Showing 1 - 10 of 128
Laos dam disaster a warning for Thailand
News, Editorial, Published on 05/08/2018
» The breach of Xe Pian Xe Namnoy dam in southern Laos that killed dozens of villagers, with several still missing, should be a wake-up call for Thai authorities who this week issued disaster warnings while rolling up their sleeves for possible incidents.
High-speed rail blues
News, Editorial, Published on 20/12/2021
» Concern has grown over the influx of fresh produce from China into the Thai market after the China-Laos bullet train railway commenced operations early this month.
Dammed if you do
Editorial, Published on 21/06/2018
» Laos’ latest announcement of a decision to go ahead with its fourth 770-megawatt Pak Laydam project has sent an alarming sign that the tide of hydropower development on the mainstream Mekong River is not just unstoppable, but accelerating.
Slow down dam building
News, Editorial, Published on 26/07/2018
» With 46 hydropower plants currently, Laos plans to have a total of 100 dams by 2020 to serve the energy-starved Mekong region. That could help the one party-ruled country achieve its ambition of becoming "the battery of Southeast Asia". But the dam collapse in Attapeu in southeastern Laos on Monday shows how easily catastrophes can happen.
Time to walk the dam talk
Oped, Editorial, Published on 24/08/2022
» The Supreme Administrative Court's decision last week to dismiss the Xayaburi Dam lawsuit should serve as a reminder of an issue rarely mentioned -- the Thai government's unrealised pledge to promote environmental conservation and human rights protection in transboundary investments.
Lack of unity in drug sweep
News, Editorial, Published on 28/02/2018
» The government has launched yet another series of anti-drugs sweep aimed at taming the North. They are part of the decades-old campaign to wipe out trafficking in illicit drugs. Authorities came up with reports to the public that had a very tired look and feel. A one-month "massive" suppression campaign resulted in the arrests of 63 suspects, the seizure of many kilogrammes of drugs and the unsurprising discovery of some 241 million baht of "assets" -- cash, gold, cars and motorcycles, up-scale homes, land and condominiums.
Dam disaster on the way
News, Editorial, Published on 20/07/2019
» It is now early on in the rainy season and the water volume on the Mekong River should have been high. But water levels on certain stretches of the international river, which runs from China through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, have reached their lowest points for 57 years.
Dams a threat to Mekong
News, Editorial, Published on 16/10/2019
» Almost a decade ago, Vietnam was the most vocal neighbour in opposing Laos' first dam on the Mekong River. Now, it has become a partner in the Lao government's Luang Prabang dam project -- its fifth on the mighty river. This new partnership is worrying, as is the rapid pace of overall Mekong hydropower development.
Activists need protection
News, Editorial, Published on 14/05/2019
» Thailand's already battered human rights record has fallen another notch following reports of the mysterious disappearance of three activists accused of lese majeste while in exile in Vietnam.
Dissidents are Thai too
Oped, Editorial, Published on 26/03/2022
» The recent death of the Sriburapha Award-winning author Wat Wallayangkoon, who passed away on Monday at the age of 67 in France, is not only a loss for Thailand's literary scene. His life also reflected the struggles and threats that political dissidents living in exile must endure.