Showing 1 - 10 of 12
Mines, rivers, and a regional crisis
Oped, Tuenjai Deetes, Published on 18/12/2025
» 'When I was a child, the Kok River and the Mekong were clear and alive. We drank directly from the river. Women and mothers gathered along the banks, hauling in fishing nets fully loaded with heavy fish, which we cooked and ate the same day. We were happy. We lived without fear -- fear of toxins, fear for our health.
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.
Lanna Buddhist legend merits revival
Oped, Suddan Wisudthiluck, Published on 19/12/2024
» When religious pilgrims trek to sacred sites, they reaffirm not only their faith but also their own culture and communities. One example is Spain's ancient route of Santiago de Compostela, which leads to the tomb of St James the Greater, one of the apostles who spread Christianity. It was established more than a thousand years ago, yet this route attracts millions of pilgrims and tourists today. Unesco recognised it as a World Heritage Site in 1985.
Free-flowing Salween River needs protection
Oped, Pianporn Deetes, Published on 14/03/2023
» This morning at Sob Moei -- the confluence of the Moei and the Salween rivers on the Thailand-Myanmar border -- indigenous peoples and their supporters are attending a spiritual ceremony to express their collective stance to protect the Salween River from destructive dam projects.
Drop the forest plan
Oped, Editorial, Published on 14/07/2022
» The Royal Thai Army (RTA) probably expected to receive kudos from environmentalists and the public in general for its reforestation mission. It did not.
Why Moei River has become a war zone
Oped, Paskorn Jumlongrach, Published on 25/12/2021
» This week's exodus of thousands of people fleeing for their lives from Myanmar's Karen State into Thailand's Mae Sot district in Tak was not unexpected.
Myanmar strife keeps getting worse
Oped, Paskorn Jumlongrach, Published on 21/10/2021
» The sour relationship between Myanmar and Asean might have forced the Tatmadaw -- a term for the Myanmar junta government -- to go soft and release hundreds of political prisoners from Insein prison, in a bid perceived as an attempt to extend an olive branch to the regional bloc.
Humanitarian catastrophe on the Salween River
Oped, Pianporn Deetes, Published on 19/06/2021
» 'I can't figure it out. Thai officials told us to leave and [we'll] probably have to end up living in the forest. We need to squeeze ourselves among the cracks of the ravines to keep ourselves safe from airstrikes by the Myanmar army," Naw Lay Bue, a Karen housewife with her three-month-old baby in her arms, told me in an interview in March, a few days after she and other villagers fled to Thailand following air raids launched by the Myanmar army in Karen State.
A humanitarian crisis by the Salween River
Oped, Chai Pongpipat Meebejamart, Published on 11/05/2021
» The situation for Karen war refugees at the Thailand-Myanmar border by the Salween River in Mae Hong Son has gone from bad to worse.
Civilians bear the brunt of conflict in Karen State
Oped, Saw Kha Pay Mu Nu, Published on 28/04/2021
» We were all woken from our sleep by the loud noises from vehicles that were reverberating in our ears. They sounded like heavy vehicles on caterpillar tracks.