News
Environmentalists urge Laos to scrap 'destructive' Mekong dam plans
Environmentalists have urged Laos not to proceed with the construction of another “destructive” dam on the Mekong River, a vital Southeast Asian waterway that sustains about 60 million people. Last week, Laos’ communist government announced plans for the Sanakham dam – close to the northeastern border ...
Nicola Smith
East, Southeast Asia drug markets expand despite pandemic
The market for synthetic drugs in East and Southeast Asia is growing despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with the price of methamphetamine dropping to its lowest levels as supplies surge, the global anti-drug watch group said. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned in ...
EI EI TOE LWIN
All coronavirus patients recover in Cambodia, no cases for weeks
Cambodia’s last patient who was being treated for the new coronavirus has been discharged from hospital, in a recovery that left the country with zero active cases, according to the health ministry. The 36-year-old woman from Cambodia’s northwest Banteay Meanchey province was on Saturday released from ...
Thais 'most anxious' over virus
A global survey by Singapore’s social research company identified Thailand as the most anxious nation during the Covid-19 pandemic as of last month, but the kingdom is also optimistic about its economic recovery. Although citizens across 23 countries are largely unsatisfied with their own governments’ responses ...
Cambodia pushes for FTA talks with potential partners
The Cambodian government is pushing for free-trade agreement (FTA) talks with potential partners while seeking Russia’s help for a Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) free trade agreement, local media reported. The Cambodian Ministry of Commerce’s Secretary of State Tek Reth Kamrong said during her recent meeting with Russian Ambassador to Cambodia ...
Mekong Delta to host Vietnam’s first agriculture museum
A $17 million museum featuring Vietnam’s agricultural history and prowess will be built in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long. The museum will be constructed on an area of 11 hectares in Vung Liem, a rural district. In preserving the value and legacy of Vietnamese ...
Cuu Long
How protecting forests and their communities can prevent the next outbreak
Clear-cutting forests may provide short-term monetary gains, but the true costs of mass deforestation could be steep. The novel coronavirus that has caused the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is believed to be zoonotic, meaning it first spread from animals to humans. Not only is that a common ...
CAROLYN COWAN
Agriculture ministry, FAO, WFP ease COVID-19 food insecurity impacts
Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, the World Food Programme (WFP) are cooperating with the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to draft a response plan and provide direct assistance to farmers continuing to produce food for their communities. FAO, WFP now are completing ...
Times Reporters
Ensure Mekong River projects don’t harm riparian countries: Vietnam
Hydropower projects must not affect people’s lives in riparian countries negatively, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Thursday. Le Thi Thu Hang was responding to a query about Laos’s plan to build another dam on the Mekong River at an online press meet. “The development of hydropower projects ...
Viet Anh
South-East Asia’s biggest river is drying up
ish writhe frantically in the shallow pool, as their schoolmates stranded on the exposed sandbar breathe their last. It is November, the end of the monsoon season, yet the water in the Mekong river is perilously low. On this stretch, in north-eastern Thailand, the bank is ...