News

The Mekong region is no longer a mysterious place, as it has now become the world’s main hub of illicit drugs across multiple frontiers. Last month, anti-drug officials from riparian countries — Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, China — and the United Nations Office on ...

A year ago, Myanmar and China signed an agreement to establish the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), as part of China’s Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative. Today, that corridor is mired in conflict between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups. Stretching 1,700 kilometres, the CMEC’s ...

Water in the Mekong river in this northeastern border province has turned from yellowish-brown to greenish-blue — a strange phenomenon that makes the river look beautiful but could be a sign of danger, according to a local media report. The water in the Mekong river is ...

Just over a week ago, many people in Thailand, particularly those in highrises, were thrown into panic when their buildings were swaying. They didn’t know at the time that a strong earthquake had just hit inside Lao borders near Nan’s district of Chaloem Phrakiat. The shallow ...

Growing demand for timber as construction material, fuel and charcoal is devastating Cambodia’s forests. In 1975, the latter covered 73 per cent of the country’s surface; last year it was down to only 46.84 per cent. Cambodia’s forests – evergreen, semi-evergreen, deciduous and dry dipterocarp forests, ...

On a remote bend of the Mekong River in northern Laos, where its muddy waters make a hard right turn through steep verdant hills, the 330-odd residents of Houaygno village are bracing for an imminent exodus. Vietnam’s state-owned PetroVietnam Power has chosen the site for the ...

More than 300 people from Koh Kong province protested in Phnom Penh on Monday over more-than-decadelong land disputes with companies that were granted concessions by the government, and that demonstrators say pushed them off their plots. The protesters, from Kiri Sakor, Botum Sakor and Sre Ambel ...

South Korea embraced the five Southeast Asian nations on the Mekong River in a seemingly bold plan for developing the river in the interests of “people, peace and prosperity” but glossed over the dangers facing its existence. Yes, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in declared “the development ...

Vietnamese courts on Thursday sentenced six dissident bloggers and activists to long terms in prison amid a continuing crackdown on online expressions of dissent in the one-party communist state that has seen dozens of people jailed this year, sources said. In southeastern Vietnam’s Dong Nai province, ...

More than 40 civil society organisations urged the World Bank to stop a project worth US$250 million (K380.3 billion) in eastern Myanmar over concerns it could undermine Karen culture and traditions.   The Peaceful and Prosperous Communities Project targets the development of conflict zones in eastern Myanmar.  According ...