Mekong River
- World News
“Chat girls” in Laos forced into prostitution at a Golden Triangle casino
Inside China-run Golden Triangle Economic Zone next to the Mekong River in far northern Laos, many young women from neighbouring countries come to look for jobs to make a decent income to support their families back home. Many of the vacancies would advertise as “chat girls” to sell shares in the new company to casino patrons, but many struggled to…
- Northern Thailand News
Methamphetamine, cannabis seized near Mekong River
Narcotics rangers seized smuggling convey of 104,000 methamphetamine tablets and 50 kilograms of what the Bangkok Post says was “premium-grade” dried cannabis (street name “brick weed”) from Laos across the Mekong River into Thailand’s Ban Phaeng area in Nakhon Phanom last Saturday night. The Ranger Company 2108 patrolling squads were on duty when the drugs were seized on Highway 212…
- Crime News
500 kilograms of marijuana discovered on Mekong riverbank in Nakhon Phanom
500 kilograms of dried and compressed marijuana were found along the Mekong River in the Isaan province Nakhon Phanom. A drug suppression team from the Mekong Riverine Unit seized 10 sacks containing 1-kilogram packages of compressed marijuana. Altogether, there were 500 slabs weighing a total of 500 kilograms, according to commander of the unit, Jaraskiat Chaiyaphan. Police believe the slabs of…
- Thailand video news
Thailand News Today | Policeman confessions, UK puts Thailand on red list | August 27
Thitisan Utthanaphon, aka… Joe Ferrari, the policeman who allegedly tortured and killed a drug suspect in Nakhon Sawan, surrendered late yesterday afternoon in Chon Buri late. Bad news for British sandboxers on Phuket, or elsewhere in Thailand, as well as anyone else planning to travel from Thailand to the UK. Packages containing around 1.2 million methamphetamine pills were found floating…
- Northern Thailand News
Marijuana valued at 10 million baht seized in Nakhon Phanom, 2 arrested
Last night in Nakhon Phanom, a northeastern province close to the Laos border, a navy patrol arrested 2 men and seized 520 kilogrammes of compressed and dried marijuana. The men were travelling by pickup truck. The deputy commander of Nakhon Phanom Mekon Riverine Unit, Nathapat Suemongkol, says the truck was stopped by a patrol on the Phanom-Mukdahan road. He did…
- Crime News
350kg of compressed marijuana seized off Mekong River
Navy officers in the Laos-bordering province of Nakhon Phanom seized a compressed marijuana shipment of about 350 kilogrammes as it was being offloaded from the Mekong River. 2 men were arrested while 3 more fled and have not been apprehended yet in the bust that took place late Friday night. The northern province, separated from Laos by the Mekong River,…
- Environment News
Mekong unseasonal water levels endanger nesting birds in Thailand
The following story was written by Tyler Roney for Third Pole, a “multilingual platform dedicated to promoting information and discussion about the Himalayan watershed and the rivers that originate there.” Just 50 metres from the Mekong, in the shadow of a discarded plastic cup, a lone chick sits camouflaged on the sand. It is a newly hatched small pratincole in…
- World News
Police arrest 2 Lao men, seize 550 kilograms of methamphetamine at Mekong River bank
In another drug bust by the Mekong River, police seized 550 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine valued at around 275 million baht. Methamphetamine trafficking across the river from Laos to Thailand has spiked since the Myanmar coup. Many militant groups in Myanmar border towns rely on synthetic drug production as a main source of income. With tightened patrol along the Thai-Myanmar…
- Crime News
Mekong drug bust: methamphetamine seizure valued at 20 million baht
A sack of methamphetamine tablets, valued around 20 million baht, smuggled in tea packets, was seized along the bank of the Mekong River in north-east Thailand, a notorious drug trafficking route. A longtail boat pulled up to the shore of the Isaan province Mukdahan around 3am yesterday and the driver threw the sack onto the riverbank. Rangers and police, who…
- World News
Homes and highways in Vietnam are being lost as Mekong delta washes away
The following story was written by Michael Tatarski for China Dialogue, a non-profit focused on environmental challenges related to China. One night two years ago, Lam Thi Le and Nguyen Van Thuong heard loud cracks coming from their neighbours’ riverfront home. The neighbours left, and a day later half of their house collapsed into the broad Tien River as the…
- Crime News
Another drug bust near the Mekong River, 500 kilograms of cannabis seized
In another drug bust in Northeastern province Nakhon Phanom, police arrested a man and seized 500 kilograms of compressed cannabis. Just yesterday, border patrol police in the province seized 920 kilograms of compressed cannabis from a boat on the Mekong River. In both cases, police suspect the cannabis came from Laos, just across the river. Police say they searched a…
- Bangkok News
Thailand News Today | Bangkok protest fallout, northern fire bans | March 1
Coming up today… the fallout from yesterday’s latest protest violence in Bangkok, the first vaccine in Thailand who got it, and a major drug haul along the Mekong. But first we’ll start up north where Lampang Province is joining other northern provinces todday by putting a total fire ban in place from today, March 1, until the end of April.…
- Thailand News
16 Thai Navy officials investigated for alleged involvement in drug trafficking
The Royal Thai Navy is investigating 16 of its officials for alleged involvement in a drug trafficking operation earlier this month in the Isaan province Nong Khai which borders Laos. If the officials are found guilty, the Navy will immediately take both disciplinary and legal action, according to a spokesperson. Local officials reportedly seized 2 million amphetamine tablets and 116…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today | Bangkok air pollution, 28 Covid cases, Lao dam protest | December 14
Bangkok starts the new week with ‘unhealthy’ air quality Waking up in Bangkok today you would have been surprised that the sun had disappeared to be replaced by a grey sky and views across the city limited to less than a kilometre. Across the city the air quality readings for most of the day have been aver the 150 mark…
- Environment News
Laos – the ‘battery’ of Asia and a ticking environmental time bomb
LAOS POWER FACTS: Number of power plants soon to be completed by the end of 2020: 53 hydropower plants under construction or in the planning stage, including those set to be completed this year; there will be more than 90 hydropower plants in Laos with a combined installed capacity of almost 14,000MW. Transmission lines that connect with neighbouring countries: 14 carry power to…
- World News
Thai government threaten to boycott new Lao hydro electric dam project
Loas officials have announced the announcement of yet another Laos hydro electric dam and Thai authorities aren’t happy. The long list of Laos and Chinese dams along the Mekong River have hugely affected the life of communities downstream of the Mekong in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. And Laos. The Lao PDR has been described as South East Asia’s ‘battery’ and…
- Thailand video news
Thailand News Today | State of Emergency lifted, Quarantine latest, Phuket Light Rail | October 22
Today’s latest news and information about Thailand. Like and subscribe to our YouTube channel too. Go on, right now 🙂 You can also LIKE our Facebook page https://facebook.com/thethaigernews to get even more information about Thailand. Government lifts Bangkok’s State of Emergency Bangkok’s State of Emergency has been lifted, according to a statement published in the Royal Gazette, making it official.…
- Covid-19 News
How has Thailand avoided the worst of Covid-19? – VIDEO
We examine some of the reasons Thailand has been able to avoid the surges and 2nd waves of Covid-19. Whilst many countries are now suffering a 2nd and 3rd wave of the coronavirus, Thailand has locked itself in a bubble of its own making. Almost zero cases and any new cases coming from repatriates. Now the country has to figure…
- Northern Thailand News
Border police find 160 kilograms of marijuana hidden in fertiliser sacks
Border police found 160 kilograms of compressed marijuana near an Isaan roadside. Police say they believe the marijuana was trafficked across the Mekong River. No suspects were found and no arrests were made, at this stage. Police suspect the marijuana was smuggled in on long tail boats from Laos to the Isaan province of Nakhon Phanom during the tropical storm…
- Thailand News
US accuses Chinese companies of exploitation along the Mekong River
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is accusing Chinese companies of “exploitative practices” in the Mekong River region after a new partnership has been launched to combat “transnational crimes”. Pompeo named the China Communications Construction Company as one of the big offenders and says the Chinese Communist Party is responsible for the increase in human, wildlife and drug trafficking…
- Northern Thailand News
Potential floods in the forecast, crocodile farmers prepare
Crocodile farms are advised to tighten security measures to prevent the crocodiles from escaping in case of a potential flood. With the Mekong River continuing to rise and monsoon rains in the forecast, the reptile farms in Northern Thailand are warned to take precautions and closely monitor the weather. The farms Nong Khai were recently inspected by an officer from…
- Covid-19 News
Thailand closes many of its land borders
Interior Ministry, Anupong Paojinda, has given governors full authority to close all border provinces, but must leave one international checkpoint active for special circumstances. The move is the latest in Thailand’s attempts to block any arrivals to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, which has spiked sharply with new cases this past week. “The only exception will be Chiang Rai as it…
- World News
Cambodia delays damming the Mekong for 10 years
Cambodia announced yesterday that it will shelve developing new hydroelectric dams on the Mekong River for the next decade. A senior Cambodian official made the announcement as Cambodia reviews its policy to seek solar energy as well as energy from coal and natural gas. The Mekong river sustains some 60 million people and flows through six countries… China, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos,…
- World News
Xayaburi Dam owners say they’re not responsible for dry Mekong River
PHOTO: The Laotian Times CK Power, operators of the new Xayaburi Dam in Laos, are denying their dam tests (running from July 15 until tomorrow) are responsible for the low water flows in the Mekong River. The tests were a lead up to full scale production of electricity from October this year, most of which will head to Thailand. Fingers…
- Thailand News
Storms raise flood threats in 37 provinces
Whilst the flood situation in the far north of the country, bordering the Mekong River, has abated over the past week, the situation is still dire for many other communities around the Kingdom today. Disaster warnings have now been issued as heavy downpours threaten to bring flash floods and landslides to 37 provinces across Thailand. A monsoon storm is predicted…
