Industries
Large-scale logging in Cambodia’s Prey Lang linked to politically-connected mining operation
The early onset of Cambodia’s wet season had seen the rain fall thick over Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, turning freshly cut paths through the forest into a near-impassible slick of churned-up mud. But the torrential weather had done little to deter local loggers, who rode ...
Gerald Flynn|Andy Ball|Vutha Srey
Sustaining the Mekong Delta’s way of life
The Mekong Delta’s famed floating markets, where local speciality produce is sold on boats, provide a unique scene that draws both local and foreign visitors. In addition, the markets illustrate the southerners’ custom of trading and travelling on the river. Nham Hung, a cultural researcher, said floating ...
The Star Online
Myanmar state of affairs worsening, ETI warns businesses
In a position statement, the ETI points to a Commission of Inquiry into the decline of workers’ rights in Myanmar established by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in March, noting such a move is the ILO’s highest-level investigative procedure which is generally set up when a member state ...
Hannah Abdulla
As road accidents rise, garment workers face a dangerous commute
Early on the morning of 12 February while heading to her shift at the garment factory in Kampong Speu province, Soth Vy was the last of about 40 workers to climb onto the standing platform of the truck that came to her village. She enjoyed ...
ASHLEY HUI YIN TAN
High-tech cleanup on the way for Mekong, Tonle Sap in Phnom Penh
The Ministry of Tourism and two NGOs – Everwave and River and Ocean Cleanup – plan to launch a campaign to clean up the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Tonle Bassac rivers in Phnom Penh by collecting rubbish from the water and along the river banks. ...
Two dozen dead, 80 missing after jade mine landslide in Myanmar’s Hpakant
At least 23 people are dead and 80 are missing 11 days after a landslide at a jade mine in Myanmar’s Kachin state, but junta officials and the mine’s operators have yet to confirm the casualties and are seeking to keep the incident under wraps, ...
Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Tiger and bear rescue spotlights captive wildlife tourism woes in Thailand
The future of Phuket Zoo was uncertain long before the COVID-19 pandemic closed Thailand’s borders to foreign tourists. Animal rights campaigners had frequently raised concerns over conditions at the facility, and visitor numbers were dwindling. Now, after two years of near-zero income, the zoo has ...
Carolyn Cowan
Thailand Keeps Quarantine-Free Entry Ban as Omicron Cases Surge
Thailand’s main Covid-19 task force will meet later this week to review the suspension of its quarantine-free entry program for vaccinated visitors amid an uptick in new omicron cases among foreign tourists. The Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, headed by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, will meet ...
Randy Thanthong-Knight
Laos banks on new high-speed railway to draw tourists and investment
The men arrived in dark jackets, and the women in fine woven silk skirts. They filed into the gleaming railway station under a red sign that said “Vientiane” in Lao and Chinese. Then they set off. Laotian lawmakers took a test ride on their country’s first ...
Tan Hui Yee
Destination Mekong aligns with other tourism leaders to sign the Glasgow declaration on climate action in tourism
Destination Mekong became a proud signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism at the COP26. As part of its efforts to play a leadership role in the global tourism community, Destination Mekong became a signatory and launch partner of the Glasgow Declaration on climate Action in ...
THEODORE KOUMELIS