News
Lack of data on dam activity mars Mekong governance efforts
Last year, more data was shared about the Mekong than ever before. Yet despite the increased openness enabled by the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) mechanism, the Mekong River Commission (MRC), and various NGOs, the wet season was still marred by low rainfall levels and controversy over retention ...
Tyler Roney
Phones require face scans in Thailand’s Muslim Deep South
At first, Haslina Awae was willing to stop using a phone to avoid providing a scan of her face to the Thai government. Awae and other residents of Thailand’s Deep South, which comprise the three southernmost Malay-Muslim majority provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, were required ...
JACK BROOK
Watchdog says Cambodia public sector compromised by corruption
Corruption is seen as widespread across much of Southeast Asia, with Singapore and Cambodia’s public sectors respectively perceived as among the least and most corrupt nations worldwide, an international watchdog group reported. The 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, released 25 January by Berlin-based Transparency International, evaluates 180 countries ...
FIONA KELLIHER
The Mekong keeps on yielding species new to science
The Mekong in Southeast Asia is one of the world’s mightiest rivers and scientists are still learning about its stunning biodiversity. In fact, hardly a week seems to go by without new discoveries along the river. In a series of finds, according to a report by the World ...
Daniel T Cross
Oil spill threatens corals in eastern Thailand
Authorities are rushing to prevent an oil spill in eastern Thailand from damaging fragile corals, after officials said on Sunday (Jan 30) the leak that began last week was drifting towards more coastal areas. Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Varawut Silpa-archa said it was ...
Reuters/vc
Gold mining in Preah Vihear brings few riches, plenty of pain to community
Twenty years ago, the streams that run through the remote village of Totim in Preah Vihear’s Rovieng district, sparkled with gold. Those flecks drew poor farmers to the Romdeng community, looking to sift for gold and improve their livelihood. Before long, it also brought a ...
Bac Lieu Province strives to become Vietnam’s clean energy center
Bac Lieu Province in southern Vietnam is striving to become the national center of clean energy, with multiple wind power projects being implemented and put into operation. Bac Lieu Province currently has the most wind power projects in commercial operation in the Mekong Delta. Many vast land ...
Data exposes flaws in Mekong Delta resilience plans
For generations, Vietnamese communities have used the ample water resources and fertile soil of the Mekong Delta to feed the nation. Fuelled by the Mekong’s constant supply of rich sediment, the fisheries and paddy fields of Vietnam’s southernmost region have long been the bedrock of Vietnam’s ...
Nhin Tan Thuan
In Search of Forest: How Cambodia's Protected "Flooded Forests" All but Disappeared
Long Sokha was technically farming in a flooded forest, but there was no hint of that on a recent, sun-soaked afternoon. The fields of the plot in Kampong Leng district of Kampong Chhnang province looked neat and orderly, planted with rows of rice plants soaking in ...
Andrew Haffner and Mao Sreypich
Prey Lang, Prey Preah Roka Monitors Suppressed While Tree Cover Vanishes: Report
Forest watchers in 2020 filed 90 percent fewer reports of illegal logging amid officials’ threats against community patrols, according to an international research report, as one advocate said young people were refraining from joining patrols out of fear of repercussions. Using a combination of satellite data ...
Danielle Keeton-Olsen