ព័ត៌មាន​

The US yesterday criticised Laos for announcing it will begin building the 1,285-megawatt Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River today without studying its potential effects on Cambodia and Vietnam. A spokesperson from the US State Department in Washington said the government was concerned construction of the ...

Cambodia’s government has approved a controversial hydroelectric dam on a tributary of the Mekong River. The joint venture involves Cambodian, Chinese and Vietnamese investment of $781m (£488m) and is due to be completed within five years. The project in northern Stung Treng province is known as Lower ...

The Mekong River Commission has released a comprehensive risk analysis of the transport of dangerous goods and issued recommendations to prevent oil spills, industrial waste and other emerging threats from navigation. Developed by the MRC Navigation Programme in Phnom Penh, the risk analysis finds that the ...

A waterfall has been blasted less than two kilometres from the Cambodian-Lao border, beginning work on another unapproved hydroelectric dam on the Mekong river, environmental group International Rivers claimed yesterday. Pianporn Deetes, the Thailand campaign coordinator for International Rivers, said she had learned of the excavation work, near ...

Fishermen bring their boats to shore, pack away their traps and hand over the day’s catch to their awaiting families on the banks of the Mekong River in Kratie province’s Chitra Borei district. “When my husband arrives home each day, we eat some of what he ...

For the past several days, Boonma and seven other Houay Souy villagers have travelled back to their homes near the Xayaburi Dam building site on the Lao side of the Mekong River. Since the beginning of the year they have been relocated to a new ...

A group of Cambodian NGOs sent a letter to the prime ministers of Thailand and Laos on Friday calling on them to stop the construction of a controversial dam on the Mekong River and respect the 1995 Mekong Agreement. “We would like to urgently call ...

The Thai company set to build Laos’s Xayaburi hydropower dam will not begin construction until a study determines the dam’s environmental effects on the Mekong River, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Friday. Yingluck reaffirmed her commitment to the study, which Mekong River Commission countries ...

Tonle Sap fishermen and fisheries experts said yesterday that illegal fishing on the lake had increased substantially since Prime Minister Hun Sen cancelled commercial fishing lots in March and urged authorities to crack down on violators. The prime minister suspended commercial lots across the country last ...

The controversial Xayaburi hydro-electric dam project in northern Laos may have already begun, despite countries, including Cambodia, requesting further studies to assess possible negative effects on Lower Mekong communities.Thai development firm Ch.Karnchang said it was due to begin building the dam on March 15 after finalising a ...

The agreement by Mekong River Commission Countries to conduct more studies before they decide on Laos’ proposal for the first Lower Mekong dam received further support on Friday, with an influential US senator and an environmental group welcoming it as an important step in preventing ...

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) agreed yesterday to delay a decision on Laos’ proposal to build the first hydropower dam on the Lower Mekong River in order to allow Japan to conduct further environmental impact studies on the dam project. Although Cambodian officials welcomed the outcome, ...

The water and environment ministers of the four Mekong River Commission (MRC) countries are scheduled to meet in Siem Reap today and tomorrow to reach a key decision on the future – some say the survival – of the Mekong River. The ministers – from Cambodia, ...

An environmental group yesterday criticized Thailand’s announcement last week that it would not oppose Laos’ proposal to build the first Lower Mekong dam at the upcoming Mekong River Commission (MRC) meeting, as long as Laos addresses the dam’s environmental impacts. Water and environment ministers from Cambodia, ...

As Mekong River Commission (MRC) countries prepare for a crucial meeting next week to debate Laos’ proposal to build the first Lower Mekong River dam, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has called for a delay of the controversial project. The US Senate’s concern was echoed ...

Environmental Group World Wildlife Fund yesterday called on the four member governments of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to shelve Laos’ proposal to build the first Lower Mekong River hydropower dam when the countries meet next week in Siem Reap province. Las has planned numerous dams ...

Hundreds of students attending a forum yesterday on plans of regional governments to develop hydropower dams on the Mekong River expressed concern over the river’s future, and they urged the governments to abandon the projects or proceed with caution. The forum in Phnom Penh was the ...

An environmental group yesterday refuted the validity of a report commissioned by Laos in September claiming that construction of its controversial Xayaburi dam would not have a significant impact on the Mekong River. The report, completed for the Lao government by Swiss engineer Poyry Energy AG, ...

Laos wants to start construction this year on the $3.8 billion (Bt115 billion) Thai-financed Xayaburi hydropower plant on the Mekong River after changing the design of the dam to placate neighbouring countries opposed to the project. Laos completed a review of the dam recently to ease ...

Ha Noi–The Vietnamese Government would do its best to work with the Cambodian Government to raise bilateral ties to a more effective and fruitful level, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Ha Noi yesterday. Dung told the Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign ...

An environmental group has accused the Lao government of “unilaterally” pushing forward with construction on the controversial US$3.8 billion Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River, despite serious concerns about the project and an incomplete regional decision-making process.  In a statement released yesterday,  conservation group International ...

Construction  of the 1,260 megawatt Xayaburi dam on the Mekong river has been suspended after a meeting between the USA, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. A report from the Mekong River Commission (MRC) has been leaked showing that construction was begun on the dam without ...

Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, has called for a “pause” on construction of hydroelectric dams along the Mekong River. She is urging time and consideration for all who would be affected by the dams, with 11 planned for the Lower Mekong, nine of which ...

US senators are pushing for a resolution that would use US influence within the Mekong basin to ensure that the construction of hydroelectric dams, such as the Xayaburi dam in Laos, would meet exacting environmental standards. The resolution would not be law but rather policy ...