Radio Free Asia
Myanmar Internet Shutdown Chokes News Flow, Raises Citizens Fears
Myanmar’s embattled citizens struggled with a drastic cut-off of internet and wireless data services Friday following a military junta order aimed at staunching the flow of videos and photos of atrocities to a global audience, activists and web users said. The Ministry of Transport and Communications ...
RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane, Ye Kaung Myint Maung and Kyaw Min Htun. Written in English by Paul Eckert.
Laos Increases Electricity Costs Despite Producing More Electricity
State-run power companies in Laos are raising electricity prices, putting a squeeze on businesses suffering from the coronavirus pandemic shutdown and angering customers who say they deserve cheaper power after a decades-long hydroelectric dam building boom, sources in the country told RFA. The government of Laos ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Jailed Lao Activist Silenced by Government, but Continues to Inspire
Laos says women are now more respected and protected on International Women’s Day Monday, but the words might ring hollow to Houayheuang Xayabouly, who languishes in jail more than a year after her arrest for a Facebook post complaining about the communist government’s failure to ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Illegally Harvested Timber Sold ‘Under Cover’ in Attapeu Province in Laos
Businessmen in Laos’s Attapeu province are selling timber hidden for years in the forest after being harvested illegally, mixing it with other timber allowed by provincial authorities to be sold by local villagers, Lao sources say. Now being sold to private businessmen, the contraband timber was ...
Ounkeo Souksavanh for RFA’s Lao Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
UNESCO Requests New Impact Assessment for Luang Prabang Dam
UNESCO has requested a new assessment for a large-scale Lao Mekong River dam located near a World Heritage Site, fearing that the dam’s potential impact could put the site at risk. According to UNESCO, the town of Luang Prabang is “an outstanding example of the fusion ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Decree on Internet Controls in Cambodia Threat to Freedom of Expression: Journalists
A decree establishing a national internet gateway that can control and monitor online activity in Cambodia is likely to seriously restrict freedom of expression in the country, journalists said Wednesday. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen signed an order to launch a National Internet Gateway—similar to ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Labor Rights Groups Urge Cambodian Government to Assist Illegal Migrant Workers in Thailand
Cambodian labor rights officials on Friday called on their government to address challenges undocumented migrant workers in Thailand face obtaining legal employment on the eve of a registration deadline that could see tens of thousands deported or imprisoned after months being idled by coronavirus restrictions. Thailand’s ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translation by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Water Levels Drop, Fail to Rise Again on Mekong River Along Thai-Lao Border
Water levels on a stretch of the Mekong River along the border of Thailand and Laos, already low because of equipment testing at China’s upriver Jinghong Dam, have failed to rise again, raising concerns in communities living downstream, sources say. Chinese authorities at the end of ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Karen People Cut Off From Help in Myanmar After Fighting Drives Them From Their Homes
Around 1,000 ethnic Karen villagers have been cut off from help in Myanmar’s Kayin state by renewed fighting between government troops and rebel forces, with relief groups now unable to reach them with badly needed food, blankets, and medical supplies, sources say. Fighting between the Myanmar ...
Reported by Saw Nyunt Thaung for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Thailand Rejects New Technical Report on Large-Scale Lao Mekong Mainstream Dam
Thailand has rejected a new technical report on Laos’ Sanakham dam project, one of nine large-scale Mekong River mainstream dams integral to Vientiane’s controversial economic strategy of becoming the “Battery of Southeast Asia.” The 684-megawatt Sanakham dam is one of seven future dams in various stages ...
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
