Articles
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The cost of cloud: Viet Nam’s data center push comes with a price tag
This article was originally published on Mekong Eye as Creative Commons. Over the past year, global tech giants like Google, NVIDIA and Microsoft have expressed an interest in investing in data centers in Viet Nam. With many policymakers hopeful about the country becoming a key digital hub in Southeast Asia, some critical questions arise: Can
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Legal recognition at last for Thailand’s indigenous peoples?
After decades of campaigning, Thailand’s six million indigenous people stand at the threshold of legal recognition. A landmark bill, set for July vote, could transform their struggle against statelessness, criminalisation on ancestral lands, and cultural erasure.
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Refugees and Thai agencies address Hun Sen’s leaked audio on dissident crackdown in Thailand
A Thai House Committee discusses security risks related to reportedly leaked call audio alleging that Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen ordered actions against refugees.
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How Myanmar’s gold rush threatens international rivers
Satellite data suggests unregulated gold mines near the Thai-Myanmar border may be polluting transboundary waterways
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Not a Burden, But a Bond — Let This Border Be a Bridge of Shared Hope and Humanity
Rather than burdening systems in Thailand, a Myanmar refugee and community organizer explores how Burmese in the border town of Mae Sot contribute to community life.
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As Thailand’s fishing cats face habitat loss and conflict, experts seek resolution
Fishing cats have lost vast swathes of their former range in Thailand, where decades of wetland conversion to fish farms, shrimp ponds and plantations have decimated their numbers.
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Mistrusting the Myanmar junta, grassroots communities deliver earthquake aid directly to victims
Thai and Myanmar nationals in Thailand are collecting and delivering donations through grassroots networks, navigating logistics challenges to avoid giving to Myanmar’s junta government.
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Battered in the creative city: the lives of Chiang Mai’s workers
Hear from Chiang Mai’s creative workers as they navigate rock-bottom wages, contract violations, and harsh working conditions, while employers cite obstacles to paying a living wage, and what makes it possible.
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Fragile Peace Teeters at Metta Forest Pagoda
Prum Socheat throws a meditation pad on the floor of the Metta Forest pagoda and squats, flipping through photos collected from pagoda events. The lead monk acts as a school teacher reciting a story to his class, and on April 8, his class was two journalists. The early photos are from community events: worshippers ceremonially
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Young activists risk all to defend Cambodia’s environment
One year ago, Cambodia jailed five activists from the award-winning environmentalist group Mother Nature Cambodia for plotting against the government, after they had sounded the alarm about river pollution and land reclamation projects. THE CLEARING follows Chandaravuth – the group’s most outspoken member – and his colleagues in the months leading up to their incarceration…
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As U.S. doors close, Vietnam’s religious refugees find limbo in Thailand
They escaped Vietnam seeking safety in Thailand, with many betting on eventual resettlement in America. But Trump’s refugee restrictions have left them stranded – their future more uncertain than ever.
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Yarnapund workers enter third week of hunger strike for severance pay
Six Thai autopart workers enter their third week of hunger strike, demanding accountability after hundreds were unfairly dismissed.
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Thailand ‘bringing back the bad old days’ for fisheries, say activists
As protestors scramble to prevent rollbacks to environmental and labour protections, a leading politician defends the changes
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The Mekong Delta’s highway conundrum
Expansion of the delta’s high-speed roads has been rocky, while the alternative, elevated highways, poses separate challenges
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Southeast Asia’s environmental defenders on the frontline
Environmental defenders across Southeast Asia face threats, violence and legal hurdles in their fight for justice. Five share their struggles
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Timber trade watchdog urges Poland to halt imports of Myanmar ‘blood timber’
Environmental law watchdog ClientEarth is demanding immediate action from authorities in Poland to crack down on imports of sanctioned Myanmar teak into the country
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Lost land, broken promises: Koh Kong’s evicted residents left in limbo after land deals
Families promised a better future at relocation sites offered by a Chinese developer now struggle with infertile land, disappearing jobs and unfulfilled development pledges
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Cambodia’s LNG plans face energy security and cost issues
The country should approach gas-fired power development with caution, write the authors of a new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis
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New dams call into question Cambodia’s commitment to REDD+ projects
Three new irrigation dams have been approved in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains, overlapping with two carbon credit projects
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Citizen scientists put land bridge plan under microscope
As Thailand’s ambitious land bridge project advances, grassroots efforts from citizen scientists and local researchers emerge to ensure that biodiversity and ecosystems are not overlooked
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Underwater citizen science reveals the specter of ghost fishing in Thailand
Discarded or “ghost” fishing gear comprises 10% of all marine plastic debris in the ocean, persisting for decades and passively catching and killing species from sea snails to whale sharks