Industries

Satellite photos show expansion of Chinese-funded naval base in Cambodia

Recent satellite images taken of the coastal area around Sihanoukville, Cambodia, show a significant development of a China-funded naval base that would help Beijing boost its power projection not only in Southeast Asia but also the Taiwan Strait. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2019 that Phnom ...

RFA Staff / Edited by Malcolm Foster

Mekong Countries Pin Development Hopes on Airport Progress

Following three years of pandemic restrictions, Thailand’s eastern seaboard gateway—U-Tapao airport—has returned to the spotlight after deputy government spokesperson Tipanan Sirichana recently said expansion plans would commence in early 2023. Earmarked as an “Aviation City” in 2017, the $8.8 billion mega airport project will occur ...

Jennifer Meszaros

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 ...

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