Perspectives
by Lia Sciortino
Perspectives
China’s PR Problem Rears Its Head
Johanna Son
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CHIANG MAI, Dec 11 (TerraViva/IPS Asia-Pacific) - Powerful neighbour. A rising power. Old friend. Big, secretive investor. Big boy of the region.
These were some of the terms participants at a talk-show format discussion at the Mekong Media Forum used when asked to share the images of China they get from the media.
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’.
China: Benign Bully of the Mekong?
Johanna Son
SYDNEY, Oct 3 (IPS Asia-Pacific) – Over the last decade or so, China’s deft use of soft power has seen South-east Asian neighbours’ view of it change from a looming threat to a largely friendly, if still imposing, giant to the north.
Myanmar
What to do with Burma?
Rosalia Sciortino*
BANGKOK, Jun 5 - Mizzima News, a news agency run by Burmese exiles from India, reported on May 4 that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) denied having provided direct financial backing to developmental efforts in Burma (also officially known as Myanmar) under the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) cooperation framework.
China's 1st Hydro BOT Project in Burma Revs Up
The Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement of Ruili (Shweli) River I hydropower station, signed signed in Burma's capital, Naypyidaw, on Dec. 30, 2006 is China's first hydropower BOT project in its neighbouring country.
The Akha Identity across Borders
A Photo Essay By Myo Myint Swe
About 2.5 million of the Akha ethnic group live in a 3,000-square-kilometre-wide area in the Mekong region -- in Yunnan province of south-west China, northern Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Historically, they migrated from Yunnan about 500 years ago.
Environmentalists See Red Over Teak Imports
CHIANG RAI - Conversationists are protesting Chiang Rai's decision to allow teak logs imported from Burma to pass through the northern Thai province. They said that this will lead to an increase in illegal logging activities in Thai forests.
Mandalay Sees Internet Boom
MANDALAY, Burma — The number of internet users in Mandalay has increased fourfold in the past three years, according to IT industry experts in the city.
Burmese Tsunami Victims Try to Move On
By Myat Soe*
PHUKET, Thailand - Naing Naing, a 20-year-old Burmese migrant worker, is tired of hearing the government of Thailand's repeated promises of catering to the needs of the disaster victims.
Open Borders, Demand Keep Wildlife Trade Going
MYINT ZAW*
The signs of the continued cutting of trees are obvious.
The Trafficking Trap Persists in Border Towns
WIN NAING
RANONG, Thailand - A Burmese woman sits on the wooden floor of a small room in Ranong, a Thai town bordering southern-most Burma. Over the sound of a whirring fan, the 18-year-old who is just over four feet tall recounts her past.
Mr. Myo Zaw
Editor, Beauty Magazine
Ms. Lanau Roi Aung
Researcher, Images Asia E-desk
Mekong's Avian Flu
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What's New
Mekong ICT Camp 2010
The Mekong ICT Camp (http://mekongict.org), a biannual training workshop on information, communication, and technologies for citizen media, community health, and civil society practitioners in Mekong subregion, is accepting applications until Mar. 31, 2010. Participants are welcome from the Mekong countries, including Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
COMING SOON: 'TALKING GENDER IN THE MEKONG MEDIA'
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BANGKOK - Do media organisations in the Mekong Region think that gender sensitivity, including giving voices to women, is part of doing better stories? How do they define it within the context of their societies and how do they report on different genders and sexuality? Do they include the use of gender-friendly language in their stylebooks and training programmes? How much is using a gender lens a news habit?