Environment and land
Land dispute with Thai firms long resolved, landless families told to submit applications
Oddar Meanchey provincial authorities remain puzzled about the Thai Appeal Court’s recent ruling in favour of more than 700 families who claimed to have been locked in a land dispute with three Thai-owned sugar companies in Samrong town and Chongkal district. Provincial deputy governor Vat Paranin ...
Khorn Savi
Solar Power Can Help Halt Dramatic Decline Of Migratory Fish
A report issued last week revealed that, worldwide, migratory freshwater fish have declined by 76% since 1970. This result joins a growing and dispiriting list of dramatic declines for biodiversity and wildlife. However, it also highlights a continuing threat to food security for many regions of the world. Freshwater fish provide the primary ...
Jeff Opperman
Mekong Delta farmers lose durian farms to historic drought and salinity
Farmers in the Mekong Delta are chopping down hundreds of hectares of durian trees that were lost to drought and saltwater intrusion. For years Le Van Thoi has earned VND600-800 million ($25,800-34,400) a year from his durian farm in Cai Lay Town in Tien Giang Province. Thanks ...
Hoang Nam
Mekong river rising after heavy rain
The water level in the Mekong river, bordering this northeastern border province with Laos, is rising following heavy rain in the region over the past few days. On Tuesday morning, the level was up by more than 1 metre from Monday, to 5m deep. However, it ...
PATTANAPONG SRIPIACHAI
Bangkok court admits Cambodia farmers' lawsuit against Thai sugar firm
A Bangkok court on Friday agreed to grant class action status to more than 700 Cambodian families suing a Thai sugar firm for evicting them from their homes, a lawsuit that human rights experts see as a test case for transboundary disputes. The lawsuit against Asia’s ...
Rina Chandran
Electrofishing thrives despite crackdown in Mandalay
Eleven people have been prosecuted and 77 boats have been seized for electrofishing in dolphin protected zone of the Ayeyarwady River in Mandalay Region since January 2018, but the practice continues, authorities said. U Han Win, who is in charge of Ayeyarwady dolphin conservation for the ...
Phyo Wai Kyaw
The Large-antlered muntjac — Southeast Asia’s mystery deer (Commentary)
A blue whale has a big heart the size of an adult wild yak. Everyone knows the plight of blue whales — as everyone likewise knows the plight of tigers, elephants and pandas. But few know the threats to wild yaks. And even fewer know ...
Joel Berger and Minh Nguyen
Are China’s dams responsible for droughts along Mekong River?
Chinese dams aren’t the problem causing droughts for downstream nations along the Mekong River – they are part of the solution – says a Chinese study released in July. The study is an attempt to pour water on claims by a rival US-backed investigation that blamed dams ...
Maria Siow
Myanmar to build SEZ connecting Greater Mekong Sub-Region East-West Economic Corridor, West Yangon Industrial Park
Myanmar will implement a Special Economic Zone project in Mon State and West Yangon Industrial Park project, said Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Thaung Tun during a Myanmar-Japan Investment Dialogue held via video conference on July 29. The special economic zone in Mon ...
Cambodian Environmental Group Calls For End to Development on Phnom Penh’s Boeung Tamok Lake
Development on one of the last large lakes in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh is impacting communities that rely on it for their livelihoods and causing significant flooding in the city as the result of runoff during heavy rains, an environmental watchdog said Thursday, calling for ...
RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.