Garment workers urged to boost sector’s productivity
Prime Minister Hun Sen on November 7 urged garment workers to improve their productivity in order to prevent factories from closing shop and moving to such countries as Laos, Bangladesh and Myanmar, all of which have lower minimum wages. His comments came during a graduation ceremony ...
Germany offers $2.2 million to cross-border water cooperation
The German government today provided an additional 2 million euro ($2.2 million) to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to increase cross-border water dialogue, cooperation, and support efforts in monitoring trans boundary environmental impacts from Mekong mainstream dams. The funding agreement was made in a signing ceremony ...
Taing Vida
Pak Beng inquiry sought
Environment Ministry official Eang Sophalleth said on February 20 that he has made a request to the Mekong River Commission that Laos adequately investigate the potential impacts of the proposed Pak Beng hydropower dam ahead of a meeting this week. State news agency AKP on February ...
China winning new Cold War on the Mekong
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 ...
Tourism potential as yet unfulfilled in Bolaven Plateau
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 and power: Mega-dams, mega-damage?
‘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 ...
SCIDEV
Agreement to conserve Mekong River fish
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 ...
New secondary school opens in Xekong
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 ...
Phomphong Laoin
Last Irrawaddy dolphin in northeastern Cambodia dies
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 ...
RFA Staff
Every Stunted Child Deprived In Three Or More Areas Of Well-Being
(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 City Bus Moves Toward Cashless Payment
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, ...
The Laotian Times
https://laotiantimes.com/2019/08/22/vientiane-city-bus-moves-toward-cashless-payment/
300,000 migrants expected to leave Thailand for Songkran
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, ...
Laos, Thailand, China forge ahead in flood search
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 ...
Vientiane Times
Official Prior Consultation for Pak Beng Hydropower Project Concludes: MRC
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 ...
63rd joint patrol on Mekong River completed
The 63rd joint patrol on the Mekong River with law enforcers from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand was completed on Sunday. Keep reading ...
Xinhua News Staff
Chinese dams on Mekong drying up Thailand's gold panners fortunes
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 ...
ANI
Mekong nations to address choking plastic pollution
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 ...
Minh Nga
Damming the Mekong to environmental hell
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 ...
Brahma Chellaney
Newly thought out strategy for the Mekong
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 ...
Jason Boken
How To End Deforestation? Two Decades of Lessons Learned in the Greater Mekong
It’s home to spectacular beauty, abundant natural resources, and more than 300 million people spread across Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, and China. Yet the Greater Mekong has been gripped by conflict and political crises, creating in many places conditions ripe for illegal forest ...
Michael Jenkins, Kerstin Canby, Genevieve Bennett