News

Thailand has rejected a new technical report on Laos’ Sanakham dam project, one of nine large-scale Mekong River mainstream dams integral to Vientiane’s controversial economic strategy of becoming the “Battery of Southeast Asia.” The 684-megawatt Sanakham dam is one of seven future dams in various stages ...

The drop in air quality across Bangkok over the past week is caused by an urban “dust dome” over the city, which formed as low atmospheric pressure and high-rise buildings trapped dust and other pollutants from the burning of agricultural waste, says Natural Resources and ...

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has rejected a request by a group of evicted Karen villagers to be allowed to resettle in their ancestral home deep into a forest at the Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi. “As long as there ...

Srongpol Chantharueang remembers his parents telling him as a boy always to protect the local wetland forest when he grew up. They told him that the ecosystem would be important for his life and that of his community. “I didn’t understand what they meant at ...

Thailand’s economic slump during the coronavirus pandemic led to a drop in electricity demand, with Thai officials estimating power reserves currently at 50% over total capacity.  However, despite the Thai surplus, hydroelectric dams are still being developed next door in Laos, Thailand’s top provider of electricity. Critics say the dam projects are not driven ...

Palm oil has long been a major economic backbone of Southeast Asian economies, notably Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. But the undeniable environmental impact of extensive deforestation, haze and forest fires caused by oil palm plantations has given the industry a bad reputation that has been ...

IN 1998, PEOPLE in Na Doi, a quiet village in northwest Thailand, noticed that their fish catches in the nearby Ngao River were declining. The fish they did manage to net were also getting smaller. Together, Na Doi’s 75 households decided to try a radical solution: ...

The government is considering giving financial assistance to people affected by the latest outbreak of Covid-19, government sources revealed on Monday. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday met for talks with Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow and Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith at Government House. Also present were ...

Like many Thai students, Tanwa Ngernpot, a six-year-old student in Nonthaburi province, can’t return to school after the New Year holiday. The Education Ministry last week ordered all public and private education providers in the “maximum control zones” of 28 provinces to be close until Jan ...

As 2021 begins — not soon enough for most of us — we take one last look at the year that was. For Thailand, 2020 was a year of turmoil, disruption and contrasts. Simmering discontent boiled over for some in the form of protests, and the ...