News
Northeast residents oppose 6th Laos dam project
Thai residents living in eight northeastern provinces along the Mekong River are opposed to Laos’ plans to construct a new hydropower dam on the Mekong River over fears it will threaten the river system, where seasonal flooding supports fisheries and regional agriculture. The protest comes as ...
Laos pushes ahead with sixth Mekong River dam project
Laos has submitted plans to build a new hydropower dam on the Mekong River, with construction expected to start later this year, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) said on Monday. The Sanakham hydropower plant, with an estimated cost of $2.073 billion (£1.7 billion), will be developed ...
Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Kay Johnson and Alexander Smith
On the lookout for the silver lining: supporting e-commerce in Laos
13 to 16 April was Pi Mai, the Lao national holiday that welcomes in the Buddhist new year. Usually characterised by festive gatherings, water fights and the consumption of large quantities of Beer Lao, this year it was quiet and subdued, as the country of seven million entered ...
Tamara Failor, Nicola Nixon
Lao dam disaster: UN rights experts call for justice two years on
A group of UN experts* called on governments and relevant businesses to take immediate action to address ongoing human rights violations experienced by survivors of a tragic dam collapse in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic nearly two years ago. “Thousands of survivors lost everything and continue ...
92nd joint patrol on Mekong River a big success
The 92nd Mekong River joint patrol by China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand concluded on Saturday morning (April 25) as three Chinese law enforcement boats returned to Guanlei Port in the southwest Province of Yunnan. A total of 109 law enforcement officers from the four countries participated ...
Bushfires destroy 100,000 hectares of forests
More than 100,000 hectares of forests in Luang Namtha province were destroyed by bushfires that raged for more than a month, officials have said. The Director of the Agriculture and Forestry Department of Luang Namtha, Mr Phimkeo Thamlasing, told Vientiane Times on Tuesday that the fires spread from ...
Laos Remains Vulnerable Despite Mostly Avoiding COVID-19 Carnage, Officials Say
Health officials in Laos say the government has implemented effective measures to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus, but that authorities must ensure they continue to be upheld because the impoverished nation with limited medical resources remains at risk. The small landlocked country of 7 ...
Local Workers on Lao-China Railway Say They Have Gone Without Pay For Months
Up to 30 Lao workers building a nearly completed railway project that will connect landlocked Laos with China say that they have not been paid in three to four months, because their Chinese employers left the area and went home early this year amid the ...
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service, Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin
Three Arrested in Laos for Illegally Mining Gold on Land Leased by Chinese Company
Authorities in Laos’ Luang Prabang province arrested three rural villagers for trespassing after they tried to mine gold on land granted in a concession to a Chinese company, RFA has learned. The villagers, from Phapon village in Luang Prabang’s Pak Ou district, were initially detained by ...
RFA’s Lao Service
Poor, Rural Students in Laos Lack Tech to Learn From Home
COVID-19 has forced Laos to join countries around the world in closing schools and using online distance learning. But rural and urban poor students in the Southeast Asian country not only lack computers and access to the internet — some even live in homes without ...
