News
Vietnam and Thailand attract German solar energy funds
A German crowd investing platform for green energy is looking to further expand in Southeast Asia after most recently acquiring a Thai solar project. Ecoligo bought SEA Rooftop Solar, the Thai solar subsidiary of German utility giant RWE, in December. With the deal, whose price has not been disclosed, ...
JENS KASTNER
Construction begins on fifth bridge linking Laos, Thailand
Work on a fifth bridge linking Laos and Thailand across the Mekong River has begun after a construction agreement was signed in December. The bridge, which will take 36 months to build, will connect Bolikhamxay province in Laos to Thailand’s north-eastern province of Bueng Kan. Local daily ...
China Belatedly Notifies Mekong Nations of River Disruption
Earlier this week, I wrote about the sudden drop in water levels along the Mekong River in northern Thailand, and their likely link to the filling of a dam reservoir upstream in China. The fall first became apparent on January 4, when locals in the Thai port town ...
Sebastian Strangio
OPINON: Under cover of COVID, new laws in Asia threaten environmental and social protections
In addition to its devastating toll on public health, COVID-19 has exacerbated global food insecurity and economic crises. These costs have been particularly acute for Indigenous Peoples and local communities on customarily governed territories and lands. Yet some of the worst impacts have originated not from the crisis, but from ...
Kundan Kumar
Mekong Levels Reportedly Plummet Due to Chinese Dam Activity
Water levels on the Mekong River have fallen due to the filling of a Chinese dam on the upper reaches of the river in Yunnan province, according to locals and river monitors. The fall was reported on January 4, when locals in the Thai port town ...
Sebastian Strangio
China notifies Mekong River neighbours it is holding back waters
China has notified downstream neighbours it is holding back the Mekong River flow at a hydropower dam on the waterway’s upper reaches for 20 days, as part of a new data-sharing pact, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and Thailand said on Wednesday. The statements came a ...
Panu Wongcha-um, Kay Johnson
Epidemic Reconstruction Reveals Gambling and Trafficking of Migrant Workers are Major Sources of Ongoing COVID-19 Spread
As many as 45 provinces have been infected by the infection cluster first exploding among migrant workers communities in Samut Sakhon, while several more have been added to the list by the clusters involving gambling dens and local gambling such as cock fighting The disease control ...
B.Tribune
Thailand scrambles to contain outbreak, secure vaccines
For much of 2020, Thailand had the coronavirus under control. After a strict nationwide lockdown in April and May, the number of new local infections dropped to zero, where they remained for the next six months. Thailand closed its borders, enforcing mandatory quarantines for its own ...
BILL BREDESEN
Construction of Long Thanh Airport Commences This WeekSaigoneer
The massive project in Dong Nai Province will relieve pressure on Tan Son Nhat once completed. Tuoi Tre reports that a groundbreaking ceremony for Long Thanh International Airport was held yesterday morning. The project’s first phase will cost US$4.6 billion and is expected to be completed in 2025. This ...
Saigoneer
VN builds expressway in Mekong Delta
An additional section to the HCMC-Mekong Delta expressway will cut travel time from the city to the region’s capital to just two hours. Work on the extended section, called the My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway, started Monday at Thuan An Commune in Binh Minh Town, Vinh Long ...
Cuu Long