News
New UN initiative to reduce plastic pollution from ASEAN cities
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in partnership with the Government of Japan, today launched a new project which aims to reduce the environmental impact of cities in South East Asia by addressing plastic waste pollution in rivers ...
As loggers exploit virus, Cambodian forest protectors defy state ban
A Cambodian conservation group has warned that logging in the protected Prey Lang forest has ramped up during the coronavirus pandemic, vowing it would continue to monitor the destruction despite government threats of legal action to stop that work. Members of the Prey Lang Community Network ...
Matt Blomberg
Covid-19 crisis casts shadow over graduate futures
The coronavirus outbreak casts a shadow over the future of approximately 300,000 soon-to-be graduates this year. The bleak prospect of unemployment and layoffs as the economy staggers back to growth is expected to persist for at least two years. Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation ...
THANA BOONLERT
CERP should focus more on agriculture, livestock sectors: businesses
Economists said the government’s COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP) should focus more on essential sectors such as agriculture and livestock, which affects longer term food security. The CERP was announced on April 27 to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy. “Myanmar is an agricultural ...
THIHA KO KOZEYAR HEIN
The COVID-19 rice economy: what a pandemic means for Southeast Asia’s staple
As cities and countries impose lockdowns, people around the world, from the UK to India, are struggling to access food. The causes vary, with some communities facing lost income and local scarcity while others deal with barriers to movement, but the drivers of this food insecurity are primarily ...
Skylar Lindsay
New quarantine venues for returnees in Bangkok
Additional state quarantine facilities in the capital are being offered to Thais returning from overseas this month, according to a Defence Ministry official. The facilities include those in Qiu Hotel and Movenpick Hotel in central Bangkok. Returnees are required to spend 14 days in state-designated quarantine facilities, ...
WASSANA NANUAM
Mondulkiri sanctuary land grabbers charged
In April, 13 suspects were charged in the Mondulkiri Provincial Court for encroaching on forest land in wildlife sanctuaries at Phnom Prich, Srepok, Nam Lear, and Keo Seima, said Ministry of Environment secretary of state and spokesperson Neth Pheaktra. The sanctuaries are protected under the Law ...
Soth Koemsoeun
Journalists Fear Tougher Restrictions as Cambodia Enacts New Law on State of Emergency
On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, journalists in Cambodia expressed concern that a new law authorizing a state of emergency to contain the spread of the coronavirus will be used by the government to restrict their ability to work. The “Law on Governing the ...
Mekong Delta residents flee as nature turns hostile
Their ancestors had come to settle the Mekong Delta, turning it into the nation’s agriculture and aquaculture hub, but now they are fleeing. At three in the morning, Dang Van Binh, 34, wakes up in his hut by a river in An Phu Trung Commune in ...
Hoang Nam, Pham Linh
The Mekong Region honours innovative SMEs
Now in its third-year, Experience Mekong Showcase has shortlisted 60 Experience Mekong Collection member businesses for recognition. Ten enterprises from each of the six Greater Mekong Sub-region* countries are now in the running for six top places (one from each GMS country) that recognise small, responsible ...
