International isolation following the coup may now force the government to move closer to Beijing than it would like.The future of dam building is now in the hands of General Min Aung Hlaing’s military regime.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Connectivity and Displacement in Laos: Exploring Intersectional Infrastructure Violence
What is the cost of this aggressive infrastructure development? What do we know about the people and places that are negatively impacted by these large-scale projects? In Laos, the government has placed enormous emphasis on infrastructure expansion as a mechanism for driving economic growth and poverty alleviation. Yet this infrastructure rollout has come at severe social and environmental costs.
Hundreds of families forced to move for Lao coal plant expansion
“We’re still staying in our homes in our village and farming our own land for now because nothing has happened yet, but when we move to the resettlement village, where are we going to farm?”a resident said.
Stop the flow of Vietnam’s plastics into oceans
According to a recent World Bank survey, plastic items accounted for 94 percent of all solid waste collected at 38 riverbank and coastal sites around the country, the majority of which were single-use plastics. The plastic consumption rate per capita in Vietnam rose ten times between 1990 and 2019. On average, a Vietnamese person now consumes 41.3 kilograms of plastic in a year.
Phnom Penh’s floating fishing community faces eviction
A hotel, with elegantly appointed air-conditioned rooms offering Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs, overlooks the settlement of wooden huts and fishing boats where many Khmer Islam, or Cham, and ethnic Vietnamese families live. “I can use the water freely when I live on the river. Electricity is not really a problem. So, when I move to the ground, I have to pay for all utilities, food, and place to sleep. I cannot afford those,” said one resident.
Laos govt approves Vientiane-Pakse expressway route selection
The Vientiane-Pakse Expressway, being undertaken by Chinese companies, will have a length of about 578.6 km is estimated to cost around US$5.1 billion for its construction.
Major transport projects in Mekong Delta to be prioritised: MoT
Priority will be given to a number of expressway projects, including Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang (Tran De), Can Tho-Ca Mau, My An-Cao Lanh, Cao Lanh-Lo Te-Rach Soi, Ha Tien-Rach Gia, and Hong Ngu-Tra Vinh.
Chinese SEZ’s in Lower Mekong region hotspots for wildlife trafficking, surveys say
From 2019 to 2020, market surveys from wildlife trade watchdog TRAFFIC found close to 78,000 illegal wildlife parts and products on sale in more than 1,000 outlets across Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia.
Housing for Attapeu flood victims now over 60 percent complete
ome 505 new homes have been completed for flood victims in Attapeu following the dam collapse of 2018.
Cambodia celebrates first drop of offshore oil despite major petroleum setback
Cambodia’s government held a ceremony Wednesday to commemorate the delivery of the first drop of oil extracted from the country’s offshore deposits, but the partner company that produced it went bankrupt days earlier and activists said oil is not the answer to the country’s ailing economy.