South China Morning Post
Cambodia’s China-backed canal on Mekong may threaten ‘fragile ecosystems’
A Chinese-backed canal in Cambodia is likely to put “fragile” ecosystems at risk, researchers in China and Britain have warned, calling for better mitigation efforts. The Funan Techo canal, a 180km (112-mile) project to link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand, is a flagship project expected ...
Leopold Chen
China says Mekong dam did not discharge water downstream amid heavy flooding in Thailand
China said on Tuesday a major dam on the Mekong River did not discharge floodwaters last week amid heavy flooding in Thailand. Monsoon rains across large areas in Thailand have caused extensive flooding that has killed at least nine people and affected more than 51,700 households, ...
Meredith Chen
Southeast Asia heatwave: Thailand’s heat index tops 52 degrees as Philippines risks ‘overloaded’ power systems
Thailand is reeling under the grip of a severe heatwave with temperatures soaring to record highs in some areas and authorities warned of harsher weather in the coming days. More than three dozen districts across Thailand’s 77 provinces have seen record temperatures in April, generally the hottest month of ...
Bloomberg
China vows closer security ties with Mekong states as cyber scams, Myanmar unrest have cross-border impact
China and its five Southeast Asian neighbours along the Lancang-Mekong River have agreed to focus on security cooperation, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. “We will resolutely combat cross-border crime in the [region], especially cyber fraud and gambling,” Wang said after the annual Lancang-Mekong Cooperation foreign ministers’ meeting with ...
Zhao Ziwen
Cambodia wildlife official faces 145 years in jail for smuggling long-tailed macaques to US
Federal prosecutors have charged eight people with smuggling endangered monkeys, including a Cambodian wildlife official who was arrested in the US while travelling to a conference on protecting endangered species. The official plus a colleague in that country’s wildlife agency and six people connected to a ...
Associated Press
China, Vietnam, Laos are hotspots for the criminal wildlife trade: does Asia really care about biodiversity?
Pangolin scales at US$160 a kilogram, monkeys and wild cats for sale – the online trade in protected and rare species is thriving in Laos, a key Southeast Asian gateway to the insatiable Chinese and Vietnamese markets for animal products. As world leaders gather in Egypt ...
Aidan Jones
Climate change: efforts to halt rise in global temperatures may be too late to save key glaciers, report warns
Glaciers in UN World Heritage sites are among those likely to disappear by 2050 as a result of global warming – regardless of efforts to limit the rise in global temperatures, scientists have warned. Researchers fear their loss is likely to have a devastating impact on vital waterways ...
Holly Chik
Gridlocked and flood-prone, Vietnam’s biggest city struggles to keep pace with its own breakneck growth
As soon as the roads are widened a fresh glut of cars moves in to fill them, says lifelong Ho Chi Minh City resident Thinh Pham, who fears urban planning is forever condemned to lag behind the unrelenting growth of one of Southeast Asia’s most ...
Michael Tatarski
Thailand rolls out red carpet for wealthy foreign workers with 10-year visa, tax breaks
Thailand, called the “Land of Smiles,” is rolling out the red carpet for foreign workers, joining a bevy of countries looking to use the immigration route to boost their economies. Top professionals, eligible high-net-worth individuals and retirees can start applying online from Thursday to stay for ...
Bloomberg
‘It can be pretty horrifying’: how Cambodia’s land grabs are ruining lives
The monk looks haggard in the midmorning sun, scanning the views through surrounding trees while chainsaws drone in the near distance. “It’s as if a storm has come and the animals have fled like there has been a hurricane,” he says from his sparse, open-air pagoda ...
Andrew Haffner
