Southeast Asia Globe
Living in fear along the Mekong
The collapse of a dam at the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy hydropower project in Laos was tragic. Immediate assessments say that 39 people died, many suffered injuries and thousands were left homeless, with their means of income lost for the foreseeable future. Beyond these numbers, ...
Vietnam looks to bolster its internet censorship
Following the recent intensification of his country’s crackdown on political dissent, Vietnamese president Tran Dai Quang has argued for the need to develop a more robust internet censorship regime in an article published to a state media website. Quang said enemies of the state had ...
Tens of thousands protest against aid agencies in Myanmar’s west
Buddhist monks and residents demonstrated in 15 of 17 townships in Rakhine State on Sunday to demand a resolution to the security issues in the area and to keep out foreign aid agencies. Buddhist monks hold placards during a protest against the United Nations (UN), ...
How Southeast Asia can leverage China’s new Silk Road
In the deep valleys of northern Laos, the Nam Khan River – a major tributary of the mighty Mekong – slices through extraordinary scenery. Towering, mist-covered mountain ranges; a sublimely preserved Unesco heritage-listed city that was once a royal capital; rippling rice paddies and fishing ...
How Cambodia’s record deforestation is driving crippling drought
Massive deforestation is playing a crucial role in the droughts that have devastated Cambodia. But despite an official ban on timber exports, forests continue to be cut down at a record rate. One of only two countries in the world to feature a building on its ...
New synthetics impede Southeast Asia’s fight against drugs: UN
The spread of a “new psychoactive substances” is devastating countries around the world, and a report released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) identifies East and Southeast Asia as the main origin of such substances.The substances include drugs such as ...
Cambodia’s microfinance shakeup: in whose interest?
On the river island of Koh Srolav in southern Cambodia, everything changed for the 300 or so families inhabiting the small fishing village about ten years ago, when the sand dredging barges arrived. Operating in the dark of night, they have plundered the Tatai river with ...
How the residents of Cambodia’s ‘HIV village’ are coping more than two years on
On the outskirts of Cambodia’s Battambang province, down a broken dirt road bleached white by the sun, Prum Ly is waiting within the walls of her hut to die. Outside in the afternoon heat, half-starved chickens scrabble in the dirt, stripped to the skin by ...
The real cost of Thailand scrapping its sugar subsidy program
Thailand is ending its sugar subsidy programme after complaints that it dragged down global sugar prices. But both rural farmers and the ruling junta could suffer from the decision. The Thai government has announced that it will end its programme subsidising its sugar industry nearly a ...
Cambodia’s decision to nix military exercises with US leaves many scratching their heads
Defence ministry officials have cited the country’s current ‘war on drugs’ and its upcoming commune elections as reasons for diverting resources from the annual Angkor Sentinel exercises. Earlier this week, Cambodia informed the US it would postpone their annual joint military exercises for the next ...
