News
Xayaboury dam on track to start commercial operation at year’s end
The Xayaboury hydropower plant yesterday began a trial operation of its fifth generator, setting the first run-of-river dam in the lower Mekong basin on track to begin commercial operation at the end of this year. A senior official at the Xayaboury Energy and Mines Department said ...
Ekaphone Phouthonesy
EU-funded project tackles wildlife trafficking
The European Union has provided 8 million euros to support a new project in seven countries including Laos, in a move to strengthen their governments’ actions to combat wildlife trafficking and forest crime. In Laos, the national launch event of EU action, titled Partners against Wildlife ...
Somsack Pongkhao
Lao Anti-drug trafficking efforts highlighted on control group’s bridge visit
Members of the Illicit Drug Control Sector Working Group (IDSWG) visited the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Vientiane last week to better understand the role of Lao Customs and Immigration officials in the fight against drug trafficking. The event was attended by Deputy Head of Office of ...
Nearly 500 Families to be Displaced This Month for Laos’ Fifth Mekong River Dam
A new Mekong river dam in Laos’ Luang Prabang province will displace up to 465 families this month, the latest in the continuing trend of hydropower projects forcing villagers to relocate all over the country. Residents of 10 villages in Luang Prabang’s Chomphet district must be ...
Eugene Whong
Laos combating dengue fever
Lao health officials and medical staff at hospitals across the country, are endeavouring to combat the increasing number of dengue fever cases in 2019. Many hospitals in the capital of Vientiane have converted corridors and meeting rooms into wards due to a lack of space to ...
Flood Warning as China Opens Floodgates on Mekong River Dams
Villagers living near the Mekong River in Chiang Rai Thailand and Laos are finding it difficult to cope with sudden releases of water from dams upstream in China. More than 200 families living in Laos’ Bokeo province have suffered because of sudden increases in the height ...
Villagers in Laos and Thailand Suffer as China Opens the Floodgates on Mekong River Dams
Villagers living near the Mekong River in Thailand and Laos are finding it difficult to cope with sudden releases of water from dams upstream in China. More than 200 famililes living in Laos’ Bokeo province have suffered because of sudden increases in the height of the ...
Lao Government Begins Plan to Inspect 55 Dams One Year After PNPC Disaster
The Lao government is embarking on an plan to inspect all 55 dams in the country nearly one year after the collapse of a saddle dam that caused a disaster described as Laos’ worst flooding in decades. The disaster occurred on July 23, 2018, when a ...
Xieng Khuang cracks down on illegal logging and corrupt officials
Authorities in Xieng Khuang province are investigating more officials allegedly involved in taking bribes in connection with the illegal timber trade which has caused great damage to the nation. The provincial Governor, Mr Bounton Chanthaphone, told a news conference, which was held as part of a ...
Somsack Pongkhao
The EU and Laos conclude the third formal negotiation towards an agreement on combating illegal logging and promoting trade in legal timber products
The European Union (EU) and Laos held their third round of face-to-face negotiations on a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). The talks took place in Brussels, Belgium from 17-21 June 2019. The Agreement aims to establish a system ...
