Radio Free Asia
Cambodia Hikes Minimum Wage by US $2 as Workers Grapple With Inflation in Coronavirus Economy
Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor on Thursday announced a new minimum wage of U.S. $192 per month for 2021, an increase of only U.S. $2 from this year, drawing criticism from workers struggling with inflation amid an economy devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. “Beginning on Jan. 1, 2021, garment ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Deforestation Brings Hardship For Cambodia’s Wild Honeybee Hunters
Every morning at 5:30, Yang Phorn and some of his neighbors from a village west of Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, climb on motorbikes to go honeybee hunting in a forest far from home. Before the 47-year-old and the others set, they prepare bags of rice and ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Another Lao Arrested For Criticism of Government on Social Media
A Lao man who had complained about corruption in the communist-run country on social media was arrested at his home in southern Laos last week and is being questioned in jail about links to “an anti-government group of overseas Laotians,” police sources told RFA Tuesday. The ...
RFA Lao service, Translated by Sidney Khotpanya and Ounkeo Souksavanh, Written in English by Paul Eckert.
Mekong Countries Must Confront China Over Dam Impact, Experts Say Ahead of China-Led Meeting
China’s extensive damming of the upper Mekong River has reduced water flows, threatening downstream countries Cambodia and Vietnam with environmental harm and food shortages, said experts in advance of a summit meeting of the multilateral Mekong-Lancang Cooperation group. The summit, to be held on Aug. 24 ...
RFA’s Khmer and Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Lao Farm Worker Beaten, Tied Up, in Dispute at Chinese Banana Plantation
A young Lao worker was beaten, shocked and tied up by his employers at a Chinese banana plantation in northwestern Laos in a dispute over working hours, his relatives said. Lou Xiong’s relatives say he was beaten and shocked by Lao and Chinese employers at a ...
RFA's Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Paul Eckert.
Cambodian Environmental Group Calls For End to Development on Phnom Penh’s Boeung Tamok Lake
Development on one of the last large lakes in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh is impacting communities that rely on it for their livelihoods and causing significant flooding in the city as the result of runoff during heavy rains, an environmental watchdog said Thursday, calling for ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Laos Builds Road and Workers’ Camp for Luangprabang Dam Ahead of Formal Approval
A Thai dam developer has begun clearing land for a large-scale Mekong River dam near the ancient Lao capital Luang Prabang before signing a hydropower sale pact required for approval, raising concerns from downstream communities already hit hard by Laos’ aggressive damming of the vital ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
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.
Lao Capital Residents Fight Land Grab, Reject Offered Compensation
Residents of the Lao capital Vientiane are resisting seizure of their land by a Lao-China joint venture building an expressway, saying they had been promised earlier their land would not be taken, and calling offers of compensation unacceptably low, Lao sources say. The project, a 13-km ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Lao Migrants Returning from Thailand Stuck in Overflowing Quarantine Camps
Thousands of Lao migrant workers who recently returned from Thailand after losing their jobs to COVID-19 have been facing fresh hardships in crowded, undersupplied quarantine camps,, Lao officials and migrants told RFA. During the coronavirus pandemic hundreds of thousands of the 2.8 million foreign workers in ...
RFA’s Lao service. Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
