News
Lao Plan to Build Another Big Mekong Dam Dismays Villagers, Concerns Thais
Laos is preparing to build what will be its seventh of nine planned large-scale Mekong River mainstream dams, the latest project in its controversial economic strategy to become the “battery of Southeast Asia,” sources in the country told RFA. The 728-megawatt Phou Ngoy Dam, with a ...
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Analysis: Years in the making, Vietnam’s Mekong Delta policy takes the long view
Vietnam’s Mekong Delta is approximately the same size as the Netherlands — about 41,000 square kilometers (16,000 square miles) — and is home to 17 million people, very nearly the same population as the Netherlands. Perhaps that made dialogue easier. Unlike many foreign experts, the Dutch ...
David Brown
Watchdogs Call For Transparency as Cambodia Strikes Oil
Civil society organizations and Cambodia’s banned opposition party have called on the government to release detailed information about revenue it is earning from the petroleum industry, days after the country struck oil following a decades-long quest. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on social media ...
Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Lao Dams Lower Water Levels on a Scenic River, Harming Tour Boat Operators and Other Local Businesses
Water levels lowered by seven dams along a stretch of the Nam Ou River in Laos are blocking boat travel in a scenic area popular with tourists, impacting tour and passenger boat operators and other local businesses, Lao sources say. Travel by water between Nong Khiaw ...
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney
Vietnam can’t keep up with its own meteoric digital transformation
Vietnam just marked the 23rd year since the country officially became part of the global internet network, with an ‘Internet Day 2020’ on December 16 that explored the country’s digital journey from post-war backwater enclave to one of the fastest-growing digital economies in Southeast Asia (SEA). The ...
Joe Devanesan
Hail the warriors in white gowns
In every crisis, there is a hero. And for the annus horibilis 2020, no one deserves the “Person of The Year” title more than the “Warriors in White Gowns” — a term which the public use to praise medical workers and over a million health ...
APINYA WIPATAYOTIN AND ANCHALEE KONGRUT
Mekong river at lowest level this year
The water level in the Mekong river has dropped quickly and was only about 1.90 metres deep in this northeastern border province on Monday, the lowest this year. The lack of water is being blamed on the many dams upstream in China, and this year’s poor ...
PATTANAPONG SRIPIACHAI
Cambodia’s Tonle Sap shows what’s at stake in the Mekong’s dam-fueled decline
Every year around December, fishers, farmers and families across Cambodia begin the season for making the country’s traditional prahok fish paste, a vital staple in the country’s diet. But this tradition, along with the food supply and livelihoods of millions of people, is under threat from a growing ecological ...
Editorial
A floating community in Siem Reap adopting plastic free approach to combat pollution
A floating community in Tonle Sap Lake in Keo Por commune, Puok district of Siem Reap province is aware of environmental impact caused by plastic wastes – thanks to their participation in a campaign to clear the lake from plastic. In an interview with journalists, Mr. ...
Lim Nary – AKP
Myanmar Migrant Worker Says His Seafood Market Boss Started Chain of COVID-19 Infections
A Myanmar migrant worker in Thailand who became infected with the coronavirus said Wednesday that he contracted the illness from his Thai employer in a huge seafood market compound in coastal Samut Sakhon province near the capital Bangkok. On Monday, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and ...
Nayrein Kyaw for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
