southeast asia

The Mekong river, which supports the livelihoods of about 60 million people in Southeast Asia, is at record-low water levels. China has built four of its planned eight hydroelectric dams on the upper Mekong. (2:44 min)

Anthony Bourdain and the No Reservations crew were in Bangkok Thailand during Songkran March 2009 when unrest and riots erupted in the country. Consequently, they tell a story similar to mine since I was there at the same time. (43 min)

Many are travelling to Thailand, where they are finding medical care cheaper and with better care than they might receive at home. (2:20 min)

Bali is known as a tropical paradise but there is a hidden side to the Indonesian island - Bali’s mentally ill. Most of them have never received proper treatment. Instead, their families often keep them chained up or in makeshift cages. (20 min, 2 segments)

In 2002 East Timor became the first new nation of the 21st century, gaining independence from Indonesia after a 24 year occupation that cost 200,000 lives. Now, violence is brewing internally. (13:20 min)

Giving money to poor farmers not to cultivate the land may sound a strange way to lift people out of poverty and preserve the environment but a pilot project in Vietnam is aiming to do just that. (2:44 min)

In early June, as the annual rainy season commences, the Mekong River does an amazing thing in Cambodia to provide food and create fertile ground for agriculture. (44 min)

From 1954, the United States commits its armed forces to Vietnam, ignoring warnings against involvement in a nationalist struggle. By 1968, the U.S. begins to realize this is not a war it can win. (46 min)