News
The Mekong: the good, bad and ugly sides to the ‘Danube of the East’
To Tibetans, it’s known as Dza Chu, or the River of Rocks, and to the Chinese it’s the Lancang Jiang, the Turbulent River. The Lao refer to it as the Mother of Waters, in Cambodia it’s the Great Water and by the time it reaches ...
Tim Pile
SE Asia slowly but surely sinking into the sea
Ho Chi Minh City is constantly flooded, while Bangkok continues to sink below sea level. It sounds like a science fiction movie set in Southeast Asia. But it’s what experts predict will happen within the next two to three decades in the major Vietnamese and Thai ...
Dan Southerland
Dams lead to extinction
Before being officially declared extinct by scientists late last month, the Chinese paddlefish, a native to the Yangtze River system, had been listed along with the Mekong giant catfish as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The extinction of the paddlefish, one ...
Don Sahong hydropower dam in Laos connects to Cambodian grid
The Don Sahong hydropower dam in Laos has begun operations and this week connected its power grid to Cambodia, a Cambodian official said on Wednesday as the country steps up electricity imports after continued power outages last year. Don Sahong, which was designed for an installed ...
Prak Chan Thul
Former Vietnamese Government Minister Draws Life Term in Corruption Case
A former Vietnamese government minister and his deputy were sentenced on Saturday to a life term and 14 years in prison respectively in a case of corruption that is said to have cost the state budget almost U.S. $3 million, media sources said. Son Bac Nguyen, ...
Cabinet approves water command centre
The cabinet is expected to approve the formation of a water management command centre on Tuesday, spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinsawat said on Sunday. The command centre is sanctioned by Section 24 of the 2018 Water Act, which calls for the set-up of a central coordinating unit to ...
Displaced Population in Myanmar’s Rakhine State Reaches 100,000
The number of civilians displaced during the past year amid an uptick in armed conflict in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state has reached more than 100,000, a regional relief organization said Monday, as authorities continue to limit area access to groups providing aid. The new figure based ...
Vietnam focuses on cybersecurity to protect national interests
Rapid technological development has given people more ways to access and share information on the internet. It has also created conditions for more sophisticated cyber-attacks. Like other countries, Vietnam has a cybersecurity law to safeguard information and protect national security. According to a recent press release, the country ...
Samaya Dharmaraj
Asia's hardest year for dengue fever – in pictures

The global toll of dengue fever is becoming well known, with rising temperatures contributing to severe outbreaks that made 2019 the worst year on record for the disease. In 1970 only nine countries faced severe dengue outbreaks. But the disease, which is spread by mosquitoes that ...
Photographer Luke Duggleby and journalist Laure Siegel
Vietnam in deals to buy Laos electricity from 2021
Vietnam’s electricity firm EVN has signed five new deals to buy electricity from Laos starting from next year, the state-run company said. The southeast Asian nation faces severe power shortages from 2021, as demand outpaces construction of new plants, with demand expected to exceed supply by ...
Khanh Vu