News
Safety debate erupts after Vietnam facility caught ripening durians with chemicals
Debate has raged in Vietnam over the use of legal chemicals to artificially ripen fruits, after a facility in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong was caught ripening numerous immature durians this way last week. On September 1, an inspection team raided a fruit facility ...
Protest threat if dam plan goes to cabinet
A leader of the Seub Nakhasathien Foundation conservation group has vowed to launch a protest if a proposal to approve the Mae Wong dam in Nakhon Sawan goes before cabinet. Sasin Chalermlarp’s comment came as Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chatchai Sarikulya is reportedly seeking to use ...
Thailand 'ready to bridge' G20 and G77
Thailand is ready to serve as a bridge linking the Group of 20’s major industrialised economies and the developing economies in the Group of 77, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha says. Gen Prayut was speaking on September 4 as he attended the two-day G20 summit in Hangzhou, China ...
Mekong Delta region awaits floods
The Mekong Delta, the rice, seafood and fruit granary of the country, is facing landslides and sinking, as it no longer receives enough silt because of limited floodwaters. “We have been living here for several generations and we have never seen such poor floodwaters until the ...
Malaysia expects more Zika cases as virus spreads in Southeast Asia
Malaysia is bracing for more Zika cases, officials said on September 4, after detecting the first locally infected patient, which could further stretch a health system struggling with dengue, another mosquito-borne virus that can be fatal. Both Zika, which is of particular risk to pregnant women, ...
One year later, Chin landslide victims wary of promises still yet to be fulfilled
One year after landslides ravaged northern Chin State, and geologists recommended a relocation of the state capital, little on the ground has changed, residents say. Election promises of resettlement by Christmas were largely unmet, and families eventually moved into the new dwellings continue to lack ...
Government pledges zero tolerance to corruption
Cabinet members discussed several draft laws in the spirit of building a constructive government with zero tolerance toward corruption during the first two days of the Government’s monthly meeting, according to Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung. The minister said at a press conference ...
Contractors association bands together with YCDC grievances
Over 500 of Yangon’s licensed building contractors met last week to debate forming an industry association, which will have a long list of policy complaints to take to Yangon City Development Committee. The city’s contractors are banding together partly in anticipation of new YCDC regulations, and ...
Oil, gas production not expected before 2018
Cambodia’s oil and gas reserves will not see any production until at least 2018, according to a report by London-based BMI. “A deferral of development at Kris Energy’s Block A, which is the most progressive development in the country, prompted us to remove our forecast of ...
Myanmar forest-cutting continues despite government efforts
The hills of northern Myanmar’s Sagaing region were so legendarily thick with forests that in the days of kings, condemned criminals were ordered into the woods as a death sentence. Today illegal logging has left vast swaths of bare patches, with only a handful of old-growth ...
