Environment and land
Mining destroys local way of life
The mining of minerals has caused serious harm to the public’s environment, experts warned. A recent report presented at a workshop held by the People and Nature Centre (PanNature) and the Vietnam Mining Coalition showed that mining activities is a direct cause of hunger and poverty ...
Dams may worsen arsenic problem: study
A Stanford University study conducted in Cambodia has shed new light on the natural introduction of the poison arsenic into groundwater – an established problem in Cambodia that could be exacerbated by hydrological development, particularly dams, researchers say. According to a report on their findings, published ...
Villagers face court over ELC protest
The Preah Vihear Provincial Court has ordered nine villagers to appear on 9 December to respond to allegations that they dismantled the office of a Malaysian rubber plantation company five months ago. The nine villagers and 300 protesters allegedly pried the wooden walls off of a building ...
Dams slash Mekong fish stocks
More than 70 Vietnamese and international scientists and other experts and officials from ministries and international organisations discussed ongoing research into the impact of dams on the mainstream of the Mekong River at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on 4 December. At the conference ...
EU supports Lao farmers at first Vientiane Expo
The European Union is promoting agricultural products and handicrafts produced by Lao farmers as part of the first Vientiane Expo. The local products consist of consumption products, other agricultural goods as well as handicrafts, especially those produced as part of development projects supported by the EU ...
Myanmar to fight climate change by protecting forests
Though it emits very little greenhouse gas – and what is emitted is offset by its forests – Myanmar is affected more than almost any other country in the world by climate change, the country’s delegates will tell the Paris climate conference. About 20 Myanmar government ...
Opium poppy farmers seek help to end dependence
It is harvest time in the shadow of mist-covered mountains in southern Shan State – not for the rice or pulses growing elsewhere, but in the fields that will supply heroin to voracious markets, in Myanmar and across international borders. Down in the valleys and on ...
Authorities introduce new safety measures in Hpakant
Amid warnings of fresh disaster beneath the lowering waste tips, Kachin State government officials and civil society are mobilising to protect local residents and demand accountability from the companies they blame for the death of more than 100 people. Rescuers have abandoned attempts to recover any ...
China signs rice, rubber deals with Thailand
China has signed rice and rubber purchase deals with Thailand as part of the Thai-Sino railway development agreement. Negotiations over the railway are continuing. The deals were signed at the ninth meeting of the Joint Committee on Railway Cooperation in Bangkok on 3 December. Keep reading ...
Cheapest Thai fragrant rice for six years
The global price of Hom Mali fragrant rice has dropped to the lowest in six years as growers sell their grain direct to millers-cum-exporters instead of joining a state-run bank’s scheme to increase rice prices. Keep reading ...
