The Guardian News

How have Thailand and Cambodia kept Covid cases so low?

When the coronavirus first began to spread rapidly in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Thailand appeared especially vulnerable. It was the first country outside China to report a case of Covid-19, when, on 13 January, a 61-year-old woman from Wuhan was confirmed to have tested positive in ...

Rebecca Ratcliffe

Ancient whale skeleton found in Thailand holds clues to climate change

A whale skeleton thought to be up to 5,000 years old has been discovered, almost perfectly preserved, by researchers in Thailand. The skeleton, believed to be a Bryde’s whale, was found in Samut Sakhon, west of Bangkok. Researchers have excavated 80% of the remains and have so ...

Rebecca Ratcliffe

Vietnam floods and landslides displace 90,000 people as new cyclone nears

Floods and landslides in Vietnam are reported to have left at least 102 people dead or missing, while tens of thousands of people have lost their homes to rising water. Two storms that hit central Vietnam in the first two weeks of October, Storm Linfa and Storm Nangka, ...

Ashley Lampard in Hanoi

Thailand’s turtle hatchlings finally have the beach to themselves

When Kosum Kao-Uthai’s family noticed mysterious imprints in the sand outside the hotel resort they own in Koh Samui, she knew exactly which animal had paid a visit. She remembered spotting the same marks, left by a nesting sea turtle, when, as a teenager, she ...

Rebecca Ratcliffe

Jailed Australian democracy activist has 'disappeared' inside Vietnam's prison system

A 70-year-old Australian democracy activist has “disappeared” inside Vietnam’s prison system: no one from his family or the Australian government has been allowed to see or speak with him for nearly four months.  Human rights advocates, lawyers and Chau Van Kham’s family said the charges against him are baseless ...

Ben Doherty

Cambodia scraps plans for Mekong hydropower dams

A Cambodian government decision to postpone building new hydropower dams on the Mekong river has been welcomed by campaigners, who say it will provide welcome relief to the tens of thousands of people whose livelihood depend upon its rich resources. Cambodia announced on Wednesday that it would ...

Rebecca Ratcliffe

Billion-dollar wildlife industry in Vietnam under assault as law drafted to halt trading

Vietnam’s prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, has asked the country’s agriculture ministry to draft a directive to stop illegal trading and consumption of wildlife over fears it spreads disease. The directive, seen as a victory for animal rights organisations, will lead to a clamping down on ...

Chris Humphrey

Giant river animals on verge of extinction, report warns

Populations of the great beasts that once dominated the world’s rivers and lakes have crashed in the last 50 years, according to the first comprehensive study. Some freshwater megafauna have already been declared extinct, such as the Yangtze dolphin, and many more are now on the ...

Damian Carrington

Where does your plastic go? Global investigation reveals America's dirty secret

What happens to your plastic after you drop it in a recycling bin? According to promotional materials from America’s plastics industry, it is whisked off to a factory where it is seamlessly transformed into something new. This is not the experience of Nguyễn Thị Hồng Thắm, a ...

Erin McCormick, Bennett Murray, Carmela Fonbuena, Leonie Kijewski, Gökçe Saraçoğlu, Jamie Fullerton, Alastair Gee, Charlotte Simmonds

Thai regulator backs sim card plan to track tourists

Thailand’s telecommunications regulator has approved in principle a plan to issue special sim cards to foreign tourists so they can be tracked via their mobile phones. Officials at the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission said the plan would apply to tourists only, backtracking on an earlier ...

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