News

From drink bottles to tobacco sachets, UN study traces plastic pollution hot spots in the Mekong and Ganges

Municipal trash dumped at an open landfill in Thailand risks filling a nearby tributary of the Mekong river with plastic waste whenever it is rainy or windy. Along India’s Ganges river, small sachets that used to wrap chewing tobacco are abundant, but are difficult to collect ...

Tan Hui Yee

Govt officials urged to expedite aid to the unemployed

Local labour authorities around the country need to quickly implement government measures to assist the unemployed and help cushion inevitable job losses in the months to come, according to a leading official. Director-General of the Department of Labour Skill Development at the Ministry of Labour and ...

Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth

Laos to Resume Domestic Flights, Schools, Other Restrictions Eased

Laos has announced it will resume domestic flights, begin to reopen schools, and ease other lockdown restrictions starting 18 May. The National Taskforce for Covid-19 Prevention and Control announced at a press conference held today nine measures that will be eased, and four restrictions that will ...

Francis Savankham

Looking Ahead: Laos in 2020 and beyond

The next Party National Congress of the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) is scheduled for early next year and, through this process, new leaders and a new politburo will be elected. While a cloak of secrecy makes it is extremely difficult to predict what ...

KEARRIN SIMS

Dengue Fever Infections on the Rise Nationwide

149 cases of dengue fever have been reported in the last nine days, with two deaths attributed to the disease. According to a report by Lao Post, more than 1,000 cases of dengue fever have been confirmed in Laos this year. The Centre of Information and Education for Health, ...

Latsamy Phonevilay

Chifeng Jilong to Restart Gold Production at Sepon Mine in Laos

China’s Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining Co has said it will begin processing gold ore from its mine in Sepon, Laos, after a six-year hiatus. According to a report by Reuters, the restart of gold production at the mine is due to gold prices hitting a seven-year ...

Latsamy Phonevilay

UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund Supports Laos

The United Nations will support the Lao Government’s preparedness and response to Covid-19 under the United Nations COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund with two UN projects approved under the Fund last week. The Fund was launched by the UN Secretary-General to support low- and middle-income countries overcome the ...

Laotian Times

Vietnam, Laos Arrest Facebookers on COVID-19-Related Charges

Authorities in Vietnam and Laos have arrested several Facebook users on charges related to the coronavirus, with Hanoi punishing posts that challenge official reporting on the pandemic and Vientiane acting against a lockdown violation streamed live. The two arrests in Vietnam come as the Communist Party ...

RFA’s Vietnamese and Lao Services. Translated by Huy Le and Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Environmentalists urge Laos to scrap 'destructive' Mekong dam plans

Environmentalists have urged Laos not to proceed with the construction of another “destructive” dam on the Mekong River, a vital Southeast Asian waterway that sustains about 60 million people. Last week, Laos’ communist government announced plans for the Sanakham dam – close to the northeastern border ...

Nicola Smith

Agriculture ministry, FAO, WFP ease COVID-19 food insecurity impacts

Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, the World Food Programme (WFP) are cooperating with the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to draft a response plan and provide direct assistance to farmers continuing to produce food for their communities. FAO, WFP now are completing ...

Times Reporters

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