This report, “International Labour Migration in a Changing Climate”, provides insights from Malaysia and Thailand on how, and in what contexts, international labour migration can be a viable adaptation strategy to climate change. The report provides experiences and perspectives of migrant workers, employers and government representatives on the topic. This …
Angering global drug giants, Thailand's interim regime decided to issue more compulsory licences for import and production of generic HIV/AIDS drugs on February 12, 2007. The rising cost of AIDS treatment was cited as the reason. This will allow domestic firms to produce generic versions of drugs. The first licence …
This publication provides policy-makers and project personnel with tools to assess present energy flows and future energy scenarios. It uses a geographic information system to generate and manage data independently of political boundaries, integrating and analysing relationships among socio-economic and environmental variable and facilitates the identification of priority areas and …
As an animal high on popularity charts, the tiger has fascinated and awed generations for centuries. However, with its range confined to 14 Asian countries today, its distribution has more than halved and so have its numbers. With the tiger facing a serious challenge in its entire distribution range, the …
This report first introduces the background and objectives of the third phase research of the urban environment project on the transportation sector. It provides an overview of transport and environment in Asian cities. It illustrates the rationale of the scoping of focus policy areas and selection of case studies. It …
A Thai zoo has announced its unique plan to show "panda pornography' to spark romance between its two giant pandas: Chuang Chuang (a six-year-old male) and Lin Hui (a five-year-old female). The pandas have been living in Thailand's Chiang Mai Zoo for the past four years. Zoo officials had expected …
Five southeast Asian countries have recently endorsed a joint plan of action to fight the haze caused by Indonesian forest fires. The haze was at its worse this season, leading to the closure of airports, offices and schools. It affected much of the southeast Asia for months until rains a …
Ministers from southeast Asian nations (Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei) recently met in Indonesia's Sumatra island to discuss plans to tackle Indonesian forest fires. The countries told the Indonesian government to formally ratify an Association of South East Asian Nations haze treaty before expecting major funding from it. Indonesia …
At a 31 October gathering of tsunami donors at the United Nations, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the U.N. Development Programme are planning to unveil a 6-year, $62 million initiative called Mangroves for the Future (MFF). It's goal is to rehabilitate ecosystems in 12 tsunami hit nations.
As a part of major reforms for the fishery sector, 14 countries agreed to cut trawling and push net fishing to reverse the growing production of low-value
• African country Chad has ordered two major foreign oil firms, US firm ChevronTexaco and Malaysia's Petronas, responsible for 60 per cent of its oil production, to quit the country in a row over taxes. The decision now leaves only Exxon Mobil in the consortium, which handles the country's oil …
The Association of South-East Asian Nations (asean) recently signed a trade agreement with the us, which experts say will lead to more trade and investment alliances between the two regions . The agreement was signed between the us trade representative Susan Schwab and ministers of the 10 asean countries (Brunei, …
At least 104 shrimp exporters from six countries (Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, Thailand, and Vietnam) reached an agreement with the us shrimp producers to bypass the country's annual tax review. The move came after Thailand, one of the world's largest shrimp exporters, failed to persuade the us to scrap a …
Drought is a major constraint affecting rice production especially in rainfed areas of Asia. Despite its importance in rice growing areas, the magnitude of economic losses arising from drought, its impact on farm households and farmers’ drought coping mechanisms are poorly understood. This paper provides insights into these aspects of …
Thailand has dumped at least 189 old garbage trucks off its southern coast, in a bid to build an artificial reef to lure fish for local fishermen. The trucks, once used to collect refuse in Bangkok, were dropped into the Gulf of Thailand, about 5.5 km from the southern province …
Three Thai community leaders presented a bowl of coal to Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda during the bank's annual meeting in Hyderabad, between May 3-6, 2006. It was a symbolic protest by Narudon Suchartphong, Charoen Dethkum and Sutti Atchasai against the impact of the bank-funded thermal plant run by …
The fruit the humble eat in India is probably made of better stuff than those eaten by the high and mighty. It seems clear, on the evidence, that exotic imported fruit could have a greater and more varied pesticide content that those grown in our backyards. The reason is that …
All canned fish products with false information on packaging labels are to be taken off the shelves, the Thailand Food and Drug Administration (fda) recently said. The action was prompted by a complaint made by Apinun Suvarnaraksha of Maejo University's Faculty of Fisheries Technology and Marine Resources. fda secretary general …
http://www.focusweb.org North versus South With the privileged North calling the shots in global development policies, the view of South remains neglected. Keeping this in mind,
As disturbed forests increase in protected areas in the tropics there is a clear need to assess their conservation values through studies of their vegetation and animal communities. However, Thai protected area managers lack data on how ecosystems respond after human disturbances. It was therefore the aim of this research …
