When the state tabloid China Daily ran a paid advertisement in the New York Times extolling the virtues of Beijing’s proliferating dams in Laos, the piece sparked a new cold war controversy. Entitled “Employment on hydroelectric project in Laos delivers better lives”, the piece stated that ...

The Bolaven Plateau in the south of Laos will be developed into the country’s top agri-business and agri-tourism destination thanks to its year round temperate climate. The Bolaven Plateau runs through Champassak province’s Pakxong district, Saravan province’s Lao-ngam, and Xekong province’s Thataeng district and boasts ...

‘Water grabbing’ refers to a situation in which public or private entities are able to take control of, or reallocate, precious water resources for profit or for power — and at the expense of local communities and the ecosystems on which their livelihoods are based.[] Many ...

Cambodia and Laos have formed a joint committee aimed at preserving and increasing the population of freshwater fish in the Mekong River. The committee was formed because of declining fish stocks in part due to illegal fishing and the construction of hydropower dams. In a ...

The children of Dakcheung district in Xekong province now have a brand new secondary school, built with 9 billion kip (US$1 million) in grant funding from the Vietnamese government.The school, in Nonsavan village, was officially handed over to Lao authorities last week.The event was attended ...

The last known endangered freshwater Irrawaddy dolphin on a stretch the Mekong River near Cambodia’s border with Laos died this week, after it was reported snagged in a fishing net, wildlife officials and villagers in the Southeast Asian countries said. “We are deeply saddened by the ...

An exodus of nearly 300,000 migrant workers is expected from April 5-30 when they visit hometowns for the Songkran festival in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Labour Minister Pol General Adul Sangsingkeo, following a meeting of the Migrant Worker Management and Anti-Human Trafficking Sub-committee on Wednesday, ...

(KPL) The report “Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis on Stunting among children under 5 years, Lao PDR” released on Jun 20 indicates that at both national and provincial levels, every stunted child in the Lao PDR is also deprived in three or more areas of well-being, ...

Vientiane Capital State Bus Enterprise (VSCBE,) which operates Vientiane City Bus Service, is implementing a cashless electronic payment system for some of its routes in the capital.Passengers on the Airport line and ITECC line are now able to pay for their journey via the LDB trust service, ...

Open Development Laos supports the work of the Open Development Initiative on Indigenous data sovereignty (IDS) across the Mekong region. Read more about this work here. ...

Sanamxay district, Attapeu province: Over 100 staff from UXO Lao are searching for and removing unexploded ordnance (UXO) so that work can begin on the construction of temporary houses for flood victims.More ...

Phongsaly is staging a raft of colourful activities as part of Visit Laos Year and the Tea Festival, with over 150,000 people expected to attend.The events are taking place from November 7-10, with the official opening ceremony held yesterday.More ...

Rescue teams of Laos, Thailand and China have been rushing to rescue survivors and search for signs of the missing since Monday night in the flooded villages of Sanamxay district in Attapeu province. Thailand Rescue teams were the first from abroad to access the area ...

The Mekong River Committee (MRC) has concluded a session marking the formal completion of the prior consultation (PC) process for the proposed Pak Beng hydropower project in Laos, with the joint committee issuing a statement ‘the Government of Lao PDR to make all reasonable efforts to ...

The 63rd joint patrol on the Mekong River with law enforcers from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand was completed on Sunday. Keep reading ...

The Chinese dams are blamed for turning gold dreams of Mekong panners into dust, especially Thailand‘s gold panners. Vijitra Duangdee, writing in South China Morning Post (SCMP) said that not only gold is disappearing but, the diets, livelihoods and environment of 60 million people have been jeopardised by the dams, and ...

Vietnam and three Mekong neighbors will join hands to assess plastic waste leakage into the river system in a bid to fight plastic pollution in the region. Fifty government officials and university researchers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam gathered to discuss assessment methodologies to study ...

Major dam construction projects have become a favourite pastime of some autocratic governments, with China leading the way. But, far from protecting against water shortages, as supporters promise, large dams are contributing to river depletion and severely exacerbating parched conditions. Nowhere is this more apparent ...

Ministerial delegates from the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Council have now approved a list of strategic documents, charting a new course for it and strengthening its efforts to balance environmental protection and economic development in the Mekong Basin. The MRC Council represents the highest level of ...

Modern China seems to have learned the ancient master’s lesson well. It has unleashed water wars on Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. Even as China’s neighbors deal with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, they are experiencing their worst drought in living memory. The mighty Mekong ...