Southeast Asia Globe

Rambo paced anxious circles in his cage as it became clear he was subject to special attention. The Bengal tiger was about to be moved from the shuttered Phuket Zoo to a new home: a rescue centre in central Thailand.  As the zoo closed, its 11 ...

The official end of a conflict leaves a country with obvious physical scars, from devastating death tolls to levelled landscapes. But a war’s effect on a country evolves. In Indochina, casualties continue because of unexploded remnants of war. Efforts to remove these weapons have gone on ...

A two-lane dirt road truncates the northeastern tree line of Phnom Tamao Forest, marking the start of a housing complex on private land bordering the protected area. Dozens of boundary markers cemented underneath the tree canopies of the forest indicate the plans for land exchange deals ...

Abortion is a global health issue, impacting individuals and families regardless of ethnicity, income, social status or nationality. Yet there is no worldwide legal standard for the practice of terminating a pregnancy. Lawmakers and governments hold sway over access to abortion, or its abolition. In the ...

Out at sea, soft waves pressed and seesawed Sorm Doeun’s boat as he took a careful drag of his cigarette without shifting the rudder. He kept the craft steady for his weary son, who was napping in the bow after a morning casting nets. Along the ...

Thai activist Porntin Say Yom and her neighbours fought more than 10 years to shut down a gold mine in northeast Thailand’s Loei province. “We successfully closed the gold mine because we came together as a group to defend our rights,” Yom said.  But in late May, ...

Sok Solida’s stall in Phnom Penh’s Daeum Kor wholesale market overflows with fruits and vegetables, but almost none come from Cambodia. “You can hardly find anything locally produced in this market,” Solida said.  Solida sells longan from Thailand, Chilean red grapes, Chinese pears, Vietnamese oranges and dragon ...

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 ...

ee Pael, one of Cambodia’s few captive female elephants, lived a peaceful life in a forest sanctuary until the day a wild bull appeared, chased away her handler and ran off with Gee Pael. “I had to run up a tree,” recalled Yel Yan, the elephant’s ...

Cambodia Minister of Interior Sar Kheng understands the impact that money laundering can have on his nation. “Our country’s reputation is at stake,” Sar Kheng said in July 2020. “If [the Financial Action Task Force] consider Cambodia a money-laundering destination, it will badly impact our banking ...