Agriculture and fishing
Lao rice farmers seeking more export markets
Phanphet Agriculture Development Farm (PADF) is preparing to sell 10,000 tonnes of rice this year after negotiating exports with international partners. PADF President Mr Thongsavan Miboun told the media on 20 January the farm was doing its part to increase rice production and overseas sales. Keep reading ...
Vietnam seeks new investors for empty industrial park
The Vietnam government has decided to transfer a major industrial park in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang to the local authority after its manager, PetroVietnam’s construction subsidiary PVC, failed to attract investors. After acquiring Soai Rap Industrial Park, Tien Giang will find investors to fill ...
Irrigation systems running up electrical debts
Lao irrigation systems that use electrical pumps to feed water into channels to farmers’ fields owe a lot of money to Electricite du Laos, the national electricity authority, with many utilities bills remaining outstanding. Deputy Director General of the Department of Irrigation under the Ministry of ...
Thai Fisheries officials predict 'no red card' from EU
The Department of Fisheries does not expect Thailand to be hit with a red card by the European Union, citing positive signals from EU representatives over progress in dealing with illegal fishing during their visit to the country this week. Esak Pakdeekong, the department’s deputy chief, said ...
Thai customs taps technology for IUU battle
Thailand’s Customs Department has launched a mobile app for anti-IUU activity to help track fishing routes from the catch to the processing plant. With the application, government officials will know where the catch was made, how it got to the factory and its final production process, director-general Kulit ...
Thai Government moving quickly on rubber crisis
The Thai government will step up efforts to reduce rubber plantations, particularly on encroached lands as part of measures to tackle the low rubber price. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said his administration will consider whether rubber plantations can be scaled down. Keep reading ...
Rice growers drilling wells in dry riverbed
Some rice farmers in Phitsanulok province are drilling wells in their dry riverbed to get around the Irrigation Department’s warning not to grow off-season crops due to the water shortage, insisting it’s the only livelihood they know. Keep reading ...
Migrant fishermen to be cremated in Thailand
A group of Cambodian migrant fishermen is preparing to cremate five colleagues in Thailand’s southern Ranong province after they were struck by a mystery illness while working on a commercial fishing vessel in the Indian Ocean, an official said on 18 January. Cheam Lamatin, the labor ...
Five Cambodian fishermen die at sea
Five Cambodian fishermen died at sea from an undetermined illness, while 20 more are currently hospitalised in Thailand’s Ranong Provincial Hospital, officials at the Cambodian Embassy in Thailand said on 17 January. Lamatin Cheam, the counsellor in charge of Cambodian labour at the embassy in Bangkok, ...
Call to save water, plant vegetables slow to take on
The Thai government has been trying to tell farmers in the Central Plains for months that they should shift from planting rice to other crops that need less water because of the severe water shortage this season. Keep reading ...