Radio Free Asia
Thailand issues warnings after smog blankets major cities
Thai authorities have urged children and pregnant women to stay indoors and people to wear masks outside, as toxic smog covers vast areas of the country, leading more than one million people to seek medical attention, officials said. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha begged farmers to stop ...
Thailand Rejects New Technical Report on Large-Scale Lao Mekong Mainstream Dam
Thailand has rejected a new technical report on Laos’ Sanakham dam project, one of nine large-scale Mekong River mainstream dams integral to Vientiane’s controversial economic strategy of becoming the “Battery of Southeast Asia.”The 684-megawatt Sanakham dam is one of seven future dams in various stages ...
Thai NGOs Urge Government Not to Buy Power from Sanakham Dam in Laos
A dam planned for construction by Laos on the Mekong river will have negative impacts not only on Lao villages but also in nearby Thailand, a coalition of Thai environmental groups says, adding that the government in Bangkok should cancel plans to buy electricity from ...
Thailand to Air Concerns with River Commission over Drought, Chinese Dams in Mekong
Thailand will raise concerns about its current drought during a Mekong River Commission meeting expected next month, the Thai water-resources chief said, as local farmers complained that dams in China were choking the waterway on which millions depend for their livelihoods.Somkiat Prajamwong, director of Thailand’s ...
Villagers in Laos and Thailand Suffer as China Opens the Floodgates on Mekong River Dams
Villagers living near the Mekong River in Thailand and Laos are finding it difficult to cope with sudden releases of water from dams upstream in China.More than 200 famililes living in Laos’ Bokeo province have suffered because of sudden increases in the height of the ...
Asian Nations Vow to Reduce Number of Stateless People
Asia-Pacific nations have pledged at talks in Bangkok to take steps, including legal reforms, to tackle statelessness, a key issue in the region.More than half of the world’s 10 million people who are stateless live in Asia, with at least 1 million of them Rohingya ...
Southeast Asian nations grapple with worsening plastic trash crisis
Governments throughout Southeast Asia have launched a war on plastic waste. But most are still in the early stages of creating waste management strategies and passing laws needed to implement them.According to the Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., more ...
Dan Southerland
Southeast Asian Nations Grapple With Worsening Plastic Trash Crisis
Governments throughout Southeast Asia have launched a war on plastic waste. But most are still in the early stages of creating waste management strategies and passing laws needed to implement them.According to the Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., more than ...