News
Govt looks to ease Mekong dam impacts
The Department of Fisheries will roll out a number of measures to help cushion the impacts of dam construction in the upper reaches of the Mekong River on Thai fishermen. Department chief, Adisorn Promthep, said the measures will entail further diplomatic coordination with Laos — which ...
Apinya Wipatayotin
Cambodia, Thailand discuss linking ports
Thailand has proposed connecting one of its ports to Sihanoukville’s deep-water port in a bid to boost trade between the countries. A delegation from Thailand’s eastern economic corridor met with Cambodian authorities on Tuesday to discuss linking the infrastructures of the Laem Chabang port in Chonburi ...
Mekong water level rising, but still very low
Water in the Mekong river in this northeastern border province is rising steadily, but the level is still very low compared to last year, local media reported. After months of being at a critical level, the water level in the Mekong river has risen, thanks to ...
Pattanapong Sripiachai
Concerns Being Raised About Thailand’s Human Rights Commission
Concerns are being raised after the resignation of two prominent human rights advocates from the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand. An alarm bell signaling the need for a total revamp of the flawed and scandal-ridden agency. Thailand’s Human Rights Commissioners Angkhana Neelapaijit and Tuenjai Deetes announced their resignations ...
Mekong runs dry as politics, business fail local communities
“The most disastrous situation in history,” was one expert’s stark verdict when shown images of the dry Mekong River bed and dead aquatic animals. Dr Chainarong Setthachua, a lecturer and ecology expert at Maha Sarakham University, was at a loss when asked to describe the ...
Piyaporn Wongruang
Thailand penalizes peasants, not real climate offenders
A recent decision by a Thai appellate court against 14 residents of Ban Sapwai, a village in the northeastern province of Chaiyaphum, proves again that peasant women are bearing the brunt of false climate-change solutions. Instead of committing to the goal of mitigating climate change by phasing ...
Suluck Lamubol
Thailand’s pangolin pipeline
In the early hours of a Sunday morning this past March, officers manning a roadside checkpoint in Thailand’s Prachuap Khiri Khan province were hardly fooled when an approaching pick-up attempted to bypass their blockade by hastily detouring down a side road 300m away. The officers gave ...
Chuleeporn Butrkote
Water resources projects on track: ONWR
The Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR) is planning to move forward with 100 water management projects worth Bt400 billion before the end of the year to boost available water up to 2.9 million cubic metres and cover the needs of 630,000 families nationwide, ...
Missing Mekong waters rouse suspicions of China
By this time of year, the Mekong River should have been rising steadily with the monsoon rains, bringing fishermen a bounty of fat fish. Instead, the river water in Thailand has fallen further than anyone can remember and the only fish are tiny. Scientists and people living ...
Panu Wongcha-um
Thailand Has a Developing Economy and a Big First World Problem
Getting old can be hard under any circumstances, and harder still when you’re poor. That’s the predicament for Thailand, the developing country first in line to face the consequences of a first-world-style baby bust. Data published last month by the United Nations show births in Thailand ...
Margo Towie, Jason Clenfield and Hannah Dormido