Locals wary as Laos powers ahead with hydroelectric goals

With one palm on his shaven head, Phra Khamsee Manivong stares at a backhoe levelling dunes of compacted mud by his temple. All around the ornate red and gold edifice, crumbled remnants of a boundary wall tangle with fresh creepers.

It has been 17 months since Laos’ biggest dam collapse left at least 40 dead, over 4,000 homeless – and the deputy abbot clinging on to a tree for his life.

Tan Hui Yee