Environment and land

Xayaburi Dam has been nine years in the making and the 135-billion-baht project. It was built and financed by Thai companies and banks, has been controversial since inception. The first hydro-power dam on the lower Mekong River began commercial operations in Laos on Tuesday. The opening ...

For centuries, Cambodians have looked to Tonle Sap, both a river and a lake, for dinner. But a repast of grilled river fish, sprinkled with salt and stuffed with lemongrass, may soon be a very special event. Today, “there is only water but no fish,” said ...

The water in the Mekong River has fallen to a critical level, recorded at only 1.50 metres on Tuesday, lower than previous years. Sand islands are now exposed along many sections of the waterway. Inadequate rainfall has also left many reservoirs in the province at only ...

The Department of Fisheries will finalise guidelines for good aquaculture practices (GAqP) by 2020 to ensure the safety of the country’s fishery products and make them more competitive in foreign markets, a senior official said. U Myint Zin Htoo, deputy director general of the department, said ...

The struggling Thailand economy received an unexpected whack for the year ahead yesterday (Oct 26) when US President Donald Trump suspended $1.3 billion worth of duty-free trade for Thai items, including seafood, under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme. President Trump is reported to have ...

Boten Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Luang Namtha province is anticipating investment of at least US$10 billion to fully develop the site, according to a zone representative. The zone borders on Bohan in Yunnan province, China, and is part of the rapidly-growing economic cooperation between Laos ...

The Faculty of Environmental Sciences at the National University of Laos (NUOL) is reporting substantial progress in its project to build capacity in technical knowledge for environmental impact assessments (EIA).   The project, running from 2018-2020, has been developing EIA training courses and textbooks for government staff, ...

Food has an environmental impact. A 2018 study by J. Poore and T. Nemecek titled ‘Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers,’ published by the University of Oxford revealed that food production is responsible for 26 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, contributing ...

Scattered, small-sized land lots hamper farmers and stop companies from investing in agriculture, while barriers set by land accumulation policies also marginalise farmers and hinder the development of Vietnam’s agriculture. These warnings were voiced by experts at the Vietnam Autumn Agricultural Forum 2019 – the largest ...

Thailand Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan has confirmed his country will continue to reform its seafood industry, despite mounting pressure from domestic fishing groups. Wongsuwan made the statement in an 18 October meeting with Environmental Justice Foundation Executive Director Steve Trent, according to EJF. Keep reading ...