In an exclusive interview with the Laotian Times, John Pearson, outgoing British Ambassador to Laos, reflects on his four-year diplomatic mission in Laos, sharing insights into his overall experience and shedding light on the environmental challenges faced by the country. As a diplomat, British Ambassador John ...

The Thai authorities on Wednesday morning rescued some 40 live pangolins, weighed 200kg in total, that were smuggled in 10 sacks in a boat across the Mekong River into Chiang Rai’s Wiang Kaen district to be sold to restaurants and medicine shops. The pangolins were ...

Less rice was planted this dry season with the government reducing the target from last year, largely due to the lack of irrigation. Speaking at the ongoing National Assembly session recently Minister of Planning and Investment Dr Souphanh Keomixay said farmers had planted about 84,580 ...

The official end of a conflict leaves a country with obvious physical scars, from devastating death tolls to levelled landscapes. But a war’s effect on a country evolves. In Indochina, casualties continue because of unexploded remnants of war. Efforts to remove these weapons have gone on ...

Laos and China will jointly build a bridge linking the Southeast Asian nation with northeastern Thailand as part of a U.S. $7.2 billion high-speed railway project that has been delayed by numerous setbacks for more than four years, a Lao government official said. Officials from both ...

Thai Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya says Thailand and Laos are considering inviting Cambodia and Vietnam to join the “Safe Mekong” anti-drug operation. Gen Paiboon was speaking after attending the 15th bilateral meeting between Thai and Lao delegates on the joint effort to prevent and combat drug ...

Member countries of the Mekong River Commission have sent a request to the Lao government to carry out thorough impact studies prior to the construction of the Pak Lay hydropower dam in order to minimise risks in the future. Keep reading ...

Lao Minister of Energy and Mines, Mr. Daovong Phonekeo, says enacting a specific law to ensure dam safety is a vital part of the country’s efforts to achieve sustainable energy development. Minister Daovong told the National Assembly on Thursday that while there are regulations and standards controlling ...

Some 496 of 700 planned new homes have been completed for flood victims in southern Laos’ Attapeu province, and will be ready for residents in 2021. According to daily Vientiane Times, 496 new homes have now been built for victims of the flood caused by the ...

For the first time in a year and a half, a confirmed human case of avian influenza A(H5N1) has been reported. The case involves a one-year-old girl from Salavan, aka Saravane province, in the south of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos). She became sick on ...

The Mekong River extends for thousands of miles through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, supporting more than 65 million people who depend on it for food, transportation, and commerce. But development, mostly led by China, threatens to upset the delicate balance between local ...

Vietnam has helped Laos complete the building of a digital topographic database and a topographic map of its northern and central region, serving the country’s socio-economic development and environmental management. The information was announced at a conference, co-organised by the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources ...

The Lao dam disaster in Attapeu province has cast a long, dark shadow of doubt about the safety standards and viability of dozens of other hydropower projects. This entirely preventable man-made catastrophe left 6,000 people homeless from floods and over 1,000 villagers unaccounted for. Keep reading ...

Laos is shuttering small checkpoints on its borders with Vietnam and Cambodia as part of a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus into the country, where authorities have yet to announce a positive case of the disease caused by the virus (COVID-19). The ...

The government is discussing the planned route of an expressway running from Vientiane through Xaysomboun, Xieng Khuang and Huaphan provinces to the Vietnamese border. A videoconference organised by the Ministry of Planning and Investment identified the key locations of the expressway corridor, which will end at ...

Laos’ Ministry of Public Security and Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security will continue to support each other in protecting national security and preventing cross-border crimes. During a visit to Vietnam from March 15-17, Lao Minister of Public Security Major General Somkeo Silavong signed an agreement ...

Hundreds still remain unaccounted for in the thick mud and flood waters of Attapeu and Champasak, two provinces in southern Lao PDR where the failure of an auxiliary dam sent a torrent of water gushing down on 13 villages downstream. Keep reading ...

The hydropower dam collapse in Laos should be seen as a valuable lesson about dam safety, according to Dao Trong Tu from the Vietnam River Network. Keep reading ...

The Mekong River Commission Secretariat has vowed to become one of the first paperless organizations in Laos as part of its efforts to protect environment and promote regional sustainable growth. Keep reading ...

China and Laos expressed here Sunday the willingness to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and actively promote the building of the China-Laos community with a shared future. While meeting with Lao Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith on the sidelines of the seventh Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign ...