News

Industries that produce pollution may have to pay more taxes now that the Lao government has embraced the National Green Growth Strategy. Under the strategy, which Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith endorsed on Jan 30, the Ministry of Finance will impose taxes to discourage industries from producing ...

The Government of Japan Friday granted JPY 412 million or approximately US$3.9 million to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to advance its flood and drought monitoring and forecasting functions. The funding will be spread over four years from 2020–2023. It is to transform the MRC’s Regional ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen said China has financed the construction of more than 3,000 kilometres of roads in the Kingdom. The figure was shared at the inauguration ceremony of National Road No. 55 with a total length of 182.16 kilometres and the groundbreaking for ...

About VND350 billion ($15.16 million) would serve to combat drought and salt intrusion in five Mekong Delta provinces, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. The money, to be derived from multiple sources, would be awarded to Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Kien Giang and Ca ...

Just over a year ago, I reported on the uncertain future of the Khon Pi rapids, located near the Thai town of Chiang Khong and lying in the riverbed between Thailand and Laos. At issue was the desire of a Chinese company to blast the rapids and ...

The Laos Ministry of Energy and Mines said the domestic distribution of electricity is likely to rise to 28,886 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) by the end of 2020. The information was shared by a ministry official at a recent annual meeting of the energy and mines sector ...

Sexism and dangers women face in the Thai workplace are well known, partly thanks to reporters who highlight those issues in their work. But the journalists themselves rarely tell their own stories. This is hardly a surprise. Those working in the media, after all, are trained ...

Two journalists who were abducted and released by Border Guard Force (BGF) troops in Myawaddy Township, Karen State said they were tortured by the soldiers during interrogation. Naw Betty Han, a reporter for Frontier Myanmar, and Mar Naw, a photojournalist for Myanmar Times, were detained in the jungle ...

A project to improve access to, and quality of, basic education nationwide in Myanmar was approved today by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors. The project, financed by a US$100 million credit from the International Development Association (IDA), will be implemented over four school ...

Vietnam’s prolonged drought, coupled with an extensive buildup of salinity, have driven five provinces in the country’s rice bowl to declare a state of emergency. “This year’s drought and salinity have been way more devastating than what we saw four years ago,” said Nguyen Thien Phap, ...