government spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said on 4 October. Keep reading ...
Drought Chao Phraya drought 'will last till 2017'
People living in the Chao Phraya River basin should prepare for a drought crisis that will last until 2017, and those in Bangkok should store water for consumption during the dry season, a seminar was told. Anond Snidwongs, director of the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development ...
Fire equipment still lacking
Two years since the Cambodian government passed a law on fire safety – and hot on the heels of a recent spate of fires at local garment factories, neighbourhoods and nightclubs – a recent informal survey has found that even high-end hotels still widely lack ...
Lower Mekong nations collaborate on flood response during exercise in Laos
Dealing with and attempting to mitigate disaster scenarios is why experts, both military and civilian, from six nations were in the capital of Laos participating in the 2015 Lower Mekong Initiative Disaster Relief Exercise and Exchange. The LMI DREE is an annual civil-military disaster preparedness and ...
Fish exports continue to decline with floods, slow catches
Income from fishery exports is expected to fall again this year, partly on the back of rising floods as well as declining stocks, according to Myanmar Fishery Federation general secretary U Win Kyaing. Keep reading ...
Election takes a back seat as flood-hit Magwe’s farmers struggle to rebuild
For the tens of thousands of farmers in Magwe Region still reeling from last month’s floods, the November election may not register as high-priority. With upwards of 100,000 displaced and having lost their livelihoods, the immediate need to rebuild means the election is the last ...
South East Asia emergency response team takes on region's deluge of disasters
After the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in 2008, international aid poured into Southeast Asia, but in both disasters the 10-nation regional body ASEAN was conspicuously absent, says disaster expert Arnel Capili. “Those were very big events that really affected the ...
Floods wreak havoc in Kampot
Residents of Kampot province continued to feel the devastating effects of widespread flooding in the area caused by the opening of the Kamchay Hydropower Dam, which has left thousands temporarily homeless and crippled local businesses. Keo Vy, spokesman of the National Committee for Disaster Management, said ...
Hundreds flee homes after dam gates opened
More than 500 homes were flooded in Kampot province’s Toek Chhou district on 16 September morning after the gates of the Kamchay Hydropower Dam were opened, according to officials, with the chiefs of two of three affected communes saying they were given little or no advance ...