China enhances Lancang-Mekong youth exchange, cooperation
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 ...
Key to controlling wildfires lies with communities
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 ...
DAVID GANZ
Regional Youth Camp "Racing up the Mekong"
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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 ...
OXFAM
China could have choked off the Mekong and aggravated a drought, threatening the lifeline of millions in Asia
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 ...
Huileng Tan
The Great Walls On Mekong: Dams Of Fate
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, ...
Duong Nguyen
Japan readies 100bn yen in lending for Myanmar
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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 ...
The Dramatic Growth of Methamphetamine Production in the Mekong Region
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 ...
Hướng Hóa protective forest fights logging threat
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 ...
Human Smugglers Work with Corrupt Thai Officials: UN Report
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 ...
Pravit Rojanaphruk
MATCh Mekong Agritech Challenge: 2018 Application Deadline Extended
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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 ...
Mekong Business Innitiative
Vietnam puts the Mekong's fate on ASEAN's agenda
In a nod to green diplomacy, Vietnam is raising the geopolitical stakes over the Mekong River, Southeast Asia’s largest body of water, which has dropped to record lows due to a severe drought and construction of large dams. Hanoi has signaled its intent to raise the issue this ...
Marwaan MaCan-Markar
Analysis: How Vietnam came to embrace a new vision of the Mekong Delta’s future
On any list of places menaced by climate change, Vietnam’s broad and fertile Mekong Delta ranks near the top. And yet, as I wrote for Mongabay four years ago, rising seas and changing weather patterns are not the only threats to the delta’s fabled fecundity. A spasm of ...
David Brown
Southeast Asia and the right to safe water
On 6 November, the Mekong River Commission acknowledged that climate change had exacerbated this year’s wildly varying water levels on the Mekong – which saw the mighty river reduced to a trickle in parts, even during the rainy season. But the main contributor, it said, ...
Sam Geall
Banpu Power posts 100% net profit rise in 2016
Banpu Power Plc has reported its 2016 business performance, with its net profit of Bt4.13 billion, a significant increase on the Bt2.07 billion it posted in the previous year. With its strong financial status, Banpu Power has affirmed its strategic plan in operating conventional and renewable ...
Thaworn proposes new labour mobility panel for GMS
Deputy Transport Minister Thaworn Senneam called for the appointment of a committee on safe labour mobility during the 24th Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Ministerial Conference held online on Wednesday. The meeting was also attended by GMS ministers from Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. The ...
POST REPORTERS
Trade deal to reduce tariffs with Vietnam
Cambodia and Vietnam inked an agreement on October 26 to drop import tariffs on dozens of products in an effort to boost bilateral trade. Cambodian Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnamese Minister of Trade and Industry Tran Tuan Anh ahead of the ...
Survey Finds Decade-High Numbers of Irrawaddy Dolphins
The number of the endangered Irrawaddy dolphins found in Myanmar this year has increased to 79, the highest in a decade, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society of Myanmar (WCS). The numbers include seven calves aged three months or younger. The Irrawaddy dolphins can also be found ...
Zarni Mann
Asian countries defend Cambodia after UN envoy critique
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The U.N.’s special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia on September 28 hit the country with a growing list of criticisms over alleged human rights abuses, which Cambodia parried with the apparent support of neighboring states, including Burma, Laos, Thailand and China. Rhona Smith, in a presentation ...
Cooperation key on Mekong issues
In the coming months, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) will host a unique competition for university students from our four member countries: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The objective is to see which team can develop the most effective, cost-efficient and sustainable technology to monitor water ...
ANOULAK KITTIKHOUN
Govt urged to tax Mekong development projects
Local communities along the Mekong River are asking the government to establish a fund, made up of collected tax revenues from development projects on the waterway, to compensate villagers affected by them. “This fund [should] not be a corporate social responsibility scheme,” said Ormbun Thipsuna, president ...
APINYA WIPATAYOTIN