Industries
Laos, Thailand Meet to Discuss Railway Project Connecting Vientiane and Nong Khai
The Minister of Public Works and Transport of Laos, Mr. Viengsavath Siphandone, met with Thailand’s Minister of Transport, Mr. Saksayam Chidchob, and his team last week to discuss the project’s development. This was after Thailand’s Department of Rail Transport provided an update on the progress ...
Phontham Visapra
Thai zoos come under scrutiny again as tourism rebounds from COVID-19
A run-down department store tucked among Bangkok’s skyscrapers is home to the rooftop Pata Zoo, where nearly 300 animals pace in cages littered with feces, food scraps and trash. Bua Noi, the main attraction at the zoo and the only gorilla known to be in ...
Shannon Brault
Pristine bay in Phuket under threat from marina developers
A marina developer has plans to turn one of Phuket’s few remaining mangrove forests into a new gateway for luxury yachts and cruises post the Covid-19 pandemic period. In Ao Kung, a quiet bay in the northern part of bustling Phuket island, Sujirtra Thothip stood in ...
Wanpen Pajai
Mining the Mekong: Land and livelihoods lost to Cambodia’s thirst for sand
Some 45 kilometers, or 28 miles, up the Mekong River from Phnom Penh, Voi Thy sat and watched as 12 boats pumped sand from the riverbed. Another 11 boats, weighed low by their quarry of freshly mined sand, were making the glacial journey past her ...
Gerald Flynn, Vutha Srey
Mekong Delta could get two new bridges
Construction of two bridges across a Mekong tributary are proposed at a cost of VND9 trillion ($386 million) to replace ferry services currently in use. The Ministry of Transport’s My Thuan Project Management Board has called for building the Tan Chau – Hong Ngu and Vam ...
Ngoc Tai
Severance pay remains a struggle for Southeast Asian workers
Garment workers at Thailand’s Brilliant Alliance factory were granted leave, only to learn their employer had shut down when they returned to their worksite in early March 2021. “Everyone was abandoned and never went back to work, there was nothing from the company about compensation,” said ...
JACK BROOK
Ecotourism Community Builds Mangrove Walkway
Teuk Chob Khnar Por ecotourism community in Seam Reap is building a kilometer-long wooden walkway across the mangrove forest to boost tourism but is short of funds and manpower. The area in Khnar Por commune has freshwater mangrove trees growing on 98 hectares out of 1,022 ...
Po Sophea
Kingdom to gain from production of hemp
The government is aiming to make Thailand a regional manufacturing centre for hemp products in the next five years to generate at least 25 billion baht in income, said Industry Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit on Sunday. The plan is projected to add more value to hemp grown ...
POST REPORTERS
Large-scale logging in Cambodia’s Prey Lang linked to politically-connected mining operation
The early onset of Cambodia’s wet season had seen the rain fall thick over Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, turning freshly cut paths through the forest into a near-impassible slick of churned-up mud. But the torrential weather had done little to deter local loggers, who rode ...
Gerald Flynn|Andy Ball|Vutha Srey
Sustaining the Mekong Delta’s way of life
The Mekong Delta’s famed floating markets, where local speciality produce is sold on boats, provide a unique scene that draws both local and foreign visitors. In addition, the markets illustrate the southerners’ custom of trading and travelling on the river. Nham Hung, a cultural researcher, said floating ...
The Star Online