News
Locals ask court to cancel coal permits
Residents in Thailand’s Nakhon Laung district in Ayutthaya province have asked the Central Administrative Court to withdraw the operating permits given to 51 coal and fertiliser companies and 26 piers on the Pasak River. They argue they have failed to protect the communities’ health and environment ...
Mekong 'gravity' study under fire
A feasibility study on a proposal to build a tunnel diverting water from the Mekong River to the drought-stricken Northeast region will be wrapped up by year-end and will determine whether the multi-billion baht project is economically viable, a senior irrigation official says. Somkiat Prajamwong, director of the Project ...
Transport largest source of air pollution
Yangon’s traffic congestion is a major factor in fouling the city’s air, experts say. Speaking at an air quality seminar, Dr Than Htut, a retired head of the Occupational Health Unit, said it was the most important of three major causes of air pollution, the ...
Census data could ‘shatter’ transition stability, says official
Census data held back last year is still too sensitive to release, officials say. Though the initial results of the 2014 census were released in August of that year and a more detailed statistical picture was made public in May 2015, information about religion and ...
Hanoi to expand suburban bus routes
Several new bus routes connecting downtown Hanoi with suburban districts will be put into operation between now and 2020, according to Nguyen Phi Thuong, head of the Hanoi Transportation Service JSC (Transerco). The capital bus network would be extended to a large number of localities including ...
Vietnam leaders applaud WB support of local development
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung expressed appreciation for the WB’s co-operation in Vietnam’s socio-economic development, especially in poverty reduction and sustainable development as he met with World Bank (WB) Group President, Jim Yong Kim, in Hanoi on 23 February. He also spoke highly of the ...
Road upgrade to ease transport in Champassak, Attapeu
Rebuilding of Laos’ 106-km Road No. 18A, which links Road No. 13 South in Thangbaeng village, Pathoumphone district, Champassak province with Samakhixay district in Attapeu province, is on track and scheduled for completion in 2017. Work on the road began in 2013 after surveys were carried out, ...
Laos-US relations look to growing ties: US diplomat
Relations between Laos and the United States have been transforming towards growing ties, a US fellow and former US ambassador to Laos has noted. Adjunct Senior Fellow of the East-West Centre based in Hawaii, Charles B. Salmon Jr., made the comment during a recent meeting with ...
Lao satellite to open for business next month
Laos’ first telecommunications satellite (Lao Sat-1) will officially start business operations in March after successfully launching late last year and is keen to sign up government and private sector customers. Lao Sat-1 officials met in Vientiane on 23 February to introduce the satellite to potential government and ...
Voters give government mixed marks
Just a quarter of Cambodian voters are fully satisfied with the government’s efforts to deliver on its promises thus far in the fifth mandate, though more than half rated themselves partly so, according to the results of a nationwide survey conducted by election watchdog Comfrel. In ...
