Showing 1 - 10 of 38
Water crisis ignored
Oped, Editorial, Published on 27/01/2026
» The United Nations report on "global water bankruptcy" is a final warning to countries worldwide, including Thailand.
Make use of MRC talks
Oped, Editorial, Published on 14/11/2025
» Thailand is set to host a meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in Chiang Rai from Nov 25-27. The choice of location couldn't be more appropriate -- for over a decade, local civic groups have been using the northern province as a base for their campaigns against major infrastructure projects, which they believe could harm the region's rivers.
Fish photo op gone wrong
News, Editorial, Published on 11/10/2025
» On Wednesday, the public relations team of the Chiang Mai provincial administration ran a much-criticised public relations campaign showing provincial governor Thosapol Phueanudom eating fish caught from the Kok River.
MRC to the rescue
News, Editorial, Published on 12/07/2025
» A planned trip by the Mekong River Commission (MRC), a regional body tasked with overseeing the use of the Mekong River, to evaluate the transboundary water pollution in northern Thailand has given local villagers cause for optimism regarding this crisis.
Land bridge a disaster in waiting
Editorial, Published on 22/06/2025
» The Southern Economic Corridor is cataclysm in the making -- set to scar the Andaman Coast and Gulf of Thailand in one sweep. It will disrupt ecosystems, cripple tourism, and erase local livelihoods in exchange for enriching investors. It must be stopped.
Toxic rivers need help
Oped, Editorial, Published on 23/05/2025
» The government's reaction to heavy metal contamination in transboundary rivers in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces has left local villagers in despair. Almost three months after heavy metal contamination was recently detected in such rivers, our officials and ministers are still just at the stage of warning people not to consume water and fish from the Kok River in the North.
Govt slow on floods
Oped, Editorial, Published on 30/04/2025
» The report of flash flooding in the Sai River in Chiang Rai yesterday has renewed fears among local communities that floods and mudslides will return in ever greater numbers. Their fears are valid. In less than an hour, the flooding in the Sai River swelled to knee level, forcing villagers along the river to move their property and elders, as well as bedridden patients, out of harm's way.
Time to tackle toxic spill
News, Editorial, Published on 15/04/2025
» As the problem of scammer gangs in Myawaddy, Myanmar, tapers off, another serious transboundary problem emerged with the Pollution Control Department, under the Environmental Ministry, issuing a ban on April 4 against the use of water in the Kok River, which runs from Myanmar into Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces.
Community liquor boost
Oped, Editorial, Published on 18/01/2025
» House approval for the Community Liquor Bill will boost small-time distillers and is welcome news. But this is just the beginning.
Thai waters in peril
Oped, Editorial, Published on 15/01/2025
» Thailand's waterways and seas both face ecological crises that could devastate ecosystems, food security, and millions of livelihoods if left unchecked. Two protests this week reflect the urgency of these issues. Small-scale fishermen and environmentalists have gathered at the Senate to oppose an amendment to the Fisheries Act allowing trawlers to sweep clean the sea. Meanwhile, fishermen and aquaculture farmers from 19 provinces have rallied at Government House, demanding the government address the spread of the invasive blackchin tilapia, or pla mor khang dam in Thai, a fish wreaking havoc in river ecosystems across the country.