News
BCPG eager to build Asean's largest wind farm in Laos
SET-listed BCPG Plc, a renewable energy arm of Bangchak Corporation Plc, plans to build Asean’s largest wind farm in Laos to generate revenue from rising demand for electricity. The company announced it will spend US$ 840 million, around 26.8 billion baht, developing the facility, with a ...
YUTHANA PRAIWAN
Large hydropower projects to continue in Myanmar Govt
Although electricity generated by natural gas is expected to rise, Myanmar is planning to continue implementing large hydropower projects such as the Myitsone Dam project to meet the country’s electricity needs, U Khin Maung Win, Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy, told Pyidaungsu Hluttaw on ...
Kang Wan Chern
Drought, Dams on Mekong River Drop Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake to Record Low Levels
Climate change, drought, and upstream dams have led to record low water levels on the Mekong River, according to experts, who say the shortage is significantly harming Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake and the surrounding fishing communities who rely on it to earn a living. The water ...
Reported and translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Mekong Delta province unveils $820-mln plan to combat climate change
Ca Mau Province has presented a master plan to fight climate change impacts in the next decade that will cost an estimated VND19 trillion ($820 million). Vietnam’s southernmost province has come up with the plan for execution in 2020-30 that seeks to prevent natural disasters brought ...
Minh Minh
Can Vietnam Prevent the Next Pandemic?
A growing awareness of the links between wildlife trafficking and SARS, COVID-19, and other infectious diseases has prompted the Vietnamese prime minister to issue an executive order to clamp down on this vast smuggling trade in endangered species. During recent months, conservation NGOs and Hanoi’s Ministry ...
Tom Fawthrop
A broken dam and broken promises: Laos doubles down on hydropower despite risks
Two years ago this week, a dam in southern Laos collapsed, releasing a flood that displaced over 7,000 people and killed at least 71. When a section of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower project broke on July 23, 2018, it sent 500 million cubic meters of ...
All eyes on Chinese dams as Mekong countries count down to the monsoon
Researchers are worried that Chinese dams will hold back much of the water in the Mekong River this year, similar to last year’s erratic flow after the monsoon which exacerbated the drought in the Northeast of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. China’s dams have recently contributed ...
One million Cambodians under threat from development of vital wetlands – report
New sprawling development near Phnom Penh could prompt environmental catastrophe, including for the capital’s water systems. The destruction of critically-important wetlands by politically-connected developers in Cambodia threatens to flood more than one million Phnom Penh residents, ruin the city’s wastewater system, force hundreds of families from ...
Christopher Knaus
Coronavirus: Vietnam bans wildlife trade over pandemic risk
Vietnam has banned the import of wildlife and wildlife products to reduce the risk of new pandemics. The move also bans wildlife markets for such items, including online sales. Vietnam has previously been accused of turning a blind eye to the sale of products such as pangolin ...
Flood risk for one million in Phnom Penh as wetlands destroyed
More than one million people in Phnom Penh face the risk of increased flooding and loss of livelihoods as wetlands in the Cambodian capital are destroyed to build apartments and industries, human rights groups warned on Monday. Developments – including the ING City township – will ...
Rina Chandran