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Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.

No more coal power plants needed

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

Last Thursday, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) confirmed that it will construct six new coal-fired power plants by 2025. On many levels, building these new power plants seems not to be a well thought-out plan.

At the local level, coal-fired power plants would adversely affect communities in these areas. Where such plants have been constructed in southern Thailand, they have polluted waters, reduced fish stocks, damaged crops, and contributed to a high concentration of respiratory disease. Nonetheless, Egat has yet to conduct comprehensive environmental impact assessments (EIAs) in areas which would be affected by these new plants.

MPE and Partners Help Dam-Affected Cambodians Build Skills to Engage in EIA Processes

By Paritta Wangkiat

Mekong Partnership for the Environment MPE supports work in communities affected by development projects because the success or failure of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) depends on meaningful participation of all key stakeholders. USAID-funded Mekong Partnership for the Environment (MPE) in partnership with NGO Forum on Cambodia (NGOF) trained 21 CSO and community representatives at […]

SEZ policy proves a boon for IEAT sales

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) says it sold 1,750 rai of developed land in the first half and expects better sales in the second half, crediting the government’s policy to support special economic zones (SEZs).

First-half sales were well above the target of 1,500 rai, said IEAT governor Verapong Chaiperm.

WB, Singapore-based fund invest in Vietnam’s hydropower

By Nantiya Tangwisutijit

IFC and Armstrong, with a combined stake of 36 percent, will take a 16 and 20 percent equity stake in GEC, respectively. For both it is their first investment in Vietnam’s power sector. The investment will help the company expand its hydropower portfolio and invest in other renewable energy segments, such as wind and solar power.

Based in the Central Highland province of Pleiku, GEC joined the Thanh Thanh Cong Group in 2013. With charter capital of 715 billion VND (34 million USD), GEC was one of the largest private sector hydropower players in Vietnam, with 84.4 MW of installed capacity across 15 run-of-the-river small-scale hydro power plants.

Civil society, government, journalists explore transboundary impacts in dialog and webinar events

By Paritta Wangkiat

Mekong Partnership for the Environment CSOs and academics share concerns over impacts of Thai transboundary investments   MPE partner Thai Society of Environmental Journalists (TSEJ) held its latest public seminar examining transboundary investment on 13 June 2016. A panel of civil society and academic experts discussed issues around these investment flows in and out of […]

Along the factory-dense rivers of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

By Paritta Wangkiat

Much as the banks of a river play a crucial role in its ecosystem and purity, what runs along two of the Mekong Delta’s major waterways is a series of non-environmentally friendly industrial plants and factories.

Dubbed the country’s rice basket, the Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea via a vast network of distributaries.

Of those distributaries, the main branches of the Mekong River in Vietnam are the Hau and Tien rivers, which both play a crucial role in the region’s land and climate conditions.

However, along the banks of these two rivers now exist a number of factories, processing plants and industrial parks.

Data, Development and the Environment: Regional Journalists and NGOs Take on Data Journalism

By Paritta Wangkiat

Mekong Partnership for the Environment With help from Mekong Partnership from the Environment (MPE), the Mekong region now has a new team of skilled regional journalists and NGOs who can bring evidence-based environment stories to their audiences. USAID-funded MPE and Myanmar’s Phandeeyar are training journalists and local NGOs to tell compelling stories with environmental data. At the […]