News
Sustainability and security concerns feed Southeast Asia’s rice conundrum
The balance of food sustainability and national security of Southeast Asia hangs on a tiny white grain. Rice is the daily staple of 3.5 billion people globally, providing about one-fifth of their calorie needs. It is the main food crop in Asia, which includes the world’s ...
PAUL TENG
Report: Foreign-funded infrastructure projects need more scrutiny for quality control
As foreign funders drive the construction of major new infrastructure projects in Cambodia, an inconsistent regulatory approach may be opening lanes for shoddy construction. Last month, an inspection by the Ministry of Public Works found irregularities in the builds of National Roads 2 and 22, which ...
Sorn Sarath, Seoung Nimol
Massive stingrays may live in Mekong’s deep pools
US scientists have suggested that unexplored deep pools in the Mekong River in an area of Stung Treng could potentially be home to significant populations of giant freshwater stingrays, one of the world’s largest freshwater fish species. This comes as a fisherman hooked a 180kg stingray ...
Ry Sochan
Thailand taps rice, sugar biomass to wean itself from fossil fuels
Thailand has launched a full-fledged effort to adopt biomass as a major future energy source, a drive that has received a boost from companies looking for relief from skyrocketing fossil fuel prices. Thailand took up the bio-circular-green economic model a year ago as a way to ...
YOHEI MURAMATSU, Nikkei staff writer
Agriculture Ministry issues water plan as rainy season looms
Farmers should also store as much rainwater as possible and use it efficiently, said Agriculture Minister Chalermchai Sree-on on Monday. “We cannot tell how many storms will hit Thailand this year, but we have ordered RID to prepare personnel and drainage equipment to deal with upcoming ...
The Nation
Cambodian fisherman accidentally hooks giant freshwater ray in Mekong
A 180kg female giant freshwater stingray was accidentally caught by Mekong River fishermen in Koh Preah community in Koh Preah village and commune of Stung Treng province’s Siem Bok district. Sin Piseth, a river guard based in Koh Preah village, told The Post on May 9 ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya/The Phnom Penh Post
One million free cannabis plants handed out from next month: Anutin
From June 9, people in Thailand will be able to grow “as many cannabis plants” as they like in their own homes, according to Anutin. The cannabis grown must be of medical grade and used for medicinal purposes only. Official registration is not required for growing ...
The Nation
Community Rights in the Mekong Sustainability Management
Drastic ecological change of the Mekong is linked with hydropower development. Water fluctuation due to operation of upstream dams is indicating by the fish species and their stocks declined. We visited two communities located along the Mekong River. The first community is in Chiang Khan District, ...
From India’s highs to Thailand’s lows, Asia’s weather is hitting extremes
The final days of April saw further unbearable temperatures recorded in India and Pakistan. Temperatures peaked at 49C in Jacobabad, Pakistan on 30 April, with a high of 47.2C observed in Banda, India. The Indian Meteorological Department confirmed that average temperatures in April were the highest ...
Matt Andrews (Metdesk)
Future Remains Cloudy for Exiled Myanmar Journalists in Thailand
It has been more than a year since Myanmar’s military seized power in a putsch that sent thousands fleeing the country. Among them were scores of media professionals who took up refuge here in Thailand. Some have since moved on or resettled elsewhere, but others stayed ...
Teeranai Charuvastra