News
Interview: China’s Mekong Dam-building Mindset ‘Exported Downstream’ to Cambodia and Laos
The Mekong River extends for thousands of miles through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, supporting more than 65 million people who depend on it for food, transportation, and commerce. But development, mostly led by China, threatens to upset the delicate balance between local ...
China-Laos Railway opens new horizons for fruit growers in Southwest China’s Yunnan
As the section of the China-Laos Railway that is within Chinese territory, the Yuxi-Mohan railway will serve as a significant link for China to reach land-locked Laos. In addition to helping promote the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA), the railway will also greatly benefit the local economy and ...
Zhang Dan in Yuxi
Myanmar: Signatories Of NCA Meet, Lofty Ideas But No Clout – Analysis
The ten signatories to the National Cease fire Agreement started a five-day meeting at Chiang Mai from May 14-18 to discuss about the agreement and how to move the peace process forward. It looks that having been brought into the “bag”, the smaller groups which have ...
Dr. S.Chandrasekharan
Feature: Mekong river binds regional countries, peoples together as lifeblood of Southeast Asia
Narongchai, a volunteer tour boat guide on the Mekong river in northeast Thailand’s Nakhon Phanom, has been doing this job for 16 years. “The Mekong is our mother river, binding everyone in the basin,” said Narongchai, describing the cross-border river part of his life. “The water ...
Guo Xinhui
Experienced team sustainably developing Lao mining
Entrepreneurs and business owners in Laos are now able to utilise the vast expertise of Ortus Mining Laos to develop mining projects. Ortus Mining Laos, a subsidiary of Ortus Mining Capital, told Vientiane Times recently that they are focused on the development of mineral concessions in ...
World Bank to provide $1 billion in assistance, Ministry says
The World Bank will approve the disbursement of $1 billion to Cambodia to develop priority sectors in the next five years, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The announcement was made by a World Bank delegation during a recent meeting with Acting Minister of ...
Chea Vannak
A Chinese Special Economic Zone is deepening conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State
Resource-rich Ramree Island, on the coast of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, has remained on the sidelines of recent violence as fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) continues to intensify. But the Myanmar government’s relations with the AA are now increasingly shaped by pressure from ...
Skylar Lindsay
Cambodia’s sanctuaries under threat
Cambodia’s Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary is symbolic of the country’s poor forestry management. Around 2,000 square kilometres (sq km) – around three times the size of Singapore – is lost to illegal logging in Cambodia every year where wildlife sanctuaries – despite their name – ...
Jason Thomas
UK scientists to probe economic benefits of flood defences in Vietnam
UK scientists will head to Vietnam again to study the economic and environmental benefits of natural flood defences. Researchers, led by environmental economist Dr Tobias Börger from the University of Stirling, will study the effectiveness of blue and green infrastructure (BGI) – which include wetlands, urban ...
Thomas Barrett
Dolphin species thought extinct in Vietnam caught in Mekong Delta
An Irrawaddy dolphin, not seen in decades in Vietnam, was caught by a fisherman in the southern province of Ben Tre on Wednesday. Phan Van Thai, 49, and his wife were fishing on the Co Chien River in Cho Lach District when they heard a loud ...
Phan Anh, Hoang Nam, Cuu Long
