Industries
Construction begins on fifth bridge linking Laos, Thailand
Work on a fifth bridge linking Laos and Thailand across the Mekong River has begun after a construction agreement was signed in December. The bridge, which will take 36 months to build, will connect Bolikhamxay province in Laos to Thailand’s north-eastern province of Bueng Kan. Local daily ...
Famous Tha Heua Fish Market Faces Abandonment Following Expressway Opening
Vang Vieng’s Tha Heua Market faces total abandonment after the expressway has caused motorists to bypass it when traveling to the resort town. According to a report by Vientiane Times, Tha Heua Market, popular with motorists entering Vang Vieng, is rapidly losing customers, with many vendors shutting down ...
Phayboune Thanabouasy
Watchdogs Call For Transparency as Cambodia Strikes Oil
Civil society organizations and Cambodia’s banned opposition party have called on the government to release detailed information about revenue it is earning from the petroleum industry, days after the country struck oil following a decades-long quest. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on social media ...
Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Lao Dams Lower Water Levels on a Scenic River, Harming Tour Boat Operators and Other Local Businesses
Water levels lowered by seven dams along a stretch of the Nam Ou River in Laos are blocking boat travel in a scenic area popular with tourists, impacting tour and passenger boat operators and other local businesses, Lao sources say. Travel by water between Nong Khiaw ...
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney
Zoo agency sets up board to investigate illegal trade
The Zoological Park Organisation of Thailand (ZPO) board on Tuesday set up a panel to investigate the illegal wildlife trade across zoos nationwide in the wake of the disappearance of rare albino barking deer at Songkhla Zoo. Chavalit Chookajorn, the former permanent secretary of the Ministry ...
APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
Alcohol banned at national parks after complaints of trash and drunk tourists
Alcohol is now banned at national parks after tourists allegedly got drunk at a waterfall and others left a load of trash by their campsite. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has updated other park rules to make sure parks are kept ...
Caitlin Ashworth
Hin Nam No to gain World Heritage status by 2022
Laos is hopeful that Hin Nam No (Karst) National Protection Area in Bualapha district of Khammuan province will achieve UNESCO World Heritage status by 2022. The 9th national steering committee meeting on the application for achieving this status for the site was convened in Vientiane on ...
Souksamai Boulom
Three-Decade Economic Boom Comes to a Sudden Halt in Vietnam
For the past three decades, Vietnam has known only good — or great — economic news. The nation’s consistent growth as an exporter, propelled by Communist leaders who began embracing market-oriented policies in the late 1980s, pushed many into the middle class. The coronavirus pandemic changed ...
John Boudreau and Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen
Conservation activists urge post-pandemic tourism reset in Thailand
It is 9 a.m. on a sultry Sunday morning off the coast of Koh Phangan, a popular tourist island in the Gulf of Thailand. More than 30 divers are getting ready to plunge into the tropical waters — not to marvel at the underwater world ...
TOM VATER and LAURE SIEGEL
Bangkok court admits Cambodia farmers' lawsuit against Thai sugar firm
A Bangkok court on Friday agreed to grant class action status to more than 700 Cambodian families suing a Thai sugar firm for evicting them from their homes, a lawsuit that human rights experts see as a test case for transboundary disputes. The lawsuit against Asia’s ...
Rina Chandran