Disasters and emergency response

Fishermen in northeast Thailand say they have seen catches in the Mekong River plunge, while some farmers in Vietnam and Cambodia are leaving for jobs in cities as harvests of rice and other crops shrink. The common thread driving these events is erratic water levels in ...

Kyar Kone Te Tike is a small town in Magwe division in central Myanmar, about 19 miles away from the Magwe Natmauk Road. Daw Mar Oo has lived here all of her life. Come summertime, finding drinking water is always a struggle. There are three small hand-dug ...

Preventing the further destruction of Southeast Asia’s forests will be a critical step to stopping the spread of future deadly viruses similar to COVID-19, according to leading experts studying the risk factors that have contributed to the current global pandemic. Over the past four decades, swathes of ...

What happens when the greatest threat to national security comes from a virus? What does that mean for defense spending, modernization, and civil-military relations? In Southeast Asia — where militaries have long had an outsized role in politics, economics, and society — the answers to ...

A recently published report by Eyes on Earth, Inc. has pointed the finger at Chinese dams holding back water as having significantly contributed to the major drought impacting the Mekong River in Southeast Asia. The drought’s effects have been felt by millions and hamper efforts to ...

Food security concerns in Myanmar are looming as farmers are unable to start the new growing season due to COVID-19 disruptions. “Since COVID-19, there is no longer usual trading as crops simply don’t sell anymore,” said Ba Myint, a farmer in Taungup township in southern Rakhine ...

The coronavirus outbreak casts a shadow over the future of approximately 300,000 soon-to-be graduates this year. The bleak prospect of unemployment and layoffs as the economy staggers back to growth is expected to persist for at least two years. Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation ...

Economists said the government’s COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP) should focus more on essential sectors such as agriculture and livestock, which affects longer term food security. The CERP was announced on April 27 to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy.  “Myanmar is an agricultural ...

Additional state quarantine facilities in the capital are being offered to Thais returning from overseas this month, according to a Defence Ministry official. The facilities include those in Qiu Hotel and Movenpick Hotel in central Bangkok. Returnees are required to spend 14 days in state-designated quarantine facilities, ...

Their ancestors had come to settle the Mekong Delta, turning it into the nation’s agriculture and aquaculture hub, but now they are fleeing. At three in the morning, Dang Van Binh, 34, wakes up in his hut by a river in An Phu Trung Commune in ...