The first stage of the 440km expressway has been been built. The contractor estimates it will take 10 years to build the next three sections from Vangvieng district in Vientiane province to the Chinese border in Luang Namtha province, at a cost of US$6 billion.
Category: Article
Fifth Mekong dolphin calf recorded this year
Censuses conducted by the Fisheries Administration and WWF-Cambodia show 13 and nine births in 2019-2020, respectively, and eight and nine deaths, leaving the total population of Irrawaddy dolphins in the Kingdom’s reaches of the Mekong at just 89. From 2007-2020 the average annual growth rate has been 1.02 per cent and the average annual death rate has been 2.14 per cent, signalling a slow demise of the gentle creatures, according to a joint report by the two organisations.
As the West leaves a void in Myanmar, China ignores its own advice to invest
While China’s official guidelines have previously cautioned against investing in conflict zones, the temptations in Myanmar are strong. Indeed, under the junta, joint development projects appear to be accelerating.
Thailand downgraded in US human trafficking report
“Smugglers, brokers, employers, and others exploit Thai and migrant workers in labour trafficking in commercial fishing and related industries, the poultry industry, manufacturing, agriculture, domestic work, and street begging,” the report said.
Myanmar’s warring military and rebels find common ground in corrupt jade trade
A new investigation from watchdog group Global Witness reports that jade mining is a major source of income for both the Myanmar military and armed ethnic groups, fueling conflict in the country.
Carving up the Cardamoms: Conservationists fear massive land grab in Cambodia
Conservationists have expressed concern over a recently published regulation that makes nearly 127,000 hectares (313,800 acres) of previously protected land potentially available for sale or rent to politically connected businesses.
Assessing COVID-19 measures on aquaculture farmers’ livelihoods in the Mekong Region
Public health measures aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19 can have significant, unintended impacts on livelihoods. In this paper, we assess the impacts of responses to the COVID-19 pandemic on aquaculture farmers in five countries in the Mekong Region.
Low dry season flows in Mekong drive down Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, countries urged to improve basin-wide management
“For the sake of better management of the basin and of good faith cooperation, both Member Countries and China should notify any planned major changes in the operation of hydropower projects and share that information with the MRC Secretariat. This is important where such operations may result in abnormal rises and falls in water levels,” says Dr An Pich Hatda, MRC Secretariat Chief Executive Officer.
Lao flood survivors still struggle, with cash and rice support now cut off or reduced
“The authorities said they wouldn’t cut off our support until we had all moved into permanent homes, but now the cash allowance has been stopped and the rice allowance has been cut back since January,” a third Dong Bak villager said.
Cambodia’s first giant muntjac sighting highlights key mountain habitat
The camera traps recorded a diverse range of other species in addition to the rare deer. In total, 13 species were recorded that are threatened with extinction on the IUCN Red List,