https://www.scmp.com/rss/14955/feed Tom Fawthrop, an author and filmmaker, has been based in Asia for more than 30 years. He has been a contributor to various media including The Economist, Guardian and SCMP. He has also directed the documentary “Killing the Mekong, Dam by Dam”. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The charming wooden houses of Hoi An have earned the 15th-century central Vietnam trading town a Unesco-heritage tag, frequent hat-tips on Asia’s “must-visit” lists and the adoration of the millions each year, who squeeze through the narrow lanes and pack onto the tourist skiffs which glide along its waterways. But grumbles about overtourism are increasing, as the town’s population of just 120,000 is submerged by more than 4 million tourists annually, and original artisans and craftspeople are... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3263631/vietnams-hoi-counts-cost-popularity-mass-tourism-threatens-overwhelm-ancient-town?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3263631/vietnams-hoi-counts-cost-popularity-mass-tourism-threatens-overwhelm-ancient-town?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 May 2024 04:00:08 +0000 Conservationists have suggested a last-ditch recovery plan to save the “irreplaceable” biodiversity of the Mekong River, as unrelenting dam-building through China and Laos disrupts sediment flow and fish-breeding patterns crucial to keeping scores of endangered fish species from extinction. The economic value of the Mekong’s fisheries – on which 40 million people depend as it winds more than 4,900km from its source in China into the Vietnam Delta – has also plunged as development decimates the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3256259/mekong-rivers-declining-fish-species-urgent-wake-call-action-conservationists-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3256259/mekong-rivers-declining-fish-species-urgent-wake-call-action-conservationists-say?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Mar 2024 04:00:22 +0000 Waves of tourists are expected to flood back this year to Laos’ ancient city of Luang Prabang as pandemic travel restrictions end, but the cheer of economic recovery has been clouded by plans for a major hydropower dam just 25km upstream from the Unesco World Heritage site. Two years after the Laotian government approved the project, it is set to launch the 1,460-megawatt Luang Prabang dam with Thai developers in June, without first undertaking a rigorous seismological study. Critics say the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3212250/laos-luang-prabang-may-lose-unesco-status-amid-fears-dam-will-cause-irreversible-damage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3212250/laos-luang-prabang-may-lose-unesco-status-amid-fears-dam-will-cause-irreversible-damage?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Mar 2023 06:00:22 +0000 The sight of Thai fishermen forlornly casting their nets, with scant hope of a decent catch from a great river once teeming with fish, reflects the sad decline of the mighty Mekong, now reeling from over-exploitation and the feverish proliferation of hydropower dams. Laos has two dams on the Mekong River, with seven more scheduled to be constructed. Upstream, in China, 11 dams are currently in operation. “Our Mekong is dying,” laments environmental expert Dr Chainarong Settachua from Maha... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3184578/our-mekong-dying-locals-reel-fish-crisis-dams-sprout-laos-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3184578/our-mekong-dying-locals-reel-fish-crisis-dams-sprout-laos-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Jul 2022 03:30:19 +0000 The ancient capital of Luang Prabang, nestled amid the mountains of northern Laos, is one of Unesco’s most impressive and well-preserved World Heritage Sites. But it has not been spared from the dam ambitions of the Lao government, which has approved plans by Thai corporation CH Karnchang to install a hydroelectric dam only 25km upstream from the cultural gem. This mosaic of Buddhist temples, French colonial villas, artisan craft shop and tree-lined cobblestone alleyways is sandwiched between... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3140993/why-thailand-should-step-halt-luang-prabang-dam-project?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3140993/why-thailand-should-step-halt-luang-prabang-dam-project?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jul 2021 20:00:17 +0000 The Road: Uprising in West Papua by John Martinkus Black Inc 3.5/5 stars After 50 years of popular resistance to Indonesian rule in West Papua, this forgotten war is flaring up again. The indigenous movement, led by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), has never lost hope of recovering ancestral lands dating back centuries before their annexation by Indonesia. Military operations intensified in the Central Highlands region of Nduga last year as the uprising spread. Another... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3087368/road-new-book-shines-light-indonesias-50-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3087368/road-new-book-shines-light-indonesias-50-year?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Jun 2020 03:00:15 +0000 The Last Days of the Mighty Mekong by Brian Eyler Zed Books The mystique of the Mekong River has long enchanted explorers, motivated traders and beguiled travellers. Its bio­diversity – including dolphins, crocodiles and almost 1,000 species of fish – has made it one of the great rivers of the world. The Last Days of the Mighty Mekong sets out to explore the state of a river now suffering from rapid infrastructure development and over-exploitation of its natural resources. China-built dam in... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/2188002/mekong-mighty-no-more-demise-great-river-system?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/2188002/mekong-mighty-no-more-demise-great-river-system?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Feb 2019 10:31:34 +0000 Earthquake experts have renewed concerns about the potential for a seismic disaster hitting the massive Xayaburi dam, which is well under construction on the Mekong River in a quake-prone location in Laos. Geologist Dr Punya Charusiri of Chulalungkorn University in Bangkok said: "The Xayaburi dam poses a potential danger because there are active faults close to the dam site." Dr Punya said there was a 30 per cent chance of a medium-sized earthquake hitting the dam site in the next 30 years, and... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1469903/experts-renew-quake-fears-over-xayaburi-dam-mekong-river-laos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1469903/experts-renew-quake-fears-over-xayaburi-dam-mekong-river-laos?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Apr 2014 14:15:30 +0000 The embattled Thai government's hardline "red-shirt" supporters in the country's north say they are ready to resist any attempt by the military to stage a coup. Some supporters say they also expect popularly elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to retreat to Chiang Mai and set up government there if the army tries to take power in Bangkok amid ongoing anti-government demonstrations. While some experts consider the government relocating an unlikely prospect, supporters like red-shirt... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1416916/red-shirts-ready-resist-thai-army-coup-set-capital-chiang-mai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1416916/red-shirts-ready-resist-thai-army-coup-set-capital-chiang-mai?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jan 2014 14:15:00 +0000 Nineteenth-century Mekong explorers marvelled at the wetlands of Siphandone in southern Laos, a district of spectacular waterfalls, swirling rapids, steep narrow gorges and myriad islets. Beyond the rapids, a colony of rare Irrawaddy Dolphins still frolic near the Cambodia border. The dam would cause serious nutritional problems in the Mekong region DR IAN BAIRD But experts say this ecotourism paradise, known as the "Four Thousand Islands" region, could soon be irreversibly damaged by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1362726/proposed-laos-dam-mekong-raises-ecological-fears?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1362726/proposed-laos-dam-mekong-raises-ecological-fears?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Nov 2013 04:39:36 +0000 Environmentalists are again raising concerns about the controversial Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River, saying efforts to make the project in Laos more "fish friendly" are not serious, and employ untested technology. The builders of the dam, which Laos hopes will make it a key regional hydropower producer, have introduced modern fish passage techniques in an attempt to deal with the concerns of scientists that it will lead to the devastation of fisheries and food security. The controversial... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1308925/controversial-mekong-dam-could-devastate-local-population?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1308925/controversial-mekong-dam-could-devastate-local-population?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Sep 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The image of Myanmar's Buddhist clergy has undergone a battering in recent months, as saffron-robed monks incite discrimination and violence against Muslim communities. But while monks have been at the forefront of anti-Muslim mob violence across the country, others continue to preach a message of peace and tolerance and have been organising humanitarian aid for Muslims displaced by the sectarian conflict. They say they are in the majority, and that monks who rail against the "Muslim threat" are... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1256663/myanmar-monks-say-most-oppose-anti-muslim-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1256663/myanmar-monks-say-most-oppose-anti-muslim-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The death of Ieng Sary - one of three Khmer Rouge leaders accused of genocide and war crimes before a tribunal in Phnom Penh - may have also killed off attempts by victims and their families to recover his assets and hidden wealth, including a bank account in Hong Kong. It is thought that at one stage US$20 million was in the account. Ieng Sary died of a heart attack, aged 87, in a Phnom Penh hospital earlier this month. He was one of supreme leader Pol Pot's inner circle, ranked as "Brother No... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1203492/khmer-rouge-leader-ieng-sary-had-us20m-hong-kong-account?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1203492/khmer-rouge-leader-ieng-sary-had-us20m-hong-kong-account?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The four-nation Mekong River Commission (MRC) that supposedly co-ordinates activity on Southeast Asian's most important waterway faces a credibility crisis over the refusal by Laos to listen to objections to its controversial Xayaburi dam project. At a ministerial-level meeting of the commission this week, Cambodia and Vietnam criticised Laos for unilaterally pressing ahead with the dam, the first on the Lower Mekong being built without approval from the MRC. Critics fear the environmental... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1131188/laos-construction-barrage-triggers-mekong-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1131188/laos-construction-barrage-triggers-mekong-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The abduction in Laos of one of Asia's most respected activists has sent a wave of fear through the aid-worker community, forcing some to flee the country. Laotian national Sombat Somphone is still missing more than two weeks after apparently being detained at a police check point in the capital, Vientiane. Video footage obtained by Ng Shui Meng, Sombat's Singaporean wife, showed the abduction was a highly co-ordinated job. First traffic police stopped him, ostensibly to check his documents.... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1117767/abduction-sombat-somphone-has-aid-workers-terrified?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1117767/abduction-sombat-somphone-has-aid-workers-terrified?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The consulting firm that gave Laos a green light for a controversial dam on the Mekong River, despite objections from downstream nations, is defending its role in the project, even as the Finnish government considers an ethics complaint against the company. Critics including environmental groups and other NGOs have slammed the Finnish firm, Poyry, after it issued a report that concluded the Xayaburi dam project was in compliance with Laos' obligations to fellow members of the Mekong River... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1087835/finnish-firm-poyry-defends-role-approval-massive-dam-laos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1087835/finnish-firm-poyry-defends-role-approval-massive-dam-laos?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Myanmese President Thein Sein is being hailed for his efforts to end decades of conflict with ethnic Karen rebels - but a brutal battle continues unabated in Kachin state, where a similar fight for autonomy has long been waged. Ja Seng Khawn, the daughter of Brang Seng, the former chairman of the Kachin Independence Organisation more than half a century ago, told the South China Morning Post: 'The president called for a ceasefire in March. But more troops were sent. Government troops burnt down... https://www.scmp.com/article/998280/kachin-victims-split-top?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/998280/kachin-victims-split-top?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Viewed from the Thai border town of Chiang Saen, two golden domes dominate the sparse landscape on the Laotian side of the Mekong River. After crossing the river, visitors are ushered into a grand hall beneath one dome, Chinese dragons snaking up the stairway, and into the immigration arrival hall. The other golden dome sits atop the casino. Welcome to the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. Built with Chinese money, and catering mainly to Chinese visitors, the SEZ at Tonphueng in Bokeo... https://www.scmp.com/article/736471/high-stakes-laos-turns-casinos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/736471/high-stakes-laos-turns-casinos?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Jan 2011 16:00:00 +0000 The roaring currents of the Mekong have long enchanted travellers, inspired explorers and sustained about 65 million people living off the world's largest freshwater fisheries. But environmentalists warn that the 'Amazon of Asia' - the river with the second-richest biodiversity in the world - is under dire threat from hydropower dams, including the latest to be proposed: the Xayaburi dam in Laos. Authorities in Laos have put their faith in hydropower as a formula to lift the nation out of... https://www.scmp.com/article/727859/mekong-conundrum-does-dammed-mean-damned?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/727859/mekong-conundrum-does-dammed-mean-damned?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Cambodia's military is turning to private sponsors to help boost its budget, amid simmering tensions and sporadic clashes with Thailand on their shared border. Some 42 Cambodian businesses have responded to a plea from Prime Minister Hun Sen, who recently asked the business world to help 'solve the dire situation of our armed forces'. The donors announced last month include property developer Kith Meng (who also owns CTN, the most popular Phnom Penh TV station), Canadia Bank, agribusiness... https://www.scmp.com/article/711242/hard-army-turns-private-firms-cash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/711242/hard-army-turns-private-firms-cash?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:00:00 +0000 As parts of southern China suffer the worst drought in a century, a dramatic fall in the water level of the Mekong has triggered anger and desperation among fishermen and farmers in northern Thailand and Laos who blame Chinese dams on the upstream Mekong for erosion of the river banks, declining fish catches and a damaged ecosystem. With water levels at their lowest in 50 years, the four Southeast Asian countries badly hit by falling water levels in the mighty Mekong River - Thailand, Laos,... https://www.scmp.com/article/709954/despair-mighty-mekong-falters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/709954/despair-mighty-mekong-falters?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0000 An ethnic activist group has rejected a UN report that suggests armed Myanmese tribes along the border with China are behind a resurgence in opium production, saying the report underplays the junta's role in the trade. The most recent UN drugs report on Myanmar, dated December 2009, says that poppy cultivation has increased 11 per cent over the past year, and almost 50 per cent since 2006. It says more than one million people are now involved in opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar, most of... https://www.scmp.com/article/706435/group-denies-tribes-behind-surge-opium-cultivation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/706435/group-denies-tribes-behind-surge-opium-cultivation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Fifty-five years after he masterminded the crushing defeat of the French empire in Indochina at Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam's famous General Vo Nguyen Giap is still fighting. Only now the 97-year-old's weapons are words - and the battleground is the environment. In January, General Giap, a national hero who was a close confidante of the late president Ho Chi Minh, released an open letter calling on the government to halt plans to mine huge bauxite deposits in the Central Highlands, citing... https://www.scmp.com/article/680148/55-years-after-beating-french-general-fights-green-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/680148/55-years-after-beating-french-general-fights-green-vietnam?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 May 2009 16:00:00 +0000 Cambodian Dance by Denise Heywood River Books HK$349 The awesome grace and meticulous movements of Cambodian dancers have entranced audiences for centuries, and planes full of tourists descending on Siem Reap, the jumping-off point for Angkor Wat, now enjoy their performances. Dating back to the days of the Angkor empire, which flourished from the ninth to the 15th centuries, Cambodian dance transforms each performer into the embodiment of the celestial apsaras ornately carved on temple... https://www.scmp.com/article/679726/cambodian-dance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/679726/cambodian-dance?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 May 2009 16:00:00 +0000 The opium poppy that had long blossomed in picturesque profusion across the mountains of northern Laos and the Wa region of Myanmar has, in recent years of zealous drug eradication campaigns, become a rarer sight. But United Nations drug experts warn that poppy cultivation is resurgent in Myanmar and Laos, as poverty-stricken former poppy farmers face further pain amid the global economic crisis. The combination of events threatens substantial gains made in opium eradication since 2002 in the... https://www.scmp.com/article/669959/anti-drug-dream-turns-economic-nightmare?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/669959/anti-drug-dream-turns-economic-nightmare?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:00:00 +0000 The Thin Blue Line by Conor Foley Verso, HK$209 In a world where Myanmese generals shoot Buddhist monks and Zimbabwe's destitute victims of Robert Mugabe's rule are now at the mercy of a deadly cholera outbreak, there is a growing international clamour to topple such recalcitrant regimes by armed intervention in the name of humanitarianism. The desire to save lives and do something with the utmost urgency is a natural response to desperate situations. But as this timely book points out, good... https://www.scmp.com/article/665105/thin-blue-line?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/665105/thin-blue-line?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:00:00 +0000 by Dervla Murphy Eland, HK$238 Cuba has re-emerged since the mid-1990s as a popular tourist destination with the lure of tropical beaches, vibrant culture and irresistible music laced with the unique legacy of the revolution led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. Most visitors are never quite sure as they head for Havana: will they bear witness to the last days of Caribbean socialism as an ailing Castro fades from centre stage? Or will they be surprised to discover an enduring outpost of hope for... https://www.scmp.com/article/658621/island-dared-journeys-cuba?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/658621/island-dared-journeys-cuba?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Unfinished Nation by Max Lane Verso, HK$223 Much of the traumatic story of Indonesia since independence has been buried in mass graves, secret military archives and censored reports. The grand silence imposed on the media about what really happened in the coup led by former general Suharto in 1965 against then president Sukarno and his government, plus the orgy of bloodshed and the purge that followed - wiping out up to a million Sukarnoists, Chinese, socialists and communists in a year of... https://www.scmp.com/article/647680/unfinished-nation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/647680/unfinished-nation?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Flat Earth News by Nick Davies Chatto & Windus, HK$288 Westerners are fond of trumpeting the virtues of a free press. We love to inform the rest of the world that our media is based on independence and integrity, a vigilant watchdog of the abuses of power. However, is the reality so independent and uncensored? Does the press really search for the truth? Flat Earth News by former Guardian correspondent Nick Davies provides an incisive expose of the malaise of global mainstream media, compelling... https://www.scmp.com/article/638024/flat-earth-news?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/638024/flat-earth-news?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 May 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Health activists and NGOs have warned the Thai government that its new 'war on drugs', launched last week, undermines efforts to combat the spread of HIV/Aids and will drive infected users underground. Karyn Kaplan, policy director of Thai Aids Treatment Action Group (TTAG), said: 'It is very scary. It is dubbed a national security operation, with a complete disdain for human rights. The interests of public health and HIV prevention will be compromised.' When Thailand's first 'war on drugs'... https://www.scmp.com/article/632971/new-thai-drug-war-will-hurt-efforts-fight-aids-activists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/632971/new-thai-drug-war-will-hurt-efforts-fight-aids-activists?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Dancing in Shadows by Benny Widyono Rowman & Littlefield, HK$233.5 After two decades of war and genocide in Cambodia, the United Nations initiated its most ambitious peacekeeping mission in 1991 in a bid to end the conflict, organise elections and transform a one-party quasi-communist state into a liberal democracy. The author was parachuted from his plush UN office in New York to operations in Siem Reap, far from basic comforts and convenience. His fascinating account reveals how he coped... https://www.scmp.com/article/621874/dancing-shadows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/621874/dancing-shadows?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:00:00 +0000 More than two months after the earthquake that killed almost 6,000 people on Java, much of the world's international relief effort has wound down. An army of medics from countries including Italy, Japan, Poland and Pakistan have long returned home. But among the ruins of 100,000 homes, a team of doctors from one small Caribbean country is labouring to support the estimated 650,000 people affected by the quake in May. They are members of the Gantiwarno Cuban field hospital and they... https://www.scmp.com/article/561042/cuba-proves-size-doesnt-matter-world-aid-front?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/561042/cuba-proves-size-doesnt-matter-world-aid-front?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Aug 2006 16:00:00 +0000