News
Malaysian PM visits Thailand to discuss border reopening, deep-south conflict
Malaysian PM Ismail Sabri Yakob is undertaking his first official visit to Thailand today as his nation’s prime minister. During his 3 day visit, he’ll be meeting with his Thai counterpart, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, to discuss bilateral cooperation, vaccines, and the reopening of the countries’ shared ...
Benar News
Mekong Delta prepares for possible drought, salinity
Farmers and authorities in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta have started storing water, building dams and planting seeds early to avoid drought and salinity. Living near Kenh Lap, Mekong Delta’s largest manmade reservoir in Ben Tre Province, Le Van Hao said he had witnessed how the reservoir, which ...
Hoang Nam, Cuu Long
Dam reservoir releases could raise Mekong River water levels
Mekong River levels are expected to rise as hydropower dams in the Upper Basin begin releasing water from upstream reservoirs. These dry season releases will affect the river’s natural flow, experts said, altering livelihoods across the basin. Regional specialists tracking the ebb and flow of the ...
ANTON L. DELGADO
Cambodia’s internet gateway debut leaves analysts in the dark
Just days before Cambodia’s national internet gateway is scheduled to take effect, analysts and civil society organisations say they know scarcely more about its rollout than when the decree was first signed into law last year. The gateway is slated to route all internet traffic through ...
FIONA KELLIHER
Vietnamese Refugees in Thailand Facing Delays for UN ID Cards
Vietnamese refugees in Thailand are facing delays in renewing identity cards issued by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Bangkok, and the pandemic-related suspension of processing has exposed many to the possibility of arrest by Thai authorities. Tran Van Long, 64, originally from ...
An Hai
Citizen Journalists Fight Back Against Myanmar Military's Crackdown
Professional reporters in Myanmar say their job is nearly impossible under the fierce restrictions imposed by military rule. Now, citizen journalists have stepped into the breach, often working undercover to avoid arrests or worse. After a coup ousted elected civilian leaders about a year ago, press ...
Tommy Walker
Last Irrawaddy dolphin in northeastern Cambodia dies
The last known endangered freshwater Irrawaddy dolphin on a stretch the Mekong River near Cambodia’s border with Laos died this week, after it was reported snagged in a fishing net, wildlife officials and villagers in the Southeast Asian countries said. “We are deeply saddened by the ...
RFA Staff
Mekong Drought Enters Fourth Year; Worst Conditions in 60 Years
Mainland Southeast Asia is entering its fourth year of drought, with climate change and unrelenting dam construction taking an unprecedented toll on the Mekong River and the 65 million people who rely on the waterway for their livelihoods. In Cambodia, the drought has prompted a government ...
Luke Hunt
Ministry gives green light to gold mining operation
The government has authorised a local company to mine gold ore on a 18.28 square-kilometre site over a period of 20 years. An agreement on the project was signed by Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Mrs Khamchan Vongsenboun and the company. The company will invest ...
Times Reporters
Asia swaps coal for wood fuel, but emissions still a threat
The rebuke of coal has pushed countries like South Korea and Japan to embrace the harvesting of trees to be processed into wood pellets, but environmentalists are warning that this fuel might prove as damaging as the black mineral it is replacing. Some critics focus on ...
LIEN HOANG