News

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

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

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

High-tech cleanup on the way for Mekong, Tonle Sap in Phnom Penh

The Ministry of Tourism and two NGOs – Everwave and River and Ocean Cleanup – plan to launch a campaign to clean up the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Tonle Bassac rivers in Phnom Penh by collecting rubbish from the water and along the river banks. ...

Tiger and bear rescue spotlights captive wildlife tourism woes in Thailand

The future of Phuket Zoo was uncertain long before the COVID-19 pandemic closed Thailand’s borders to foreign tourists. Animal rights campaigners had frequently raised concerns over conditions at the facility, and visitor numbers were dwindling. Now, after two years of near-zero income, the zoo has ...

Carolyn Cowan

Thailand Keeps Quarantine-Free Entry Ban as Omicron Cases Surge

Thailand’s main Covid-19 task force will meet later this week to review the suspension of its quarantine-free entry program for vaccinated visitors amid an uptick in new omicron cases among foreign tourists. The Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, headed by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, will meet ...

Randy Thanthong-Knight

Laos banks on new high-speed railway to draw tourists and investment

The men arrived in dark jackets, and the women in fine woven silk skirts. They filed into the gleaming railway station under a red sign that said “Vientiane” in Lao and Chinese. Then they set off. Laotian lawmakers took a test ride on their country’s first ...

Tan Hui Yee

Destination Mekong aligns with other tourism leaders to sign the Glasgow declaration on climate action in tourism

Destination Mekong became a proud signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism at the COP26.  As part of its efforts to play a leadership role in the global tourism community, Destination Mekong became a signatory and launch partner of the Glasgow Declaration on climate Action in ...

THEODORE KOUMELIS

Thailand reopens to vaccinated tourists from over 60 nations

Tens of thousands of travellers are expected to arrive in Thailand today as the country reopens to tourists after 18 months of Covid restrictions. Vaccinated tourists from more than 60 “low-risk” nations are allowed to enter the country and avoid hotel quarantine. Tourist numbers are forecast to ...

World Bank initiative to raise $54 million to help develop eco-tourism

A $54 million Cambodia Sustainable Landscape and Eco-tourism Project (CSLEP) will be the World Bank’s largest tourism investment in Cambodia. It will take five years to carry out and will involve seven provinces including the Cardamom Mountains, Southeast Asia’s largest intact rainforest, the Tonle Sap ...

Thomas Smith / Khmer Times

Contact us

Contact us

Do you have questions on the content published by Open Development Mekong? We will gladly help you.

Have you found a technical problem or issue on the Open Development Mekong website?

Tell us how we're doing.

Do you have resources that could help expand the Open Development Mekong website? We will review any map data, laws, articles, and documents that we do not yet have and see if we can implement them into our site. Please make sure the resources are in the public domain or fall under a Creative Commons license.

File was deleted
ERROR!

Disclaimer: Open Development Mekong will thoroughly review all submitted resources for integrity and relevancy before the resources are hosted. All hosted resources will be in the public domain, or licensed under Creative Commons. We thank you for your support.

9sZEr
* The idea box couldn't be blank! Something's gone wrong, Please Resubmit the form! Please add the code correctly​ first.

Thank you for taking the time to get in contact!