Perspectives
by Lia Sciortino
Perspectives
Reading Media
Johanna Son
BANGKOK -- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. What images might these words conjure up in the minds of international consumers of news? Perhaps war, maybe the Khmer Rouge. Or they might say, ‘Oh, it’s that those countries that had that war some time ago. . . they’re near one another, and they’re all the same’.
June 2008
Mekong Delta Farmers on Bird Flu Alert
By Tran Dinh Thanh Lam
CAN THO, Vietnam, Jun 30 (Newsmekong) - The bustling city of Can Tho is the capital of southern Vietnam’s fertile Mekong Delta and one of the country’s two main rice baskets.
Landgrabbing Hounds Cambodia’s Ethnic Groups
By Andrew Nette
RATANAKIRI, Cambodia, Jun 27 (Newsmekong) - The wording of the two-page document in Dam Chanthy’s hands may be vague and legalistic, but the meaning is crystal clear. It details yet another land concession covering nearly 7,000 hectares that a company wants to plant with rubber and acacia trees.
China Quake Shakes Dam Ambitions
By Antoaneta Bezlova
DUJIANGYAN, China, Jun 25 (IPS) - China's deadly earthquake appears to have shifted more than just tectonic plates here in picturesque Sichuan province in the country’s south-west.
ASIA: Jatropha May Ease Mekong Countries’ Fuel, Food Needs
By Prime Sarmiento
MANILA, Jun 25 (Newsmekong) - The jatropha plant is not yet a household word, but experts say it can help economies in the Mekong region cope with both energy and food self-sufficiency needs at a time of surging fuel prices.
Tracing Human Trafficking in the Mekong Sub-region
If Tomorrow Comes
CAMBODIA: Wave of Dam Projects Calls for New Approaches
By Andrew Nette
PHNOM PENH, Jun 9 (IPS) - An explosion of dam building projects along the Sekong River in Laos, the Mekong river’s largest tributary, is prompting Cambodian and foreign experts to warn of significant downstream impacts and call for new approaches to governing the cross-border issues that arise from the use of the Mekong’s water resources.
BURMA: ASEAN Steps in Where Others May Not Tread
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, May 31 (IPS) - Four weeks after Cyclone Nargis swept through the populous Irrawaddy Delta in Burma, a regional effort to help the victims is slowly grinding into motion.
CAMBODIA: Resource Curse or Blessing?
By Andrew Nette
PHNOM PENH, May 28 (IPS) - Cambodia is facing a natural resource boom, but donors and non-government organisations (NGOs) warn that this potential windfall could be squandered without measures to improve financial transparency, promote better governance and curb corruption.
Mekong's Avian Flu
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What's New
Journalism Workshop Applications Deadline Moved to Dec. 2, 2011
Due to the current flooding crisis in Bangkok, the Mekong Energy Journalism Workshop, originally set for Nov. 27-30, 2011, has been moved to 17 - 20 January 2012. Application submission deadline is on Dec. 2, 2011. The selection result will be announced on Dec. 14, 2011.
MA Scholarships Open for Myanmar Students
Heinrich Boell Foundation holds an annual scholarship competition for a small number of students from within Myanmar/Burma to study at two premier Thai universities, offering three international programmes for the academic year 2009 and 2009/10.