News
It’s not just melting glaciers that endanger the Mekong and its region
Recent reports of a rapid diminishment in the size of the glaciers that feed the great rivers of Asia, including the Mekong, have received wide coverage, not least because they are accompanied by striking visuals. What is happening at the other end of the river in the ...
Milton Osborne
Norway funded Cambodia’s project on biodiversity
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) funded the project launched by Cambodia’s National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) with the technical assistance from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Biodiversity Finance Initiative is the name of the project launced on June 20. This project is expected ...
Nilobon Bantoey
Will the Mekong Delta sink by 2100?
The Mekong Delta loses 300 hectares of land each year because of river and coastline erosion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). “The total land area lost in the last 10 years has reached over 3,000 hectares,” Tang Quoc Chinh from the ...
The EU and Laos conclude the third formal negotiation towards an agreement on combating illegal logging and promoting trade in legal timber products
The European Union (EU) and Laos held their third round of face-to-face negotiations on a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). The talks took place in Brussels, Belgium from 17-21 June 2019. The Agreement aims to establish a system ...
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam pledge to promote people’s livelihood in Development Triangle Area
Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc pledged to improve livelihood of people living in the Development Triangle Area. Mr Hun Sen on Sunday had a cordial breakfast with Mr Nguyen Xuan and Mr Thongloun in Bangkok on the sideline ...
Ben Sokhean
Facial recognition push in South raises rights concern
Telecom firms under focus for ultimatum to phone users on submission of photos; isoc denies sending registration message Rights defenders raised concerns yesterday over the move to force all |cellphone users in the restive South to submit their pictures for facial-recognition identification. Those who fail to do ...
China’s potash demand stirs resistance in rural Thailand
The future of a potash mine planned for north-eastern Thailand is mired in uncertainty as villagers put up fierce opposition, fuelled by concerns about their livelihoods, health and environment. Last year a group led by local women blocked access to exploratory drilling sites in the Wanon ...
Yodsapon Kerdviboon, Visarut Sankham
Rohingyas bring a statement to ASEAN Summit, police block them

On Sunday 23 June, the Rohingya Community in Thailand planned to hand a statement to Myanmar, Thailand as ASEAN’s chair, and the leaders of the ASEAN countries, but the police blocked them. They therefore decided not to go to the ASEAN Summit and Thai Ministry ...
Mekong Region Grows More Important to China-US Relations
Amid increasingly tense China-U.S. relations, a U.S. official alluded to China but did not specifically name China regarding “risks” and “challenges” imposed by approaches to dam building and cross-border riverine practices in the Mekong region. At a workshop in Phnom Penh by the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation ...
Aun Chhengpor
MRC urged to prioritise steps to protect river basin
Development partners on Thursday asked the Mekong River Commission to prioritise policies to protect the basin in future development strategies, noting that the Mekong river basin is among the most vulnerable regions due to climate change. Representatives from European Union, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, ...
Pech Sotheary