News
Mekong-Lancang Cooperation records achievements
The Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) was established on 23 March 2016. This year marks the Fifth Anniversary of MLC, which comprises of six member countries, namely Lao PDR, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam and China with the objective of promoting and enhancing socio-economic development on the ...
H.E. Saleumxay Kommasith, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR
Volatile Mekong threatens birds’ nest
Just 50 metres from the Mekong, in the shadow of a discarded plastic cup, a lone chick sits camouflaged on the sand. It is a newly hatched small pratincole in Bueng Kan province, northeast Thailand. “I recorded 15 nests on the beach, smaller numbers compared with previous ...
Tyler Roney
Thailand says $11M seized in wildlife trafficking sting
Thailand s anti-money laundering authorities said Wednesday they have seized or frozen more than 330 million baht ($11 million) worth of assets in a sting operation against a suspected wildlife trafficking ring. The March 12 operation targeted Boonchai Bach, a Vietnamese and Thai citizen who was arrested in 2018 ...
AP news wire
Laos Increases Electricity Costs Despite Producing More Electricity
State-run power companies in Laos are raising electricity prices, putting a squeeze on businesses suffering from the coronavirus pandemic shutdown and angering customers who say they deserve cheaper power after a decades-long hydroelectric dam building boom, sources in the country told RFA. The government of Laos ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Jailed Lao Activist Silenced by Government, but Continues to Inspire
Laos says women are now more respected and protected on International Women’s Day Monday, but the words might ring hollow to Houayheuang Xayabouly, who languishes in jail more than a year after her arrest for a Facebook post complaining about the communist government’s failure to ...
RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
63,000 Unemployed in Laos During Covid-19 Pandemic
Laos has an estimated 63,000 unemployed, including those already in the country and migrant workers who have returned to Laos due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a report by the KPL, the unemployment rate in Laos is expected to increase by 20 percent. Head of the Employment Promotion ...
Phayboune Thanabouasy
Government of Laos Dissolves Ministry of Science and Technology
The government of Laos has dissolved the Ministry of Science and Technology, transferring its departments to various different ministries. According to a notice issued by the Politburo of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, the Ministry of Science and Technology has been dissolved, leaving Laos with just ...
Phayboune Thanabouasy
Laos to earn revenue from sale of carbon credit next year
The government expects to earn its first income from the sale of carbon credit next year after signing an agreement with the World Bank. The Deputy Director General of the Forestry Department, Mr Khamsene Oukham, said on Thursday that the government had signed an agreement with ...
Times Reporter
‘Not Sufficient’: Thailand Rejects Report on Lao Hydropower Dam
Thailand has reportedly rejected a new technical report on Laos’ Sanakham hydropower project – the latest sign of the growing consternation about the impact of mega-dams on the ecology of the Mekong River basin. On January 15, the country’s Chinese contractor submitted a revised technical report ...
Sebastian Strangio
Thailand Rejects New Technical Report on Large-Scale Lao Mekong Mainstream Dam
Thailand has rejected a new technical report on Laos’ Sanakham dam project, one of nine large-scale Mekong River mainstream dams integral to Vientiane’s controversial economic strategy of becoming the “Battery of Southeast Asia.” The 684-megawatt Sanakham dam is one of seven future dams in various stages ...
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
