News
Thai Rice Demand Predicted to Rise as Ukraine War Continues
The early morning sun peaks over the leafy Thai hillside as a crew of 20 migrant workers toss fresh rice seedlings into the soaked paddy fields, signifying the start of the rice season in northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai Province. Speed and agility are the driving forces ...
Steve Sandford
Survivors haunted by Myanmar army massacre in Sagaing
No one will stay in the eastern parts of Mone Taing Pin anymore, where locals claim that dogs howl without provocation, putrid odours materialise and vanish, and shadowy figures are spotted only to disappear before they can be identified. In May, the military massacred nearly 30 people in ...
Ko Cho
UN Ocean Conference ends with call for greater ambition and global commitment to address dire state of the Ocean
Following a week of discussions and events in Lisbon, Portugal, the UN Ocean Conference concluded on July 1, with governments and heads of state agreeing on a new political declaration to “Save Our Ocean”. Recognizing the past “collective failure” in the Conference’s final declaration, world leaders ...
Khmer Times
Mekong giant salmon carp seen once again in Cambodian waters after two-decade long disappearance
Cambodia is known for its natural resources and rich biodiversity and in recent years the conservation work has seen increasing populations of endangered animals. Researchers reported that the Mekong giant salmon carp, which has not been seen in the Mekong for two decades, has returned ...
Khmer Times
Hundreds of environmental and customary land activists were killed, why is being a 'very dangerous' activist?
The killing of a prominent indigenous expert and a British journalist in Brazil is yet another safety issue for environmental and land activists around the world. Bruno Pereira, former head of Brazil’s indigenous organization Funai, and British journalist Dom Phillips were previously declared missing while reporting ...
Southeast Asia’s abortion laws reset at the borders
Abortion is a global health issue, impacting individuals and families regardless of ethnicity, income, social status or nationality. Yet there is no worldwide legal standard for the practice of terminating a pregnancy. Lawmakers and governments hold sway over access to abortion, or its abolition. In the ...
BRIAN P. D. HANNON
Vietnam falls far short of its committment to freedom of expression, report says
Vietnam has a long way to go before it can realize its goal of joining the UN Human Rights council, according to the Vietnam Human Rights Network (VNHRN). The pressure group points to Vietnam’s treatment of journalists, who the government says are protected from all ...
By RFA Vietnamese
Vietnam orders media to promote its ocean strategy
The Vietnamese government has launched a national campaign to promote its maritime policies as the ruling party pledges to explore “all available legal tools” to defend its interests amid China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. A government order stipulates that by 2025, all domestic media outlets ...
RFA Staff
Mekong dams must release less water in dry season to preserve habitats, experts say
Abnormally high-water levels in the Mekong River at the end of May indicate that dams on the river must release less water during the dry season to protect the ecosystem, experts said at an online panel Monday. Rain levels during the dry season this year have ...
Eugene Whong for RFA
New hope for Mekong ‘megafish’
Weighing in at 661 pounds, a giant stingray hooked by a fisherman in Cambodia’s Mekong River earlier this month has taken the title of world’s largest freshwater fish. Nicknamed “Boramy,” or “full moon” in the Khmer language, the female ray — which was released — raises ...
Vanessa Bauza