Reuters

China says will help manage Mekong as report warns of dam danger

China on Thursday said it was helping its downstream neighbors cope with a prolonged drought by releasing more water from its dams on the Mekong River, adding it would consider sharing information on hydrology to provide further assistance in the future. The statement came as a ...

Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Kay Johnson

Amid hydropower boom, Laos streams ahead on latest Mekong dam

On a wide bank of the Mekong River, yellow markers and visits by surveyors show preparations underway to build Laos’ third and largest dam on Southeast Asia’s most vital waterway. About an hour downstream, in the laid-back tourist centre of Luang Prabang, the dam’s developers heard ...

Kay Johnson, Panu Wongcha-um

Thailand's sugar output to hit nine-year low due to drought - trade body

Thailand’s sugar production is likely to fall 28% year-on-year in 2019/20 to a nine-year low of 10.5 million tonnes as drought curtails cane supplies, the head of a leading trade body told Reuters on Friday. The lower production will limit exports from the world’s second-biggest exporter ...

Green algae, blue water add to fears over health of Southeast Asia's Mekong

When the normally murky brown Mekong River turned a brilliant blue late last year, villagers in northeastern Thailand were surprised. Then, this week, unusually large patches of green algae appeared, clogging up nets and making it almost impossible to fish. Both the Mekong’s strange colour and the ...

Panu Wongcha-um and Kay Johnson

Salty water in Bangkok is new 'reality' as sea pushes farther inland

Thai authorities are trucking drinking water to parts of Bangkok and urging residents to shower less as a worsening drought and rising sea levels have increased salinity, a growing risk faced by many Asian cities, climate researchers said. Bangkok’s water authority said the capital’s tap water ...

Rina Chandran

Don Sahong hydropower dam in Laos connects to Cambodian grid

The Don Sahong hydropower dam in Laos has begun operations and this week connected its power grid to Cambodia, a Cambodian official said on Wednesday as the country steps up electricity imports after continued power outages last year. Don Sahong, which was designed for an installed ...

Prak Chan Thul

Vietnam in deals to buy Laos electricity from 2021

Vietnam’s electricity firm EVN has signed five new deals to buy electricity from Laos starting from next year, the state-run company said. The southeast Asian nation faces severe power shortages from 2021, as demand outpaces construction of new plants, with demand expected to exceed supply by ...

Khanh Vu

Major brands found failing to help Thai seafood sector tackle slavery

Efforts to protect Thai seafood workers from labor exploitation and modern slavery risk stalling as most international brands and retailers refuse to pay their suppliers more to comply with new anti-slavery policies, researchers said on Wednesday. Thai seafood suppliers are struggling with rising production costs as ...

Nanchanok Wongsamuth

Southeast Asian countries need tougher plastic policies to curb pollution - U.N.

Southeast Asian countries, among the world’s worst ocean polluters, need tougher regulations for plastic packaging to curb leakage, a United Nations report said on Wednesday. Southeast Asia is a major contributor to land-based plastic waste leaking into the world’s oceans, with more than half of it ...

Patpicha Tanakasempipat

Cambodian judge orders reinvestigation of spying case against reporters

A Cambodian judge on Thursday ordered a reinvestigation of the espionage case against two former Radio Free Asia journalists, saying he could not rule on their guilt or innocence without enough evidence. The case has added to concerns about a crackdown on criticism and dissent by ...

Prak Chan Thul

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