News

The public debt of Laos may increase to as much as 65 to 68 per cent of GDP in 2020 following a sharp fall in national revenue collection alongside an increase in loans due to the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, according to a government official. Revenue collection ...

At least 2 people have died in flash flooding in Vietnam after heavy rainfall brought by Tropical Storm Sinlaku. Meanwhile hundreds of homes have been flooded as the storm dumped heavy rainfall making its way over Laos and Thailand. According to Thailand’s meteorological department, the storm is now expected to move ...

A young Lao worker was beaten, shocked and tied up by his employers at a Chinese banana plantation in northwestern Laos in a dispute over working hours, his relatives said. Lou Xiong’s relatives say he was beaten and shocked by Lao and Chinese employers at a ...

A Thai dam developer has begun clearing land for a large-scale Mekong River dam near the ancient Lao capital Luang Prabang before signing a hydropower sale pact required for approval, raising concerns from downstream communities already hit hard by Laos’ aggressive damming of the vital ...

Poverty in Laos continues to decline to 18.3 per cent, as infrastructure accessibility has improved, particularly road electricity, clean water and sanitation access, according to data from the Lao Consumption and Expenditure Survey in 2018-2019. Consumption and expenditure of households in Laos have significantly increased, particularly ...

SET-listed BCPG Plc, a renewable energy arm of Bangchak Corporation Plc, plans to build Asean’s largest wind farm in Laos to generate revenue from rising demand for electricity. The company announced it will spend US$ 840 million, around 26.8 billion baht, developing the facility, with a ...

Two years ago this week, a dam in southern Laos collapsed, releasing a flood that displaced over 7,000 people and killed at least 71. When a section of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower project broke on July 23, 2018, it sent 500 million cubic meters of ...

A Korean electric technician of the Nam Ngieb hydropower project has tested positive for Covid-19, according to the Ministry of Health. Seventeen people who have close contact with him have been placed under a 14-day quarantine. The infection is the 20th case ever reported in the Lao ...

There is no need for immediate public alarm about potential flooding of the Mekong River despite widespread reports of floods in neighbouring countries, especially China, a sector official has confirmed on Monday. The official from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s Meteorology and Hydrology Department, ...

Residents of the Lao capital Vientiane are resisting seizure of their land by a Lao-China joint venture building an expressway, saying they had been promised earlier their land would not be taken, and calling offers of compensation unacceptably low, Lao sources say. The project, a 13-km ...