Economy and industry
China's Mekong River dams are generating renewable energy, but are costing locals their livelihoods
Early in January, locals in the northern Thai village of Chiang Khong woke to find the Mekong River had dropped a metre overnight. The water level fell so rapidly that damp mud was still visible days later when the ABC visited the area and some boats ...
Amy Bainbridge and Supattra Vimonsuk
$4M solar farm investment launched in Cambodia
Pestech International, a Malaysian company that specialises in solar power technology and infrastructure, has expanded its presence in the Kingdom. The Edge Markets reported yesterday that Pestech has acquired a 94 percent stake in Green Sustainable Ventures (Cambodia). The investment is worth $4 million, according to ...
Jose Rodriguez T. Senase
Thailand to Air Concerns with River Commission over Drought, Chinese Dams in Mekong
Thailand will raise concerns about its current drought during a Mekong River Commission meeting expected next month, the Thai water-resources chief said, as local farmers complained that dams in China were choking the waterway on which millions depend for their livelihoods. Somkiat Prajamwong, director of Thailand’s ...
Another dam on the Mekong
Since the announcement in July last year that the Lao government was notifying the Mekong River Commission (MRC) of its intention to proceed with the construction of a dam due to be completed by 2027, not far from the old royal capital of Luang Prabang, ...
Milton Osborne
Myanmar migrant workers in 2019 exceed 300,000
Over 305,000 people went overseas for work during 2019 according to the data from the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population. Monthly numbers of workers going abroad from January to November 2019 are 23,235 in January, 22,523 in February, 22,534 in March, 20,766 in April, 30,326 ...
Yu Wai
Mekong communities struggle as China tests dam equipment
Water levels on the Mekong River, which flows through China and five other countries before emptying into the South China Sea, have dropped once again after Beijing revealed it was testing equipment at one of its 11 dams in the upper reaches of the vital ...
Leonie Kijewski
Xekong on track to have first international border crossing with Vietnam
The Prime Minister’s Office plans to upgrade the Daktaok local border crossing in Dakcheung district, Xekong province, to an international level crossing on the Vietnamese border. Lao and Vietnamese officials are currently discussing the date when this change will take place. If the status is elevated ...
The Costs of China’s Belt and Road Expansion
When I returned to Xigang after five years, I couldn’t recognize it. What had been a small but generally well-maintained beach town had become a sprawling mess of a city; construction, mud, and piles of garbage were seemingly everywhere. The Han Chinese with whom I ...
Chris Horton
Lao Villagers Displaced by Dams Struggle to Survive in Resettlement Sites
Hundreds of Lao families displaced by Chinese-backed dam projects and now living in resettlement villages are facing hardships due to poor housing and a lack of work, with many still waiting for compensation promised for fields and orchards lost when they were forced to move, ...
World Bank aids Vietnam’s transition to a solar auction program
The Global Infrastructure Facility’s (GIF) Governing Council has approved $1.5m in funding to support the World Bank’s work with the government of Vietnam on a Solar Pilot Auction Program. The GIF, working with the World Bank’s Energy Global Practice, will help the government to design and ...
