Health Insurance at the Cambodia-Thailand Border

Control and Prevention of Malaria (CAP-Malaria) staff recently met with Provincial Health Center staff in Thailand to plan for the launch of the Thai-Khmer Malaria Patient Card. The card will be piloted at health facilities offering malaria services in the bordering cities of Pailin, Cambodia and Chanthaburi, Thailand. The Thai-Khmer Patient Card is the first insurance…

Getting Ahead of Emerging Infectious Diseases

The USAID-supported Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) program RESPOND project organized a wildlife health capacity assessment forum, August 13 - 15th in Bangkok.  Co-hosted by the Royal Thai Government, Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation; Zoological Park Organization; and Mahidol University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the forum convened over 70 wildlife health professionals from…

Brave Rangers Honored on World Ranger Day

On July 31st, Thailand’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) pledged better capacity building and welfare programs for its park rangers at an event marking World Ranger Day in Thailand’s Eastern Forest Complex. The minister recognized that rangers are the front-line of defense and are often poorly equipped and under-trained. Rangers face growing threats…

Rebalance to Asia III: Protecting the Environment and Ensuring Food and Water Security in East Asia and the Pacific

Testimony of Gregory Beck, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia, U.S. Agency for International Development before Foreign Relations Committee East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee“Rebalance to Asia III: Protecting the Environment and Ensuring Food and Water Security in East Asia and the Pacific”Chairman Cardin, Senator Rubio, and distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you for the…

NEWS: Thai Push Development at Mekong Basin Talks

Bandar Seri Begawan {The Nation/ ANN} -- Thailand made another push for development projects in the Mekong River basin when foreign ministers of five countries in the region sat together with counterparts from dialogue partners.Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul yesterday and Sunday joined a series of meetings with counterparts from the basin as well as from…

Joint Statement: Sixth LMI Ministerial Meeting

On July 1, 2013, the Foreign Ministers of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam, and the U.S. Secretary of State and the Secretary-General of ASEAN met in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam for the 6th Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Ministerial Meeting.Ministers endorsed LMI as a forum through which to address complex, transnational development…

Fact Sheet: 2013 U.S. Engagement in the Lower Mekong Initiative

On July 1, Secretary of State John Kerry led the United States’ delegation to the Sixth Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Ministerial Meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. LMI is the region’s only forum for addressing cross-border development and policy challenges facing the five Lower Mekong partner countries. LMI holds three official events and many…

Cross-Border Malaria Collaboration in Lower Mekong Countries

Participants in the Ranong-Kawthaung Joint Surveillance Rapid Response Team (SRRT) workshop worked together on mapping exercises of surveillance and rapid responses in the twin-city counterparts, as well as the mode for cross-border communication.  The joint workshop is aligned with the Trilateral Agreement (Ministry of Health (Myanmar), Thailand International Development Agency (TICA), and USAID) effort to promote collaboration…

Media Note: Lower Mekong Initiative and Friends of the Lower Mekong Senior Officials Meetings in Brunei Darussalam

Senior officials from the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) and Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) member states met in separate meetings May 23 in Bandar Seri Begawan on the margins of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum Senior Officials Meeting (ARF SOM). The members of LMI are Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam,…

NEWS: The President’s Malaria Initiative and the Thai Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) celebrate World Malaria Day in Tak Province, Thailand.

On May 17, Thailand Ministry of Public Health's Bureau of Vector Borne Diseases brought together students and community members throughout the province to participate in events that raised awareness of malaria along the Thai-Burma border. In the village of Tha Song Yang, National, State and District disease control officials from the Government of Burma gathered…

NEWS: Carbon Stock Assessment and Emissions Inventory in Asian Mangroves: Field Training for Scientists and Government Agency Staff

Trang, Thailand - Forested wetlands - including mangroves, peat swamps, cypress domes, and related ecosystems - are thought to hold some of the highest carbon densities among terrestrial (soil and vegetation) systems. In the Indo-Pacific region, mangroves cover as much as 6.8 million hectares, or approximately 40 percent of world's total, and it is estimated…

Joint Statement: LOWER MEKONG INITIATIVE FOURTH REGIONAL WORKING GROUP MEETING — Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam (April 25-26, 2013)

On 25-26 April, 2013, senior representatives of the Lower Mekong Basin countries, namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, and the United States gathered in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, for the Fourth Regional Working Group Meeting of the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI).  Members of the six delegations reviewed progress on the LMI…