Reuters
Faced with climate challenges, Vietnamese rice farmers switch to shrimp
For years, Ta Thi Thanh Thuy toiled on a sliver of land sandwiched between the Mekong River and the South China Sea, a region widely known as Vietnam’s rice bowl, to grow the prized grain. But Thuy, along with many of her neighbours, has over the ...
Khanh Vu
Thailand floats hydro-solar projects for its dams as fossil fuel supplement
Thailand is close to completing one the world’s biggest floating hydro-solar hybrid projects on the surface of a dam, a step toward boosting renewable energy production after years of criticism for reliance on fossil fuels. About 144,417 solar panels are being installed on a reservoir in ...
Reuters
Cambodia's dwindling fish stocks put spotlight on changing rivers
Cambodian fisherman Tin Yusos tucks into a meal of the previous day’s catch with his wife and granddaughter aboard a boat which doubles as their home moored by the banks of the Tonle Sap River. They plan to set out for another day of fishing in ...
Prak Chan Thul, Lach Chantha
OPINION: Allow Myanmar ethnic groups to manage their own land
It is estimated that millions of people from cities across Myanmar are in the streets protesting against the military coup that took place on 1 February. The slogan ‘Free Aung San Suu Kyi’ has drawn out many of those demonstrating. But it is a different demand ...
Stella Naw
Mekong River at 'worrying' low level amid calls for more Chinese dam data
Water levels in the Mekong River have fallen to a “worrying level” in part due to outflow restrictions from Chinese hydropower dams upstream, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) said on Friday, calling on Beijing to share all of its water data. The vital waterway has turned ...
Kay Johnson, Panu Wongcha-um
OPINON: Under cover of COVID, new laws in Asia threaten environmental and social protections
In addition to its devastating toll on public health, COVID-19 has exacerbated global food insecurity and economic crises. These costs have been particularly acute for Indigenous Peoples and local communities on customarily governed territories and lands. Yet some of the worst impacts have originated not from the crisis, but from ...
Kundan Kumar
China notifies Mekong River neighbours it is holding back waters
China has notified downstream neighbours it is holding back the Mekong River flow at a hydropower dam on the waterway’s upper reaches for 20 days, as part of a new data-sharing pact, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and Thailand said on Wednesday. The statements came a ...
Panu Wongcha-um, Kay Johnson
Anti-Myanmar hate speech flares in Thailand over virus
“Wherever you see Myanmar people, shoot them down,” read one Thai comment on YouTube after a surge of coronavirus cases among workers from Myanmar. The outbreak, first detected at a seafood market near Bangkok, has prompted a flare-up in such online hate speech as well as ...
Reporting by Shoon Naing in Yangon; Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Sam Holmes
Chinese dams under U.S. scrutiny in Mekong rivalry
A U.S.-funded project using satellites to track and publish water levels at Chinese dams on the Mekong river was announced on Monday, adding to the superpowers’ rivalry in Southeast Asia. The 4,350-km (2,700-mile) waterway – known as the Lancang in China and flowing south through Myanmar, ...
Kay Johnson, Matthew Tostevin
China commits to share year-round water data with Mekong River Commission
China on Thursday signed an agreement with the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to share year-round data on the flow of its portion of the vital waterway amid concern that Chinese dams may be causing drought downstream in Southeast Asia. A push for more data from China’s ...
Reporting by Kay Johnson; Editing by Ed Davies, Martin Petty