Disasters and emergency response
Disasters
October registration set for new Thailand 3,000 baht subsidy campaign for 15 million applicants
A new subsidy campaign has been launched by the government, allowing registered persons to receive a subsidy granting half the price of any of their purchases at participating stores with a cap of 3,000 baht per person throughout the campaign. Registration is set to open ...
Pattaya Mail
The Last Farewell to the Mighty Mekong
The miracle of the Mekong, where the pulsating force of the monsoon-driven river every year pushes its tributary to back up and reverse its flow into the great Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia, has again been disrupted and obstructed by dams, drought, and climate change. “This ...
Tom Fawthrop
Govt compensating private sector workers laid off during pandemic
Employees who are members of their business’s social insurance scheme are eligible to receive financial assistance for temporary unemployment or loss of workdays during the COVID-19 lockdown. However, only members of business-related social insurance schemes will be able to receive compensation from the National Social Security ...
Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth
Thailand reports 1st local coronavirus case in 100 days
A prison inmate in Thailand has tested positive for the coronavirus in the country’s first confirmed locally transmitted case in 100 days, health officials said Thursday. They identified the inmate as a 37-year-old man arrested for drug abuse who was brought to prison in Bangkok on ...
Busaba Sivasomboon | AP
Facebook joins flood, drought alert efforts on Mekong River
Facebook and the Mekong River Commission (MRC) launched a collaboration initiative Monday to provide early flood alert and drought monitoring information to Mekong nations. The MRC stated it has installed 22 hydrological stations along the main channel in the lower Mekong River basin to monitor and ...
Nguyen Quy
Vietnam dodged the coronavirus bullet, so why are its workers struggling?
Along a busy highway on the outskirts of Vietnam’s largest city, a worn-out looking woman carrying all her worldly possessions in a handful of plastic bags picks her way through a web of swaying hammocks, looking for one that’s empty so she can lay her ...
Sen Nguyen
‘The second wave has started’: COVID-19 cases skyrocket in Rakhine
Ten days ago, Myanmar seemed to have COVID-19 under control. Just a handful of local transmission cases had been confirmed in the past three months. The Ministry of Health and Sports has now reported more than 100 new cases within 24 hours, including 99 in Rakhine ...
AUNG PHAY KYI SOE and KAUNG HSET NAING
Mekong Delta province declares state of emergency as waves erode embankment
With its coastal embankment threatened by collapse, Ca Mau Province is seeking urgent solutions to save residential areas and farmland. The province entered a state of emergency Thursday to respond to any damage occurring as a three kilometer (1.86 miles) coastal embankment along its western coast ...
Trung Dung
Floods wash up the North, Northeast prepares as Mekong rises
Heavy rains and flooding in Northern Thailand damaged homes and killed 1 resident. 2 people are reported missing. The Nation Thailand did not report the details of the death, but says the “flood crisis” affected 10 provinces and more than 7,000 homes in the area. Flood victims are ...
Caitlin Ashworth
Three-Decade Economic Boom Comes to a Sudden Halt in Vietnam
For the past three decades, Vietnam has known only good — or great — economic news. The nation’s consistent growth as an exporter, propelled by Communist leaders who began embracing market-oriented policies in the late 1980s, pushed many into the middle class. The coronavirus pandemic changed ...
John Boudreau and Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen