News
Cambodia’s sanctuaries under threat
Cambodia’s Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary is symbolic of the country’s poor forestry management. Around 2,000 square kilometres (sq km) – around three times the size of Singapore – is lost to illegal logging in Cambodia every year where wildlife sanctuaries – despite their name – ...
Jason Thomas
UK scientists to probe economic benefits of flood defences in Vietnam
UK scientists will head to Vietnam again to study the economic and environmental benefits of natural flood defences. Researchers, led by environmental economist Dr Tobias Börger from the University of Stirling, will study the effectiveness of blue and green infrastructure (BGI) – which include wetlands, urban ...
Thomas Barrett
Dolphin species thought extinct in Vietnam caught in Mekong Delta
An Irrawaddy dolphin, not seen in decades in Vietnam, was caught by a fisherman in the southern province of Ben Tre on Wednesday. Phan Van Thai, 49, and his wife were fishing on the Co Chien River in Cho Lach District when they heard a loud ...
Phan Anh, Hoang Nam, Cuu Long
Activist ‘victim’ of NCPO’s forest policy
Nittaya vows to keep fighting for land rights as Court slaps her with four months in jail, Bt40,000 in fines. THE APPEALS Court yesterday upheld a guilty verdict and jail term against a land-rights activist over forest encroachment. But in the eyes of many, Nittaya ...
Chularat Saengpassa
Bangkok is sinking fast
For the more or less 10 million people living in Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok, flooding is a common and recurring phenomenon. This is partly due to the city’s geographic location at the southern end of the Chao Phraya River Basin, as well as its ...
Jason Thomas
Study examines forest loss in Mekong region
Dramatic forest degradation and loss in the Greater Mekong region have both their causes and potential solutions rooted in forest governance, according to a recent publication by researchers from the Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC), the University of British Columbia, and WWF. (The full ...
Karen Mo
A clean-up campaign for Yangon’s air pollution
THE SHWEDAGON Pagoda was our first stop on a mission to gather data on air quality in various locations across Yangon, which began one Sunday morning in late March. The air quality in the commercial capital seemed to have deteriorated throughout the hot season, and we ...
Zaw Win Htet and Eaint Thet Su
Sugar mill polluter in chief of Mekong Delta river
Authorities in Hau Giang Province have identified a sugar mill as the culprit responsible for polluting a river so badly that its waters turned black. Preliminary inspection results show that the sugar mill of Long My Phat Sugarcane, Sugar and Ethanol Joint Stock Company constantly discharges a ...
Cuu Long
Japan’s Strategy in the Mekong Region
Concerted actions and tangible achievements over the past 10 years of the Mekong-Japan Cooperation have significantly contributed to the transformation of the Mekong region to be one of the global growth centers. Japan’s commitment to promote quality growth-both hard and soft infrastructure connectivity- further boosts economic ...
Sim Vireak
Weaponizing Cyber Law
Having watched popular protests, from the color revolutions in the former Soviet Union to the Arab Spring, challenge their counterparts’ power, the world’s autocrats have been adopting legal measures aimed at incapacitating civic groups, including pro-democracy movements and human-rights NGOs. Among the most sweeping measures are those enabling officials to ...