News
Revolutionary changes proposed to draft Gender Affirmation Law
Medical interventions are now non-obligatory for people who want to be recognised as transgender, and trans men are eligible for maternity leave should they be pregnant. These amendments were proposed to the draft Gender Affirmation Law and were discussed during the Policy Dialogue on International Experiences ...
VNA
Mekong tributaries burst banks, flooding 4,000 rai
Two major tributaries of the Mekong River have burst their banks, flooding about 4,000 rai of paddy fields in Sri Songkhram district of this northeastern province. The water level of the Mekong in Nakhon Phanom on Saturday was about 8 metres, or 4m below the spill-over ...
PATTANAPONG SRIPIACHAI
Rising Salinity Threatens Rice Crops on Southeast Asia’s Sinking Coast
Prak Nhorn has no hope for his rice crop this year. “When I transplant seedlings, they die out. The salt is still in the soil,” said the farmer from Slab Ta Aon village, a riverside settlement roughly 150 kilometers southwest of Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, and ...
Elise Cutts
Thailand grapples with allowing more Chinese landowners
Thailand has been a popular expatriate destination for investment and retirement for decades, but foreign land ownership has long been restricted. Foreigners can own no more than 49% of any condominium development and are restricted from owning most freehold estates. Yet Thailand is keen to attract ...
PREM SINGH GILL
Vietnam’s broken rice bowl
For generations farmers and their families harvesting their rice paddies in the fertile Mekong Delta have relied on the river’s bountiful fish resources and rice production for their subsistence. For millions, the pulse of life is the constant flow of the river. Those living along the ...
JAMES BORTON
Mining the Mekong: Land and livelihoods lost to Cambodia’s thirst for sand
Some 45 kilometers, or 28 miles, up the Mekong River from Phnom Penh, Voi Thy sat and watched as 12 boats pumped sand from the riverbed. Another 11 boats, weighed low by their quarry of freshly mined sand, were making the glacial journey past her ...
Gerald Flynn, Vutha Srey
Indigenous rights bill languishes
Thailand is home to over 6 million indigenous people. Yet many are outlawed, denied basic rights, and subject to many forms of oppression. This must change. According to the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, about 10% of the population belongs to 60 indigenous and ethnic ...
BANGKOK POST EDITORIAL COLUMN
Vietnam court upholds 9-year jail sentence for democracy activist
A Vietnamese court has upheld a nine-year prison term for prominent human rights campaigner and writer Pham Doan Trang, who was convicted of anti-state activities, her lawyers and state media said. On Thursday, the Hanoi People’s High Court rejected Trang’s appeal of a sentence handed down in December ...
AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
Refugees in Thailand allege detention centre abuse
The detention centre was sweltering as Bangkok’s heat oppressed the crowded room. Dark steel bars lined the cells while scores of imprisoned migrants counted down the hours of the day. Crammed together in a tight space, the refugees were in a constantly agitated state. The watchful ...
CALEB QUINLEY
The Mekong Delta is yearning for opportunities
If you enter “10.196725, 105.544721” in Google Maps, it will take you to a location in the Co Do District of Can Tho City. An orchard spanning several thousand square meters appears on the screen. Why does the orchard stand alone? Drag the mouse to the ...
Carolyn Turk