Authorities in Laos have issued a notice ordering the reschedule of the popular Vang Vieng Music Fest 2020 amid fears of a Covid-19 outbreak.According to a notice issued by the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism today, the Vang Vieng Music Fest 2020 will be rescheduled due ...

The recent collapse of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy dam in Laos shows Southeast Asia’s vulnerability to natural disasters and highlights the importance of emergency preparedness, safety regulation, and sustainable development planning in energy security policies. It also demonstrates the growing asymmetry that’s emanating from an economic ...

Foreign Investment ...

Travellers are one step closer to an epic train journey from Bangkok to Beijing as a new railway bridge over the Mekong River has opened, linking Thailand and Laos by rail for the first time. This milestone, completed last month, leaves just a few dozen miles of a trackless gap before the route can finally reach China. With the launch of this ...

Recently, a coalition of civil society groups, which has monitored development on and along the Mekong River, issued a frightening statement. Fluctuations of river flows during the past three decades have been at record highs, they said. That is a big deal for people whose livelihoods ...

A confluence of drought and dams along the Mekong River has renewed concerns about the future of the 4,700-kilometer waterway, upon which tens of millions of people depend for their livelihoods in China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The number of dams impeding the Mekong’s flow ...

The governments of Cambodia, China, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam have together called for accelerated action to eliminate malaria in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) by 2030. Signing a joint Ministerial Call for Action at the World Health Assembly in ...

The number of drought-hit provinces has more than halved after rain made an appearance in the upper North and Northeast, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said Sunday. Department chief Chatchai Promlert said 40 provinces were reported as drought-hit until the weekend, when welcome rain eased the ...

China and the US have long courted Southeast Asian nations, trying to bring them into their respective spheres of influence and establish a foothold in the region. No one nation dominates completely, but over the last couple of decades, China has stepped up its diplomatic ...

A recent field trip to Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, organised by the Thailand Research Fund was aimed at promoting a community-based research project on managing social and cultural tourism routes. The project, extending into Sakhon Nakhon and Mukdahan, will help ASEAN Economic Community policymakers assess tourism potential along ...

Ninety-seven kilometres of rocks in Thai waters stand between Beijing and dominance over the Mekong, a mighty river that feeds millions as it threads south from the Tibetan plateau through five countries before emptying into the South China Sea. China has long wanted to dredge the ...

Due to a blossoming of interest from tourism startups in Viet Nam post-Tết, MIST will be extending the application deadline for startups based in Viet Nam to March 24. However, applicants wishing to take advantage of the deadline extension must still email mist@mekongbiz.org before March 10 ...

Open regionalism remains on track in the Mekong region although there is an anti-globalisation wave and rising protectionism in other parts of the world. Regional integration has been and will be one of the main foreign policy objectives of the Mekong countries. The 8th ACMECS (Ayeyawady-Chao ...

The Mekong Mini Movie Festival will make its debut at TRAVEX this Friday as a year-long event to celebrate the myriad faces and experiences of the Greater Mekong Subregion, promote the region as a single tourist destination, and attract business. Jens Thraenhart, executive director of ...

Hydropower is one of Southeast Asia’s biggest renewable energy sources, however, many still remain oblivious to the damaging side-effects of hydropower projects. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), hydropower capacity in the region grew almost threefold from 16 GW to 44 GW between ...

B GRIMM Power recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Poipet PP SEZ Co, one of the largest industrial-estate operators in Cambodia, to develop a power-transmission line at its industrial park in the western city of Poipet. This will be the company’s starting point in ...

Representatives from Laos, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam gathered in Vientiane on Friday for the opening of a centre that will foster close cooperation and support for the fight against illicit drugs in the region. []Speaking at the ceremony, Major General Somvang said: “Currently, drug ...

Ca Mau, which once benefited from coastal accretion, is now asking for US$6.7 million from the government to deal with relentless erosion.   Vietnam’s southernmost province has a coastline of more than 250 kilometers and the sea has eaten along 80 percent of it, by 50 meters ...

Water levels on the Mekong River, which flows through China and five other countries before emptying into the South China Sea, have dropped once again after Beijing revealed it was testing equipment at one of its 11 dams in the upper reaches of the vital ...