The most cost-effective way to keep fresh water clean for human use? Nature itself. Forests, rivers and wetlands filter out contaminants, store excess water, and in some cases even drive rainfall, so maintaining the health of those ecosystems — typically far upstream from population centers ...

A new study of drug resistance in the parasite responsible for roughly half of all malaria cases worldwide has identified more than 80 genes that contribute to resistance, some of which could provide important information for drug development, researchers say.[]In recent years, however, a strain ...

Most countries in Southeast Asia do not have a transparent budget process, according to a global survey conducted by International Budget Partnership. The 2015 Open Budget Index used 140 observable facts and indicators to measure if a country’s budget system allows opportunities for adequate oversight and public ...

THE THAI delegation at a meeting this week on a third dam planned for the Lower Mekong River at Pak Bang in Laos urged the Chinese project developer, Datang Corp, to conduct a transboundary study to resolve outstanding issues. The developer appeared hesitant to take ...

Law enforcement agencies from Thailand, China, Myanmar and Laos will once again join together to boost measures against drug trafficking, following the worsening situation in northern Thailand. The drugs being carried through the Golden Triangle bore the same characteristics with pills imprinted with a symbol ...

The Thai Ministry of Labour announced that actions will be taken against migrant workers from neighboring countries if they fail to register by March 30. The Thai Ministry of Labour told Channel 3 on March 20 that it has been providing services to register and ...

The Mekong River has turned a bright and striking blue, but this eye-catching sight has raised concerns about the environment and the livelihoods of those living in the region. The Mekong runs for nearly 3,100 miles and flows through China, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia, filling a ...

A workshop was held in Hanoi on July 16 to launch a regional project to improve cooperation in policy research, implementation and advocacy in agriculture and rural development in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. The project “Network for Agriculture and Rural Development Think-tanks for Countries in ...

Welcome to the China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor, one of the key planks of the New Silk Roads, or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).  The apparition on the Mekong is an under-construction bridge, part of the 420 km-long, US$6 billion worth high-speed railway connecting Kunming, in Yunnan ...

The leaders of the CLMVT bloc pledged to forge deeper economic ties in the eighth Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation (ACMECS) Summit held on June 15th – 16th. In the keynote address, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said at the summit that ACMECS has been working towards ...

Medical researchers are inching their way across the fringes of five Southeast Asian countries to test a triple combination therapy of antimalarial drugs. Results from the trial, being conducted in rural corners of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, are due by mid-2018, according to ...

Vientiane schoolchildren, soldiers, police and government officials regularly give blood to supply the country’s hospitals, with blood especially needed by road accident victims. But supply does not meet demand, largely because of the increasing number of injuries caused by road accidents. The rapid increase in the number ...

Laos is speeding up the preparation of documents to request listing of the Hin Nam No (Karst) National Protection Area in Bualapha district, Khammuan province, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The 8th national steering committee meeting concerning the application was convened in Vientiane on Thursday, ...

(KPL) Experts, government officials and development partners met in Vientiane this week to discuss how to adapt and use the manual Essential Service Package as a tool to provide essential services for women and girls who are victims of violence.Lao Women’s Union hosted the first ...

VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) – A newly completed irrigation scheme is set to benefit more than 60,000 residents of Vientiane by supplying water to 1,542 hectares of farmland.The project was officially handed over yesterday by the developer to the Vientiane government in Dongkhuay village, Xaythany district.The ...

Many northern provinces have been experiencing bitter cold, while snow has been falling heavily in many areas across the northern mountainous region due to a strong cold spell that has enveloped almost half of the country since 23 January. Snow blanketed Sa Pa in the northern ...

As of next year steel and cement importers in Laos will no longer need an import licence after the government issued an order calling for an end to the licence requirement.The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has directed the departments of industry and commerce throughout ...

(KPL) The Japanese government has provided grant assistance worth over USD 414,000 for three health center projects and four water supply system projects through its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP).The grant contracts were signed at the Japanese Embassy in Vientiane Capital on ...

Southeast Asian migrant workers are no longer just emigrating to developed countries, increasingly they’re moving within the region. With cross-border labour migration increasing, the question for governments has been how to ensure their citizens enjoy social security benefits abroad. []In light of this, labour authorities from ...

The Mekong River Commission does not have the authority to stop projects even if they have trans-boundary effects, delegates to the fourth Green Mekong Forum said on 13 June, while the Thai Irrigation Department presented a water diversion project to fight poverty. If the MRC member states – ...