Environment and natural resources
Agriculture Ministry issues water plan as rainy season looms
Farmers should also store as much rainwater as possible and use it efficiently, said Agriculture Minister Chalermchai Sree-on on Monday. “We cannot tell how many storms will hit Thailand this year, but we have ordered RID to prepare personnel and drainage equipment to deal with upcoming ...
The Nation
From India’s highs to Thailand’s lows, Asia’s weather is hitting extremes
The final days of April saw further unbearable temperatures recorded in India and Pakistan. Temperatures peaked at 49C in Jacobabad, Pakistan on 30 April, with a high of 47.2C observed in Banda, India. The Indian Meteorological Department confirmed that average temperatures in April were the highest ...
Matt Andrews (Metdesk)
Environment ignored as Myanmar struggles with coup
When Myanmar’s military staged a coup more than one year ago and seized power from a democratically-elected civilian government, not only did it undo a decade of opening up the country that brought a degree of freedom and prosperity to ordinary citizens, it also condemned ...
Thin Lei Win
Officials worried about low number of Irrawadday dolphins in Thailand
Thai officials are worried about the low number of dolphins of a particular breed in Thailand. Despite campaigns in past years to preserve Irrawaddy dolphins, only 14 of them were found in Songkhla Lake, and 89 in the Mekong River, according to a 2020 survey. Natural ...
Tara Abhasakun
Baby elephant, a big bundle of joy and conservation challenges
ee Pael, one of Cambodia’s few captive female elephants, lived a peaceful life in a forest sanctuary until the day a wild bull appeared, chased away her handler and ran off with Gee Pael. “I had to run up a tree,” recalled Yel Yan, the elephant’s ...
JACK BROOK
Rice and the Climate Crisis: Thai rice farmers struggle against climate-driven challenges
It has been another difficult harvest for Manas Takfaeng. This farmer has seen plenty of seasons in his years in the fields. But now as his retirement looms closer, watching another crop suffer is hard to comprehend. The 67-year-old is an ordinary small-hold rice grower whose family ...
Jack Board
Mekong River water level rises amid dry season
Lower Mekong River water levels have increased by 20-30 percent compared to the same period of previous years as China releases dam water. According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, the Mekong Delta region, where the Mekong River reaches the sea, has received a volume ...
Ngoc Tai
Anti-erosion embankment suffers repeat deterioration in Mekong Delta
An embankment of 850 meters long was built in 2016 on the bank of the Tien River, a tributary of the Mekong, in Thanh Binh District of Dong Thap Province to protect 250 households in Binh Thanh Commune from erosion. In 2019, when it was near ...
Ngoc Tai
There are reasons to be hopeful. If things come together well and if Mekong River countries can work together.
VOA Khmer: You have been reporting on Cambodia as a journalist [and then] you primarily focused on politics and foreign affairs. Why did you become interested in the Tonle Sap Lake and [Mekong] River issues, and what that led you to write a book about ...
Sokummono Khan
Mechanical eyes are ready to watch Southeast Asia’s weather systems
A fleet of unmanned surface vessels numbering in the hundreds could be a key tool in helping Southeast Asia countries adapt and prepare for an increase in the frequency of severe weather. Oceanographer Ruth Patterson of Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Australia, believes unmanned surface vessels ...
TROY KIPPEN