BenarNews
Another Mekong River dam in Laos begins review process
Lao officials will soon submit plans for the Phou Ngoy Dam and hydropower plant to the Mekong River Commission for review, but villagers whose livelihoods would be hurt by the construction worry they will be left out of the process. Thailand’s Charoen Energy and Water Asia ...
US lawmakers urge Thai govt to drop restrictive provisions in NGO bill
Two U.S. lawmakers are urging Thailand to drop provisions of a draft bill restricting NGOs, saying it would harm civil society and negatively impact the delivery of humanitarian assistance to neighboring Myanmar. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s government is seeking to pass a controversial bill regulating not-for-profit ...
Nontarat Phaicharoen and Subel Rai Bhandari
ASEAN Foreign Ministers to Hold Meeting to Discuss Myanmar Crisis
Southeast Asian foreign ministers will hold a special meeting on Tuesday on the political crisis in Myanmar, the Indonesian foreign ministry said, as the regional and international community condemned a deadly weekend crackdown against pro-democracy protesters. The online meeting was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ...
Ronna Nirmala
Thailand Eyes ‘Land Bridge’ to Link its Coasts
Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha this week publicly endorsed a proposed land bridge between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, apparently shelving a long-discussed project to build a canal across the Malay Peninsula. The dueling project ideas have generated debate, with some calling the ...
Nontarat Phaicharoen
Thai NGOs Urge Government Not to Buy Power from Sanakham Dam in Laos
A dam prepared for building and construction by Laos on the Mekong river will have unfavorable effects not just on Lao towns however likewise in close-by Thailand, a union of Thai ecological groups states, including that the government in Bangkok ought to cancel strategies to ...
Miriam Jackson
Thailand: Migrants Could Benefit from Moves to Ease COVID-19 Restrictions
Migrant workers in Thailand who could not return to their home countries because of the COVID-19 lockdown have lost jobs and suffered financial hardship during the pandemic, but could soon see their outlook improve as the country starts to reopen. Thailand has long been a regional ...
Nontarat Phaicharoen
Thais Living Along Mekong Struggle from Drought, Effects of Dams
Dam operations upstream combined with a drought have caused a severe drop in water levels along the Mekong River, on which tens of millions of people rely for their livelihoods through fishing or farming, say Thais who live by the banks of the great waterway. BenarNews ...
Nontarat Phaicharoen