Disasters and emergency response
Drought set 'to worsen' from next month
More severe drought is expected to hit Thailand between March and April, as authorities have already declared 11 provinces disaster zones due to water scarcity. State agencies are now regulating water more carefully and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered the 1st Army, which oversees the central ...
Mekong sees worst drought in 90 years
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered relevant ministries and Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces to prioritise the fight against drought and saltwater intrusion which have severely affected agriculture and fisheries and caused a crippling water shortage. Speaking at a seminar in Can Tho City ...
Mekong reels from drought, saltwater
Drought and saltwater intrusion have worsened in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta this year, threatening rice crops and the daily life of residents. Le Thanh Hai, deputy director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said: “Saltwater intrusion [began in] November 2015, one and half months ...
Water shipped to parched Banteay Meanchey locale
At least 600 families in the remote Svay Chek district of Banteay Meanchey province are being threatened by a shortage of drinking water that began earlier this month, a provincial official said on 16 February. The water in the wells and rivers has been drying up ...
Flood control: Giant Bangkok tunnel ahead of schedule
A giant new underground tunnel which promises much faster flood water drainage in Bangkok, expected to be complete early next year, will help six flood-prone areas of the capital, Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra says. The construction of the 6.4-km tunnel,linking Lat Phrao canal and the Chao Phraya River, is ...
Fearing water shortages, Myingyan residents protest reclamation
Myanmar farmers are protesting against a plan they say will reduce their water supply. They say water is so short they have already been forced to abandon growing paddy and switch to beans and pulses. They demand that work to open up land around a nearby ...
Flood victims to get extra rice
The United Nations World Food Programme will support flood-affected people in Chin State with 500 tonnes of rice, as they continue to struggle after landslides and flood waters ravaged swathes of land in the country’s poorest state last year. More than 9 million people were affected ...
Capital New Year fire destroys nine homes
The second major fire of the Chinese New Year season ripped through a poor community in Phnom Penh on 9 February, completely destroying nine houses. The fire broke out at Niroth Pagoda in Chbar Ampov district’s Niroth commune at about 11:30am, according to district governor Eang ...
Fire rips through village in capital
The Chinese New Year kicked off in tragic fashion for scores of families in the Tuol Roka village of southern Phnom Penh, where a massive blaze destroyed 97 homes on Saturday night. “We weren’t able to save anything, just the clothes we are wearing. Everything else ...
Storm surge damages homes and forces school closures
A storm surge and subsequent coastal flood in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat on 8 February morning swept 10 vacant homes into the sea in the hard-hit Pak Phanang district while also caused many local schools to temporarily close. Keep reading ...
