Bloomberg

There are only 80 Irrawaddy dolphins left in a loosely-patrolled stretch of the Mekong River in central Cambodia. Hydropower dams are shrinking freshwater pools in their main habitat, leading to more contact with fishermen who threaten their survival. Three dolphins died in December, accounting for about 5% of their ...

Thailand’s main Covid-19 task force will meet later this week to review the suspension of its quarantine-free entry program for vaccinated visitors amid an uptick in new omicron cases among foreign tourists. The Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, headed by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, will meet ...

Laos, a nation of 7 million people wedged between China, Vietnam and Thailand, is opening a $5.9 billion Chinese-built railway that links China’s poor southwest to foreign markets but piles on potentially risky debt. The line through lush tropical mountains from the Laotian capital, Vientiane, to ...

The Mekong River stretches through 6 countries and sustains the lives of millions of people – but the river is under threat, experiencing record drought in recent years. Environmentalists believe huge hydropower dams, many built by China, are to blame. We speak with Thai activist ...

Thailand has launched a pilot program to test, vaccinate and isolate factory workers to limit Covid-related disruptions to its export-driven manufacturing industry, one of the few bright spots in an economy crushed by the virus.  The “Factory Sandbox” initiative aims to protect 3 million jobs and ...

Nguyen Tuan was watching the sun shine down on his four-hectare cantaloupe farm in southern Vietnam when he realized it could do more than help his crops grow. The 46-year-old installed 40 solar panels on greenhouses at his farm 55 miles outside of Ho Chi Minh ...

Thailand aims to only sell zero-emission vehicles in the country from 2035 as it works to transform itself from a Southeast Asian hub for the production of conventional autos to one making electric cars. “We can see the world is heading in that direction so we ...

The U.S. is increasing scrutiny of Chinese dams along the Mekong River, its latest move aimed at helping Southeast Asian nations push back against Beijing. The ‘Mekong Dam Monitor,’ funded by the U.S. government and run by for-profit consultancy Eyes on Earth and the Washington-based Stimson Center gathers ...

The Mekong is one of Asia’s most important rivers, supporting 60 million people in Southeast Asia. But for the second consecutive year, the lower Mekong basin has hit a record low water flow, affecting irrigation, rice production and fisheries, all vital to the region’s food security. The drought ...

For the past three decades, Vietnam has known only good — or great — economic news. The nation’s consistent growth as an exporter, propelled by Communist leaders who began embracing market-oriented policies in the late 1980s, pushed many into the middle class. The coronavirus pandemic changed ...