Environment and natural resources
Environment and natural resources policy and administration
Pak Beng dam meets stiffer new resistance
An environmental group in Chiang Rai has renewed its campaign against the controversial Pak Beng dam that is due to be built on the transnational Mekong River by lodging a complaint with the Supreme Administrative Court against Thai authorities for failing to provide local communities ...
US$5.2 billion first phase of China-Thailand railway project facing further delays, reports say
Construction had been expected to start next month, but that is now unlikely as Thailand’s environmental authorities have yet to give the project the green light, China’s CCTV reported on Friday, citing Thai media.Experts need to evaluate potential areas of concern, and construction will not ...
Flood control ‘lacking’
Cambodia and Vietnam currently lack a system to effectively forecast and control flooding in the Sesan and Srepok river basins, both at the national and intergovernmental level, according to a study published by the Mekong River Commission (MRC). Keep reading ...
Yesenia Amaro
China’s Mekong plans threaten disaster for countries downstream
Thirty million people depend for a living on the Mekong, the great Asian river that runs through Southeast Asia from its origins in the snowfields of Tibet to its end in the delta region of Vietnam, where it fertilizes one of the world’s richest agricultural ...
Richard Bernstein
Faulty construction, heavy rain cause dam to flood Lao villages
Hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of muddy water have flooded eight villages in central Laos’ Xaysomboun province after the reservoir of a dam upstream burst its banks last week following heavy rain, damaging infrastructure, farmlands, and water supplies. Keep reading ...
RFA's Lao Service News Staff
Lower Mekong dam decision to be appealed
The Rak Chiang Khong conservation group will file an appeal against the Administrative Court’s dismissal of its complaint against Thai authorities involving the Pak Bang dam, the third dam planned along the Lower Mekong River, as they are worried about its potential impacts. Keep reading ...
The Nation News Staff
Death by dam for the Mekong
The sleepy town of Pak Beng, best known as a stopover for slow boats connecting the Laos-Thailand border to the ancient Lao capital of Luang Prabang, will be transformed later this year by the launch of a third major hydro-dam on the lower Mekong River.Only ...
Tom Fawthrop
Under Construction Nam Ao Dam Busts
Many farmlands of people in Thathom district, Xaysomboun Province have been flooded following the bust of the under construction Nam Ao Hydropower Project on Sep 11.Keep reading ...
Lao News Agency Staff
Further delays hindering initial phase of Dawei SEZ kick off
The initial project of Dawei SEZ has been delayed due to the required approval for environmental and social impact assessment reports and the signing of land lease contract, deputy minister for the Ministry of Commerce U Aung Htoo said. “As the pre-requite conditions by both ...
Groundwater Resources Dept and National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Dept to study groundwater resources for ecosystem and wildlife conservation
The Department of Groundwater Resources and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has conduct a study on the development of groundwater resources for the conservation of ecosystem and wildlife. The study project is being piloted at four national parks with 20 ponds ...