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The World Bank has classified Laos as a lower-middle-income economy in its latest classification for the 2020 fiscal year. The bank classifies the world’s economies into four income groups, namely high, upper-middle, lower-middle, and low, based on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita in U.S. dollars. Lower middle-income economies are those ...

Expert geologists have often pointed to the danger of earthquakes happening in the region where the main stream Xayaburi Dam was located. This region in Northern Laos is known to be geologically unstable.  Professor Punya Charusiri PhD of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok has observed: “The Xayaburi dam ...

Four ‘Friendship Bridges’ span the wide majestic Mekong River as it creates a meandering borderline between Thailand and Laos but just how friendly are these border bridges? When the first bridge opened back in 1994, spanning the river between Nong Khai in Thailand and Vientiane province ...

Laos’ electricity exports to neighbouring countries and Asean states are expected to increase to about 20,000 MW between 2020 and 2030. Electricity is considered a huge revenue earner for Laos, especially through exports to neighbouring countries and Asean states such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar ...

The Department of Water Supply under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport is targeting an expansion of projects across the country this year after racking up achievements in the sector during 2019. To achieve its goal to develop provincial water supply and sanitation systems, the ...

Thailand will raise concerns about its current drought during a Mekong River Commission meeting expected next month, the Thai water-resources chief said, as local farmers complained that dams in China were choking the waterway on which millions depend for their livelihoods. Somkiat Prajamwong, director of Thailand’s ...

Since the announcement in July last year that the Lao government was notifying the Mekong River Commission (MRC) of its intention to proceed with the construction of a dam due to be completed by 2027, not far from the old royal capital of Luang Prabang, ...

The Prime Minister’s Office plans to upgrade the Daktaok local border crossing in Dakcheung district, Xekong province, to an international level crossing on the Vietnamese border. Lao and Vietnamese officials are currently discussing the date when this change will take place. If the status is elevated ...

Hundreds of Lao families displaced by Chinese-backed dam projects and now living in resettlement villages are facing hardships due to poor housing and a lack of work, with many still waiting for compensation promised for fields and orchards lost when they were forced to move, ...

The Don Sahong hydropower dam in Laos has begun operations and this week connected its power grid to Cambodia, a Cambodian official said on Wednesday as the country steps up electricity imports after continued power outages last year. Don Sahong, which was designed for an installed ...