Germany has provided equipment to the Mekong River Commission to monitor the environmental impacts of two mainstream dams on the lower reaches of the Mekong River. The equipment, worth around $600,000, meant to help monitor the impacts of Laos’s Xayaburi and Don Sahong dams, was handed ...

The ministry’s International Trade Promotion Department will allocate the largest proportion of its trade-promotion budget for ASEAN markets, focusing on Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Malee Choklumlerd, director-general of the department, said it had been allocated a budget of Bt2 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, and ...

Electricity prices need to rise before the government can move forward with plans to meet demand for next hot season, a senior Ministry of Electricity and Energy official says. With many areas of the country suffering from crippling power cuts, the ministry earlier this month announced ...

The economies of the five Lower Mekong countries range from those still developing beyond a reliance on agriculture and natural resources, to more robust export economies supporting themselves and becoming more independent. For the 2015 fiscal year, the World Bank categorized the region’s economies as ...

Farmers along the Mekong have been told to expect a worse drought than the brutal water shortages that gripped the region before this year’s rains arrived.  Severe or extreme drought is forecast to affect Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam before the next wet season, threatening agricultural production. The Mekong ...

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told the gathering of World Travel and Tourism Council members in Bangkok last week that the country’s strategy is called “Thailand Plus One”, under which Bangkok is positioned as a gateway for trade, investment and tourism in the region. The focus is ...

More than 20 years ago, when two Chiang Rai-based environmentalists, Niwat Roikaew and Somkiat Kuenwongsa, learned that the Chinese government were blasting rapids in the upper Mekong River from Yunnan to Myanmar and Laos to clear the way for large commercial vessels, they started worrying. Back ...

Exports to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam continue to rise due to strong demand in the neighbouring countries, where the economies continue to grow, according to the Office of Industrial Economics. Ittichai Yotsi, director of the OIE’s Bureau of Industrial Economics Research, said exports to ...

The Lancang-Mekong Youth Exchange and Cooperation Center was inaugurated in Shanghai Monday, with eight universities from China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam signing a memorandum. The center aims to enhance youth exchanges, cooperation and development among the six countries and will focus on projects of ...

While attention is focused on the coronavirus pandemic, we must also be alert to another fast-spreading hazard claiming lives — wildfires. Several people died this year fighting fires in northern Thailand. Now, hundreds of fires are burning there, in Laos and Myanmar. We expect more fires ...

Oxfam and Save Cambodia’s Wildlife is organizing the regional youth camp in March 2018 and below are the relevant info: WHAT: Regional Youth Camp  “RACING UP THE MEKONG” WHEN: 25-30 March 2018 (excluding travelling time for non-Cambodian participants) WHERE: Mondul Yorn Ecotourism Site of Ratanakiri province, Cambodia. You ...

China’s upstream activities along the Mekong River have long been contentious — but a recent study has sparked fresh scrutiny over its dam-building exercises, reigniting warnings that millions of livelihoods could be destroyed. A U.S.-government funded study by research and consulting firm, Eyes on Earth, found that Chinese dams ...

Indeed, the Mekong River—the tenth largest river hosting the second largest biodiversity in the world—is a gorgeous natural treasure that six countries on the Asian continent are blessed with. Her 4,909-kilometer journey commences on the vast hills of the Tibetan Plateau, spanning the territories of China, ...

Japan plans to extend about $994 million in low-interest lending to Myanmar for such projects as railways and water treatment plants, the latest step in Tokyo’s push to bolster ties with the Southeast Asian country. This would mark Japan’s first development financing initiative for Myanmar since ...

In recent years, countries in the Mekong region have faced over-supply of methamphetamine from the Golden Triangle. Especially Crystal meth and “Yaba” a methamphetamine pill. Methamphetamine has become more accessible and available, despite efforts to disrupt supply and precursor chemicals. New strategies are needed to stop ...

Cambodia is seeking Vietnam’s help to curb timber smuggling and crack down on forestry crimes along shared borders. National Assembly Foreign Affairs commission chairman Chheang Vun made the request to his Vietnamese counterpart during a two-day conference of parliamentarians from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in Vietnam’s ...

Trekking through Hướng Hóa protective forest in Đak Rông District of central Quảng Trị Province, it is not hard to see dozens of tree trunks, branches and twigs lying in disorder on the pathway. Right next to the forest protection station, illegal logging is still ...

As much as 80 percent of irregular migrant workers were ferried into Thailand by smuggling services, sometimes with the help of corrupt Thai officials, a recent report by the United Nations said. In a report released at a news conference last week, the UN Office on ...

As disputes multiply over the use of the Mekong, including over planned upriver dams in Laos contested by Cambodia and Vietnam, and a newly unveiled Thai plan to divert water to its drought-ravaged farms, the body tasked with mediating among the four nations is losing ...

Deadlines have been extended for Mekong Business Initiative’s MATCh innovation accelerator. MATCh, Mekong Agri Tech Challenge, is seeking mature startups aspiring to enter new markets and budding startups with agritech solutions and products. The Greater Mekong Sub Region is rich in natural resources and ripe with opportunities to make your launch successful.  The startup accelerator track is accepting ...