News
Tonne of ganja seized on Mekong bank
A patrol from the Mekong Riverine Unit seized about 1,000 kilogrammes of compressed marijuana found in fertiliser sacks on the bank of the Mekong river in Bung Khong Long district of Bang Kan province late on Tuesday night, MRU commander R/Adm Sompong Sorn-akas said on ...
PATTANAPONG SRIPIACHAI
Gen Prawit raises concerns over Luang Prabang dam
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon is calling for international efforts to monitor the controversial Luang Prabang dam project in Laos and the impact it will have on the Mekong River, where water levels have been unusually low. The issue was raised yesterday at a meeting chaired ...
Mongkol Bangprapa
Thailand’s water shortage and inequality crisis
Shortages of water are a huge problem for Thailand. The government’s attempts to promote industrial investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) — Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao — has caused water demand in the region to rise drastically. This has diverted water away from farmers ...
Kanokwan Manorom, Ubon Ratchathani University
Thai hospitals roll out ninja robots to help combat Covid-19
Thai hospitals are deploying “ninja robots” to measure fevers and protect the health of overburdened medical workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak. First built to monitor recovering stroke patients, the machines have been quickly repurposed to help fight the disease, which has so far ...
Alita Sharon
Op-Ed: Thailand needs firmer Covid-19 action
While being on the right track, the government’s latest response to the new coronavirus (Covid-19) by closing schools and entertainment venues, as well as putting off the Songkran break, is likely to prove too little, too late, once again. As other countries have shown, the ...
THITINAN PONGSUDHIRAK
Thai Activists Protest New Xayaburi Dam on Mekong River
A series of dams on the transboundary Mekong River has reduced water levels, damaging fisheries and causing other environmental problems for the people who depend on the waterway for their livelihoods and food. Now, as the latest dam, the Lao-owned Xayaburi, begins operations on the Lower Mekong, a Thai activist group is ...
196kg ganja seized in Mukdahan
Local officials seized about 196 kilogrammes of compressed marijuana from the Mekong river bank in Wan Yai district on Tuesday morning. Residents in tambon Pong Kham reported to the kamnan and Wan Yai district chief Pitinat Nithisthani after seeing seven black plastic bags on the bank ...
CHUROJ TRIPRAPAKORN
Karen fear ravages from river diversion schemes
Muesaw Chokedilok, an ethnic Karen woman from Thailand’s Kaburdin Village in Chiang Mai’s Omkoi district, hops aboard an old pickup truck for a rugged ride up the mountain. With her are a group of housewives from the same village, all clad in cotton handwoven clothes ...
PIANPORN DEETES
On the Mekong, Khon Pi rapids saved – for now
Just over a year ago, I reported on the uncertain future of the Khon Pi rapids, located near the Thai town of Chiang Khong and lying in the riverbed between Thailand and Laos. At issue was the desire of a Chinese company to blast the rapids and ...
MILTON OSBORNE
They, Too: Thai Women Reporters Share Tales of Sexual Harassment
Sexism and dangers women face in the Thai workplace are well known, partly thanks to reporters who highlight those issues in their work. But the journalists themselves rarely tell their own stories. This is hardly a surprise. Those working in the media, after all, are trained ...
Asaree Traitrakulpanich