Environment and land
Vietnam, New Zealand sign four agreements
Vietnamese and New Zealand businesses signed four agreements on 15 November during the official visit by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key to Vietnam. The four business-to-business arrangements – between Global Trust Alliance, AsureQuality and Vinamilk, Airways International and the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation, Airways International ...
Thailand, Japan to sign emissions-offset agreement
Japan plans to sign an agreement with Thailand as part of a programme to offset its emissions in exchange for clean-energy and energy-saving technologies. Keep reading ...
Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City maps out special economic zone
Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City is considering the formation of a special economic zone in four of its districts, the municipal authorities announced on their website on 16 November. Keep reading ...
Indonesia opens trials of Thais accused of enslaving fishermen
An Indonesian court has begun hearing trials of five Thais and an Indonesian charged with human trafficking connected with slavery in the seafood industry. The suspects were arrested in the remote island village of Benjina in May after the slavery was revealed by The Associated Press ...
Two girls dead after landmine blast in Shan State village
Two young girls, aged 13 and 8, have died after accidentally detonating a landmine near a small village in central Shan State. The victims died at the bank of the Tein Creek, on the outskirts of Mat Lan village in Laihka Township. According to a third child, ...
Lao authorities plan future UXO operations
Laos’ National Regulatory Authority (NRA) for the UXO/Mine Action sector in Laos has set a target to reduce the number of UXO casualties to less than 40 per year and provide assistance to at least 1,500 UXO victims in the period from 2016-2020. The target was set ...
Mekong river dolphin faces added threat of Laos dam
Conservation experts and residents in Cambodia’s Kratie province say they are concerned for the wellbeing of the Mekong River dolphin, especially if a major hydropower project is built upstream. Laos says it intends to go forward with the Don Sahong Dam project, despite opposition from Cambodia ...
Cambodian PM calls for drought aid preparations
Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on local authorities and government ministries to be ready to distribute water to farmers around the country due to the ongoing shortage in Cambodia’s reservoirs. “Drought . . . has been threatening our agricultural production, therefore relevant authorities and ministries have to ...
Mekong locals seek a voice on Don Sahong
More than 6,400 residents of Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia have signed and thumb-printed a statement on the Don Sahong Dam project, airing concerns ranging from the river’s diminishing fish stocks to the lack of transparency of the Mekong River Commission. The statement, presented last week at ...
Thai Deputy PM insists on using administrative order in rice cases
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam has reiterated the government is not bullying ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra when it demands compensation from her for damages from the rice-pledging programme using using the 1996 administrative tort law instead of the Civil Code. Damages can be claimed in one of the ...
