What does the media rights protection bill hold in store for Thai journalism?
Tag: policy
Communities demand transparency and participation in Dawei SEZ
Following their visit to Dawei, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRC) will is invite members from Thai companies – Myanmar Pongpipat company and Italian-Thai Development company – to discuss the community’s recommendations.
Law needed to regulate Thai investors’ abuses abroad: Thai, Myanmar groups
COMMUNITY groups in Thailand and Myanmar have urged protection of human rights and prevention of environmental impacts – after Thai entrepreneurs were reported to have carried out abusive and environmentally damaging acts in neighbouring countries.
Govt moves towards Strategic Environmental Assessments
STRATEGIC Environmental Assessments (SEA) are being carried out to regulate strategic development plans and prevent conflicts over harmful development, authorities said recently.
The Bird’s Eye View: What Endangered Birds Tell Us About the Risks of Mekong Development
The Thai government started 2017 announcing another major commitment to transportation expansion: US$25 billion to finance futuristic high-speed trains, super highways and expanded sea and airports. Far less glitzy but immediately controversial, however, was one of its final transportation acts of 2016: preparing to restart, after 13 years, rapid blasting and river channelization to clear the Mekong River for navigation just below its arrival from Myanmar.
The soul of the Mekong is in serious trouble
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last week asked reporters why non-governmental organisations (NGOs), environmental activists and academics continue to protest against the planned blasting of rapids in the Mekong River.
He said many of these protesters are outsiders, meaning people who do not live by the riverside, do not fish its waters or make a living from the river and do not, in fact, have any stake in the river at all.
Mekong EIA “Dream Team” Reaches the Final Mile
After an eighteen month journey, a team of civil society and government experts from across the Mekong Region is poised to transform the way communities are engaged in development.
The team has developed the Guidelines on Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the Mekong Region, which lays out a practical approach for governments, companies and communities looking to improve the social and environmental impacts of development projects such as dams, mines, power plants and economic zones.
Mekong diplomacy: a bridge that has failed
The Mekong River Commission (MRC) bears an enormous weight on its shoulders, overseeing both the development and the protection of a channel on whom millions of people depend. But the commission has proved powerless in the latter mission, failing to protect or involve communities in hydropower projects that threaten their livelihoods.
Thailand Backing Controversial Survey to Clear Mekong Islets
The Thai government is backing a plan by China to demolish islets and rocky outcrops on the Mekong River as part of a decade long project to boost shipping navigation from China’s Yunnan province to Luang Prabang in Laos.
The project, known as the Development Plan for International Navigation on the Lancang-Mekong River (2015-2025) is set in three phases, with an initial survey, design, and environmental and social assessments.
The 2016 US Presidential Election and the Implications for Climate Change
This briefing note surveys early hints and speculations regarding the Trump Administration’s possible climate policies and personnel appointments, and discusses them in the context of the surrounding domestic political context and institutional decision-making processes.