Eminent persons from all ethnic groups across the country and overseas will meet next month in Vientiane is expected to shine a light on the efforts to strengthen the solidarity of the entire Lao nation.More ...

The European Union (EU) and French Agency for Development (AFD) have forecast a budget of over 5.7 million euros in assistance from 2018-2022 for a project to support nutrition-sensitive agriculture in northern Laos.More ...

(KPL) Representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the International Labour Organisation, and the Australian and Canadian embassies met in Vientiane to discuss digitalization of migrant worker management and digital services to migrant workers in Laos.More ...

(KPL) Bamboo is an important non-timber forest product (NTFP) in the context of the livelihood of the poor in the Lao PDR. Next to self-sustaining purpose (home consumption shoots, construction material) it has an additional economic value.More ...

Rivers are the lifelines of the world. Their waters crisscross cities, countries and continents. But after a week on the mighty Mekong, our correspondent sees a need for more ‘river democracy’. Keep reading ...

Foreign countries have continued to convey messages of sympathy to the Lao government and the families of those who lost their lives or houses in the flood caused by the collapse of the dam in Attapeu province.More ...

The 75th joint patrol on the Mekong River, with law enforcers from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, started Tuesday. Eight vessels and more than 100 law enforcement personnel participated in the patrol between China’s Guanlei port and waters near the Golden Triangle. Keep reading ...

With its seemingly endless tropical summers, increasingly vibrant urban centers and relatively low living costs, the so-called Mekong region — comprising Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam — is drawing a rapidly growing share of Southeast Asian tourism. Keep reading ...

The 72nd joint patrol on the Mekong River with law enforcement from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand started on Tuesday. Six vessels and more than 100 law enforcement personnel participated in the mission, aiming to crack down on crime in the region. Keep reading ...

Japan and four Southeast Asian nations along the Mekong River Basin – Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand – have approved a plan to speed up industrial development in the region. Keep reading ...

These photos document the construction of four dams – from north to south, Wunonglong, Lidi, Tuoba, and Huangdeng (see map below) – along a 200-kilometer stretch of the upper Mekong in Yunnan, China, and the transformation of the river from a free-flowing current to a ...

It has been a bad year for the Mekong. An unusually long period of drought has brought water levels to some of the lowest measurements in recent years. There are fears that the drought will have a particularly negative effect on the Tonle Sap River, connecting ...

About 60,000 migrant workers living in Thailand have fled the country since authorities shut malls and many businesses at the weekend to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a Thai interior ministry official said on Wednesday. Thailand’s latest measures have left many without jobs and prompted ...

With far-reaching implications for the upcoming elections in Myanmar and with the US tentatively wading into river governance, the Mekong region has become a contentious staging ground for China’s wider goals in Southeast Asia.  Sebastian Strangio’s new book In the Dragon’s Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century draws ...

The Mekong River has become a new front in U.S.-China rivalry, environmentalists and officials say, with Beijing overtaking Washington in both spending and influence over downstream countries at the mercy of its control of the river’s waters. It’s a confrontation in which the Trump administration – ...

A new industrial estate, currently under construction in northeastern Thailand, is primarily designed as a logistics and freight forwarding center in connection with neighboring countries, confirmed a senior government official on Monday. The industrial estate in Udon Thani province, which is now 50 percent complete and ...

The Mekong River Commission’s (MRC) annual report, published 16 June, includes a noteworthy statement calling for increased transparency from China over upstream dam operations on the river. The Mekong is Southeast Asia’s longest river and acts as a lifeline to 60 million people. Downtream Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and ...

With much of ASEAN stuck in the economic doldrums and its senior members beset with issues ranging from unprecedented levels of corruption to violent insurgencies and maritime disputes with China, the regional bloc has known better days. But from the most unlikely corners of northern ASEAN, a more ...

The 4th Mekong River Commission Summit, held in Vientiane on 4-5 April 2023, saw heads of state and ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam come together to discuss the sustainable development of Southeast Asia’s greatest river. At its conclusion, the four countries signed the ‘Vientiane Declaration’, in ...

Once, not that long ago, the Mekong River in Southeast Asia was a formidable waterway. Navigating much of the 4,350km-long river was a real challenge. The Mekong, which originates in China and empties into the South China Sea in Vietnam after passing through four other ...