General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping has expressed his willingness to advance the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with Laos, a Chinese envoy said on 26 January. Keep reading ...

Water levels in the Mekong River that traverses Cambodia, Thailand, and Lao PDR are expected to drop due to outflows from China’s Jinghong hydropower station, which would be decreased by more than 50 per cent for dam equipment testing from January 1-4, the Mekong River ...

A Lao man who had complained about corruption in the communist-run country on social media was arrested at his home in southern Laos last week and is being questioned in jail about links to “an anti-government group of overseas Laotians,” police sources told RFA Tuesday. The ...

Thailand’s Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA) is coming up with a plan to improve infrastructure and prepare routes to cash in on the growing traffic with Laos. The move is aimed at drawing visitors, particularly adventure-seeking and high-spending tourists, from the two nations and also ...

Over 800 health-care workers in southern provinces of Laos are calling on authorities to pay them for extra hours worked this year in hospitals and quarantine centers while trying to control the spread of coronavirus, according to sources in the one-party communist state. However, official sources ...

Thirteen illegal Lao labour immigrants who were rescued from an alleged “slavery farm” in Nakhon Pathom are being treated as witnesses in a suspected human trafficking case. The immigrants, some as young as 15 years old, will not be charged with illegal entry into Thailand because they ...

Two Lao nationals living in Vientiane have been infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) after their tests, released at about 9 pm on March 23, were shown to be positive, a task force announced yesterday. The 36-year-old female tour guide and the 28-year-old male worker from Crowne Plaza ...

Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Lao President Choummaly Sayasone on 31 August, saying China’s relations with the Southeast Asian country are at an all-time high. Choummaly is in Beijing to attend activities to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s ...

The ongoing nationwide crackdown on illegal logging in Cambodia has produced another pair of high-profile busts touted by the national military police. On 9 March, alleged smugglers in Stung Treng were busted attempting to sneak three tractor-loads of luxury wood into Laos. The day before, some 10,000 cubic ...

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Lao counterpart Thongsing Thammavong on 13 September attended the opening of a large potash mine in Laos. It will be one of Vietnam’s largest international projects. The ground breaking ceremony was held in Nongbok district in Khammouane province. Keep reading ...

Bokeo provincial authorities held a groundbreaking ceremony on 27 October for a new hospital including inpatient as well as maternal and child healthcare facilities in Huayxai-neua village,Huayxai district. Actual construction work on the new hospital building commenced in June and it is expected to be completed in ...

ASEAN member states and dialogue partners have committed to enhance their cooperation efforts in combating transnational crimes in a bid to maintain the security at and across borders in the ASEAN region. The 17th Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) and its related meetings ...

Vietnamese border guards have worked with Lao police to swoop on a major transnational drug ring, capturing five foreigners in the border area between the two nations. Ha Tinh border guards, in coordination with Lao police officers, have arrested five members of the drug ring, who ...

A groundbreaking ceremony to begin the construction of a high-profile rail project linking Vientiane with the Chinese border is scheduled to take place on 2 December– the day the Lao People’s Democratic Republic marks its 40th anniversary. The governments of Laos and China signed an agreement ...

In 2017, the Lao government ordered the closure of the country’s Chinese-owned banana farms following reports of pollution and workers falling ill after being exposed to dangerous chemicals. Firms already operating in the country were allowed to stay open until their contracts expired. The ban prohibited ...

The State Inspection Authority (SIA) has retrieved more than 50 billion kip over the past two years from corrupt officials who had previously embezzled State properties. A senior official from SIA who asked to remain anonymous told Vientiane Times on Monday that all State budget ...

13 to 16 April was Pi Mai, the Lao national holiday that welcomes in the Buddhist new year. Usually characterised by festive gatherings, water fights and the consumption of large quantities of Beer Lao, this year it was quiet and subdued, as the country of seven million entered ...

The opening of general consulates in each other’s main cities, cooperation in border security and education, and the progress of border surveys and marker installation are the results of the longstanding cooperation between Laos and Cambodia. These achievements were reviewed at a meeting between high-ranking officials ...

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a plan to support free migration for Vietnamese returning from Laos to settle in Vietnam. The plan will be carried out in 10 provinces that border Laos including Dien Bien, Son La, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, ...

Lao Tea Day – the first event of its kind ever to be held in Laos – is expected to shape the future of the Lao tea farming and processing industry. Taking place this weekend on June 4-5 at Lao-ITECC in Vientiane, the tea festival is ...