News

Chinese investment upheavals anger Laos' indigenous tribes

Rackety trucks rush across China’s border with its backwater neighbor, stirring up clouds of dust and drowning the tweets of tropical birds. Chinese projects to construct roads in one of Asia’s poorest countries date back to 1962 when Laos was subject to a proxy war between the global Cold ...

Robert Bociaga

Plans to tackle Mekong plastic pollution take shape

Researchers plan to assess plastic waste leakage into the Mekong River system as part of efforts to protect the mighty river. Government officials and researchers from the four Mekong countries will join forces to assess plastic waste leakage into the Mekong River system. This will be done ...

Vientiane Times / ANN

Cultivation improvements on agenda amid droughts

The Lao National Disaster Prevention and Control Committee is helping farmers across the country to improve their cultivation techniques so that crops can better withstand drought and dry season yields can be increased. Committee officials said recently that the country is facing drought conditions as rivers ...

Asia News Network

Xayaburi Dam Dispels Rumors of Role in Dry Mekong River

Amid an ongoing drought and low water levels, the state of the Mekong River is a topic that is animating discussion along the watercourse, with sights often aimed squarely at the Xayaburi Hydroelectric Power Plant. To help clear the waters, the project owners invited regional ...

Steven Cleary

Tunnel Construction Chemical Leak Causes Mass Fish Deaths in Kasy District

A chemical leak at a construction site on part of the Lao-China Railway has caused the deaths of fish and contaminated sections of the Nam Lik River in Kasy District, Vientiane Province. Authorities in Kasy District, Vientiane Province, have urged residents to refrain from eating fish ...

Latsamy Phonevilay

In Laos, price of free speech a heavy one

The imprisonment of Houayheuang “Muay” Xayabouly, a young, female Lao environmentalist turned internet activist who simply asked for help for flood victims, should be a matter of deep concern to the international community. On Sept 5, 2018, Muay used her 17-minute-long Facebook Live broadcast to counter ...

Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal & Adam Bemma

Laos Plans to Build Sixth Large-Scale Mekong River Mainstream Dam

A Thai hydropower company has plans to build what would be Laos’ sixth large-scale Mekong river dam, the latest cog in Laos’ ambitious plan to become the “battery of Southeast Asia.” The Thailand-based Charoen Energy and Water Asia Co. Ltd. (CEWA) presented to Lao authorities the ...

RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong

Mekong River Dams Disrupting Lives of Southeast Asian Fishermen, Farmers

Tiem Ngern-tok pointed at the water level, shook his head and talked about dragon boat races to explain how dams in China and Laos have disrupted the lives of Thai people whose villages abut the Mekong River. “During annual boat races the water was high,” said ...

State-Run Logistics Boss Sentenced to Life for Corruption

The Vientiane People’s Court has sentenced a former director of Lao Logistics State Enterprise to life imprisonment on charges of corruption. Director of the Lao Logistics State Enterprise, (LLSE), Mr. Khampheng, was found guilty of abusing his position in the form of embezzlement and bribery, according to ...

Jasmina Yap

Laos to Experience Electricity Shortage During Hot Season

Electricity generation will not be sufficient to supply all areas in Laos during times of peak consumption from March to June, according to authorities, who are urging the public to cut energy usage during this period. The Ministry of Energy and Mines has announced that less ...

Taejun Kang

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