Laos’s threat to the Mekong River
Sipandon – meaning 4,000 Islands – is an area of immense biodiversity, ecotourism and abundance of fish migration, but its survival is at serious risk from the hydropower Don Sahong dam, which is on the verge of construction. “If this special wetlands zone is protected, it ...
Where’s the beef? Laos can’t meet Chinese cattle import demands
China has agreed to import half a million cows this year from Laos, but the landlocked Southeast Asian nation is having trouble filling the order due to a lack of capacity to produce them and high quality standards imposed by Beijing, Lao government officials and ...
Translated by Sidney Khotpanya for RFA Lao service. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
China pledges to advance ties with Laos
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with Lao President Choummaly Sayasone in Beijing on 1 September, pledging to advance ties with Laos. Choummaly is in Beijing to attend activities to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression ...
Villagers in Laos and Thailand Suffer as China Opens the Floodgates on Mekong River Dams
Villagers living near the Mekong River in Thailand and Laos are finding it difficult to cope with sudden releases of water from dams upstream in China. More than 200 famililes living in Laos’ Bokeo province have suffered because of sudden increases in the height of the ...
Lao gov’t gives green light to PetroTrade for Laos-Vietnam railway development
The Lao government has entrusted and given the right to the Petroleum Trading Lao Public Company (PetroTrade) to conduct a feasibility study on the Laos-Vietnam Railway Project, from Thakhaek district in Khammuan province, Laos, to the Vietnamese border. The Ministry of Planning and Investment, on behalf ...
ASEAN nations call for scientific, technological innovation
The 70th Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology (ASEAN COST-70), currently taking place in Vientiane, has emphasised that shortcomings in scientific and technological development need to be urgently addressed. The committee was established in 1978 and has become the focal point and driving force of ...
Laos hosts first ASEAN-Russia meeting
The First Meeting of the ASEAN-Russia Eminent Persons Group (AREPG) is taking place in Vientiane to review and further enhance relations between ASEAN and Russia. Keep reading ...
Indonesia welcomes Laos’ chairmanship, urges unity
Indonesia has thrown its support behind Laos’ chairmanship of ASEAN, urging the country to maintain the group’s unity and centrality as it entered a new chapter in the establishment of the community.President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo conveyed his remarks to new ASEAN chair Laos during a ...
Government promises appropriate compensation in Laos-China railway project
Compensation payouts to the owners of land and other property that will be lost when the Laos-China railway is built will be dispensed under a prime ministerial decree, a senior Lao government official has said. Deputy Minister of Public Works and Transport, Mr Lattanamany Khounnivong, said ...
Xekong on track to have first international border crossing with Vietnam
The Prime Minister’s Office plans to upgrade the Daktaok local border crossing in Dakcheung district, Xekong province, to an international level crossing on the Vietnamese border. Lao and Vietnamese officials are currently discussing the date when this change will take place. If the status is elevated ...
Experienced team sustainably developing Lao mining
Entrepreneurs and business owners in Laos are now able to utilise the vast expertise of Ortus Mining Laos to develop mining projects. Ortus Mining Laos, a subsidiary of Ortus Mining Capital, told Vientiane Times recently that they are focused on the development of mineral concessions in ...
Laos officially approves controversial dam project
Laos’ parliament has approved the concession agreement for a controversial dam project, with construction expected to begin before the end of 2015, media sources reported earlier this week. Keep reading ...
Laos-China railway project expected to carry 3.8m passengers in first year
Domestic passengers commuting through the planned Laos-China railway project are expected to reach 3.98 million in its first year, a study has showed. The number of domestic passengers is forecast to rise to 6.11 million annually in the short term and jump to 8.62 million annually over ...
In Laos, a Dubious Dam Threatens Luang Prabang
When investors in 2019 announced plans to build a massive hydroelectric dam on the Mekong River just upstream from Luang Prabang, the ancient royal capital of the former Kingdom of Laos, they drew a slew of criticism. So much criticism, in fact, that UNESCO—which has ...
Nathan Thompson
China-Lao rail workers may reach 100,000
The total number of workers needed for the Laos-China rail project throughout the five years of its construction could reach 100,000 people, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavadhas has said. Keep reading ...
Lao Migrants Fleeing Poverty Defy Dangers to Work in Thailand
Lao workers, many of them young and some still in their teens, have poured in growing numbers this year into neighboring Thailand, braving exploitation and unsafe work conditions in search of employment to help support families back home, sources in the Southeast Asian nation say. Many ...
Vangvieng-Luang Prabang expressway route approved
The government recently gave its approval to the route of the planned Vangvieng-Luang Prabang expressway – a highway that will shorten the drive between the two tourist hotspots to about 90 minutes. The go-ahead is another step towards the start of construction of the four-lane 136.9-km ...
Souksakhone Vaenkeo
Why is Laos building Mekong dams it doesn't need?
Thailand’s economic slump during the coronavirus pandemic led to a drop in electricity demand, with Thai officials estimating power reserves currently at 50% over total capacity. However, despite the Thai surplus, hydroelectric dams are still being developed next door in Laos, Thailand’s top provider of electricity. Critics say the dam projects are not driven ...
Emmy Sasipornkarn
Govt looks to ease Mekong dam impacts
The Department of Fisheries will roll out a number of measures to help cushion the impacts of dam construction in the upper reaches of the Mekong River on Thai fishermen. Department chief, Adisorn Promthep, said the measures will entail further diplomatic coordination with Laos — which ...
Apinya Wipatayotin
China starts rice imports from Laos
The first shipment of rice imports from Laos have passed through inspection and quarantine procedures at south China’s Shenzhen port, according to local authorities. The shipment weighed 87.8 tonnes and was valued at 746 million U.S. dollars, said the Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection And Quarantine Bureau. Keep reading ...
