Environment and land
Thailand to tap rice stockpile to maintain export levels

Rice exports from Thailand may be steady next year as the world’s biggest shipper taps state inventories to offset a possible decline in production amid dry weather. Keep reading ...
Vietnam fruits lose ground to Thai imports even as ASEAN threat looms

Vietnamese fruit sellers are selling more Thai vegetables, making it harder for local vegetable growers to compete. Thailand is now the largest exporter of vegetables and fruits to Vietnam after surpassing China early last year. Be, who has a fruit shop on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Can Tho, ...
Vietnamese teens busted in Cambodia with endangered animals

Two Vietnamese teenagers were arrested in Kandal province on 2 October after being found illegally transporting 44 endangered tortoises, which they reportedly intended to smuggle into Vietnam for sale. Keep reading ...
Vietnam's forest protection law falls short

Vietnam’s Law on Forest Protection and Development has become backwards and exposed numerous disadvantages, after more than 10 years of implementation, a senior official from the Vietnam Forestry Administration (VNFOREST) has said. Deputy director of the VNFOREST, Nguyen Ba Ngai, made his comment at a workshop ...
Vietnam fruit farmers unprepared for ASEAN
Economist Le Dang Doanh warned that Vietnamese farm produce would face fiercer competition from other countries in the region when the ASEAN Economic Community is born at the end of this year. Keep reading ...
Myanmar youth leaders gather at the Social Good Summit
When 40 Myanmar youth leaders gathered at the Social Good Summit on September 26, it was clear there was one topic on their minds. The main focus of the Yangon summit, organised by the Union Nations Development Programme in partnership with the UN Volunteers and UN ...
Climate change targets aim high

The Ministry of Environment submitted an ambitious national climate change plan to the United Nations on 1 October ahead of scheduled climate talks in Paris (COP 21), though observers questioned the plan’s feasibility given a lack of both funding and political will. According to Sao Sopheap, spokesperson ...
Thai rice illegally imported into Myanmar
As domestic rice prices increase, cheaper and higher quality rice is now being illegally imported from Thailand, Myanmar rice traders say. Speculation over rice shortages since nationwide flooding in July and August increased transportation costs in some areas, and high production costs for farmers have driven ...
Rising anger in Thailand's boom-to-bust northeast
The rural heartland of Thailand’s deposed leader Yingluck Shinawatra and her exiled billionaire brother Thaksin is hurting as a result of the military government’s economic policies, stirring discontent and the threat of protests. The removal of generous agricultural subsidies has left rice farmers in northeast Thailand ...
Vietnam's produce exports expected to top $2b in 2015

Fruit and vegetable exports are expected to reach US$2 billion this year as more and more countries have opened their door to Vietnamese fruits and vegetables. Earnings from fruit and vegetable exports have increased strongly in recent years, from $460 million in 2010 to $1.47 billion ...