News
Thailand, Laos to open more friendship bridge this November
The fifth Thai – Lao friendship bridge, which links Bueng Kan province of Thailand with Pakxan town of Laos, is scheduled to open this November. Deputy Transport Minister of Thailand Manaporn Charoensri said recently that the project features a 1.35km crossover with a dual-lane road traversing ...
Cambodia reduces school hours amid soaring heatwave
According to a directive released on Tuesday, Cambodia ordered all public schools to reduce two hours off their regular school days due to soaring temperatures in the ongoing dry season. The directive said the normal morning school session from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. will now ...
Khmer Times
Myanmar Junta Destroys 35 More Hospitals, Clinics in Two Months: NUG
Myanmar junta forces have destroyed at least 35 more hospitals and clinics – an average of one every two days – in Shan, Rakhine, Mon, and Chin states and Magwe Region in two months since the end of February, according to the civilian National Unity ...
Hein Htoo Zan
Thailand’s DES ministry to establish national AI committee
Plans are underway by the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry in Thailand to establish a new national artificial intelligence (AI) committee. The initiative is part of the second phase of the national AI strategy. The strategy is a cornerstone of Thailand’s ASEAN Digital Economy and AI Hub ...
Alex Morgan
Southeast Asia heatwave: Thailand’s heat index tops 52 degrees as Philippines risks ‘overloaded’ power systems
Thailand is reeling under the grip of a severe heatwave with temperatures soaring to record highs in some areas and authorities warned of harsher weather in the coming days. More than three dozen districts across Thailand’s 77 provinces have seen record temperatures in April, generally the hottest month of ...
Bloomberg
Cambodia will not negotiate over Funan Techo canal: Hun Sen
Cambodia’s leader Hun Sen has said that his country would not negotiate with Vietnam over the planned Funan Techo canal, despite concerns about its environmental and geopolitical impacts. A group of Vietnamese experts suggested last week that Hanoi should ask Phnom Penh to delay the project ...
RFA Staff
China-South Korea competition grows in Vietnam
TAIPEI, TAIWAN — A Vietnamese delegation’s visit to China last week has underscored increasingly close economic ties between the territorial rivals, which analysts say is posing a challenge to the dominance of South Korean investment in Vietnam. Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue led the high-level ...
Peh Hong Lim
Ousted Myanmar leader Suu Kyi moved from prison to house arrest
BANGKOK — Myanmar’s jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest as a health measure due to a heat wave, the military government said. On Wednesday it also granted amnesty for over 3,000 prisoners to mark this week’s ...
Associated Press
Vietnam heatwave threatens farmers' livelihoods, worsens challenges for Mekong
HO CHI MINH CITY — A heatwave in Vietnam is worsening environmental conditions in the Mekong Delta region, and farmers and gig workers have told VOA the heat is causing grueling working conditions and cutting crop yields. The heatwave is fueled by the El Nino weather pattern ...
VOA News
Where Have All the Mekong River’s Fish Gone?
The Mekong was once a river teeming with fish, providing food security for millions of poor farmers as well urban centers. These days, that river of abundance has disappeared, replaced by forlorn fishers who say they’re lucky if they can secure a catch at all, ...
Tom Fawthrop