The People’s Party (PP) has called on the government to tackle arsenic contamination from foreign mining, spreading from northern rivers to the Mekong in the Northeast. It is urging immediate talks with China, Myanmar and Laos.

PP deputy spokesman and Chiang Mai MP Phattarapong Leelaphat posted on Facebook on Saturday, accusing authorities of ignoring the toxic contamination. Arsenic levels in Mekong River passing Loei, Bueng Kan, Nong Khai and Nakhon Phanom provinces exceeded safety standards, yet officials withheld the information from the public, he said.

The pollution originates from neighbouring countries’ mining operations, but the government has failed to act. While contamination in northern rivers such as the Kok, Sai and Salween has long been known, the problem is now spreading to the Northeast, he added.

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In the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, communities in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province are taking stock of the toll wreaked by heavy rains and rising rivers. At least 33 people lost their lives in the country since mid-August amid hazardous conditions that devastated riverside homes, businesses and agricultural land.

The flooding has heightened public and policymaker scrutiny of plans to build a major hydropower dam spanning the Mekong River at Pak Beng in Oudomxay province in Laos. Experts warn the dam, situated 97 kilometers (60 miles) from the Thailand-Laos border, has the potential to elevate water levels in the mainstream Mekong and thus exacerbate seasonal flooding along key tributaries in Thailand.

Local communities and civil society groups have raised their concerns about the project for nearly a decade, claiming the developers and their Thailand-based investors have failed to consider the dam’s potential impacts on people living upstream.

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Widely regarded as a solution for climate change, renewable energy projects are booming in Southeast Asia. Installed solar and wind energy capacity across the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) surged by 20% in 2023 to account for 9% of the region’s total energy mix.

But while renewables have the potential to stem the demand for fossil fuels, a new report shows that wind and solar companies operating in Southeast Asia could be doing more to ensure they aren’t having unintended impacts on people’s rights and lives.

The integrity of wind and solar companies’ human rights policies and practices was the topic of a recent investigation by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), a U.K.-based private sector watchdog.

Researchers scrutinized the guiding principles of 12 energy companies operating in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, finding all companies lacked policies to protect the human rights of environmental defenders. Many also fell short on commitments to respect the human rights of communities affected by their operations.

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According to a directive released on Tuesday, Cambodia ordered all public schools to reduce two hours off their regular school days due to soaring temperatures in the ongoing dry season.

The directive said the normal morning school session from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. will now conclude an hour earlier, while the afternoon session, usually lasting from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., will commence an hour later.

“During the dry season in 2024, the weather is scorching, and temperatures can be higher than 40 degrees Celsius between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.,” Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said in the directive.

He said the measure is to prevent heat-related illnesses.

Chan Yutha, a spokesman and secretary of state for the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, said last week that Cambodia had recorded the highest-ever temperature in this hot season in about 170 years.

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More than three dozen districts across Thailand’s 77 provinces have seen record temperatures in April, generally the hottest month of the year, with new highs beating records held as far back as 1958, according to data from the Thai Meteorological Department.

Temperatures have topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in 26 provinces this month, according to the agency. The northern province of Lampang has seen the highest temperature so far this year at 44.2 degrees, just shy of the highest temperature ever recorded in Thailand – 44.6 degrees – that was last seen in 2016 and 2023.

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HO CHI MINH CITY — A heatwave in Vietnam is worsening environmental conditions in the Mekong Delta region, and farmers and gig workers have told VOA the heat is causing grueling working conditions and cutting crop yields.

The heatwave is fueled by the El Nino weather pattern causing hotter and drier conditions in Vietnam. Le Dinh Quyet, head of the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center, told local news outlet VnExpress that peak temperatures hit the South early this year due to the El Nino and a heatwave that started early March is expected to continue through April and delay the start of the rainy season.

Vo Quang Tuong, a lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City Open University specializing in Hydrology, told VOA by email April 2 that the El Nino is “expected to exacerbate extreme weather and climate events like heat waves, floods, and droughts.”

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‍Regrow Ag today shared details of its participation in the “Transforming Rice Value Chains for Climate Resilient and Sustainable Development in the Mekong Delta” project known as TRVC. Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the project manager, the Netherlands Development Organization SNV, is collaborating with stakeholders in Vietnam to design the five-year project with the goal of shifting to low-carbon, climate resilient food systems in three provinces in the Upper Mekong River Delta: An Giang, Dong Thap and Kien Giang. Regrow’s Agriculture Resilience Platform has been selected as the program’s measurement, reporting, verification (MRV) technology.

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Water holds special symbolic significance in Thai culture, from Loy Krathong to Songkran festivals. But as much as we respect the value of water, we must also recognise that failure to care for our water resources puts our lives and wellbeing at risk.

Over the last four decades we have transformed the natural landscape of Thailand. As the country has become rapidly urbanised and industrialised, we have filled much of the floodplains, wetlands and even canals to turn water into land, so that we can build and expand our towns, cities and industrial parks.

In doing so there has been very little consideration of the potential risks of such changes. Yet these risks are intensifying. It is often said that the effects of climate will be felt through water, and that our cities and urbanised areas will be on frontline in dealing with climate vulnerabilities of floods and droughts.

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The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has brought into effect an iguana import ban amid fears of rapid proliferation and potential environmental damage. The invasive species, discovered in vast numbers in natural habitats in the Lopburi province, have been causing distress to local communities by feeding on agricultural produce.

The green iguana is an alien species with no origin in Thailand, and the precise cause of its sudden appearance remains unclear. Atthapol Charoenchansa, the DNP director-general, revealed that the ban is an attempt to prevent the problem from escalating.

The decision is backed by powers granted under Articles 23 and 116 of the National Reserved Forests and Wildlife Preservation Act B.E. 2562 (2019) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s announcement dated July 27 2022, which designates certain wildlife as a controlled species.

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Can Tho (VNA) – Australia will provide 2.5 million AUD (1.64 million USD) for the “Business Partnership Platform: Climate Change Adaptation” programme designed to help businesses in the Mekong Delta region to adapt to climate change.

The funding was announced at a ceremony held by the Australian Consulate General and Can Tho city authority on November 21. 

Australian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Sarah Hooper said that the programme, to be implemented from 2023 to 2025, aims to promote women’s startups in agriculture adaptive to climate change, which will help women to develop production and increase incomes effectively. 

She stressed that Australia pays special attention to the development and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region including Vietnam, towards sustainable goals. Since 2000, the Australian Government has invested 650 million AUD (over 427 million USD) in the Mekong Delta region to improve infrastructure, and promote investment attraction, human resources, and innovation including two highlight projects – My Thuan bridge and Cao Lanh bridge.

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