Disasters and emergency response
Flooding in Vietnam as China discharges water down Red River
Hydrologists have warned about imminent flooding in the Red River in northern Vietnam due to huge discharge of water from upstream reservoirs in China. Water levels in the river rose to 31.7 m in Yen Bai Province on 12 October before receding, according to the National Center ...
US and Laos host Mekong disaster response initiative
The government of Laos, in partnership with the United States, recently hosted the Lower Mekong Initiative Disaster Relief Exercise and Exchange in Vientiane. The exercise and exchange is an annual initiative between the governments of Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States. Each year ...
Severe drought hits 17 villages in Sukhothai
Severe drought and water shortages have hit Sukhothai’s Ban Dan Lan Hoi district for the second year this year, affecting residents, livestock and farmland in 17 villages. Keep reading ...
Thai Government offers to help Jakarta fight haze hazard
The government is ready to help Indonesia tackle the haze pollution problem which has spread over large parts of the region after its envoy admitted the country’s efforts are not enough to stop the fires, Foreign Ministry deputy permanent secretary Vitavas Srivihok said. Keep reading ...
Flooding in Prachin Buri
After two days of rain the Prachin Buri river overflowed and flooded the old market of Kabin Buri Municipality in Kabin Buri district early on 6 October, reports said. Keep reading ...
Dengue’s link to El Niño
As Cambodia contends with one of the strongest El Niño cycles in recent memory, a new study of millions of dengue cases over the past two-decades-plus has shown that spikes in the deadly disease across Southeast Asia may be linked to the weather phenomenon. Upswings in ...
Cambodia drought spawns fish fears
Fishing communities along two of Cambodia’s principle rivers say their livelihoods are threatened by droughts that have reduced water levels and devastated fish numbers. “The Tonle Sap is 3 metres lower than last year,” Long Sochhet, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Fishing Communities, said on ...
Thai Government tells rice farmers to choose another crop
The government has called on farmers across the country to grow plants that require less water than rice amid the ongoing risk of drought. “Farmers, for example, can grow corn-for-animal feed and pods instead,” government spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said on 4 October. Keep reading ...
Drought Chao Phraya drought 'will last till 2017'
People living in the Chao Phraya River basin should prepare for a drought crisis that will last until 2017, and those in Bangkok should store water for consumption during the dry season, a seminar was told. Anond Snidwongs, director of the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development ...
Fire equipment still lacking
Two years since the Cambodian government passed a law on fire safety – and hot on the heels of a recent spate of fires at local garment factories, neighbourhoods and nightclubs – a recent informal survey has found that even high-end hotels still widely lack ...
