In five days, the Xayaburi Hydropower Project on the Mekong River in northern Laos will formally begin operations. As the first dam on the lower Mekong mainstream, this marks a turning point for the Mekong River. The Mekong River is 4,350 kilometers (2,703 miles) long, ranked ...

Along with professional journalists, local villagers and citizens play an important role in gathering and reporting environmental news events, experts have said. The fundamental role of citizen journalism (CJ) in building climate resilience in the wetlands of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Việt Nam was highlighted at a workshop held ...

Save the Mekong, a coalition of non-governmental organizations, community-based groups and concerned citizens within the Mekong region, issued a statement on Friday announcing their intention to boycott the Mekong River Commission’s (MRC’s) Prior Consultation for the proposed Pak Lay dam. Pak Lay is the fourth dam planned ...

Russia is concerned that UK and US chemical weapons have been found in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Panama, Georgy Kalamanov, the head of the Russian delegation to the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CSP CWC) said Wednesday. “We are concerned ...

Laos and Malaysia are keen to expand bilateral cooperation particularly in areas relating to investment, banking, finance, transportation, tourism, education and human resource development for mutual benefit. This was the outcome of a bilateral meeting held between Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman and visiting Lao ...

Cambodia’s usually low-key dispute over an unmarked stretch of its remote 540-km long border with northern neighbour Laos made international headlines last August when long-time Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a stern six-day ultimatum for Laotian troops to withdraw from the disputed region or ...

As the Biden administration begins its second year in office, it is evident that its focus on the Indo-Pacific and geopolitical competition against China remains uneven. There are two small but strategically important countries that have been all but ignored by the administration so far: ...

China and Laos have pledged to boost cooperation on law enforcement and security and maintain regional stability. The pledge came as visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi held talks separately with Chansamone Chanyalath, Lao minister of national defence and Somkeo ...

The World Bank is currently supporting 43 active projects in Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, with commitments of over US$2.7 billion as of June, according to a recent report. Of the total figure, 18 projects are in Laos with the total commitment of US$437 million, while ...

A total of US$200 million has been sourced through a loan from China to finance construction projects relating to the new Phongsaly provincial capital in Bounneua district in the far north of Laos. Director of the Provincial Department of Planning and Investment Mr Khamlek Chay-isane ...

The governments of Laos and Cambodia have agreed in Vientiane to continue efforts to de-escalate tensions in a disputed border area. The agreement was made during Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s visit to Vientiane yesterday at the invitation of Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith. Keep reading ...

The presence of unexploded ordnance continues to have a major impact on the lives of rural people, including their ability to grow crops, with Bualapha district in Khammuan province being one such area. District Governor Mr Khamphao Thongthephahack said Bualapha district was more heavily contaminated ...

Infrastructure consulting firm Surbana Jurong has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Singapore-based Mekong Group and Laos’ Phongsavanh Group to develop infrastructure projects in Laos. Keep reading ...

Nine people were confirmed dead while 122 others were still missing after a dam collapsed, triggering flash flood in southern Laos on Monday, a provincial official said on Sunday. []However, if they subtracted the number of rescued villagers from the total population of these affected villages, ...

VIENTIANE, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) — The Lao government will cut the annual quota of new civil servants from 3,000 people this year to 1,500 people next year to ease its budgetary burden, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith told the parliament on Tuesday.More ...

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published a report Tuesday which names the “Golden Triangle” of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos as the heart of methamphetamine production and trafficking in East and Southeast Asia. The report also states Taiwan-based crime syndicates operating across ...

Great changes are in evidence since the Lalay border crossing was upgraded to an international checkpoint between Saravan province in Laos and Quang Tri province in Vietnam in June 2014. Director of the Saravan provincial Department of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Somchay Ounchit, told ...

The government is accelerating efforts to boost farmers’ yields to meet national food security strategy and production targets by 2020 in response to global climate change. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr Lien Thikeo made the statement during a recent address to mark World Food Day. He ...

The friendship between Laos and China has reached new heights with the two neighboring nations’ commitment to a shared future, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is strengthening Laos-China relations, local daily Vientiane Times’ editorial desk commented in an opinion article on Monday. Since the ...

Water levels on the Mekong River have failed to rise raising concerns in communities living downstream, sources say. The Mekong was already low because of equipment testing at China’s upriver Jinghong Dam. However water levels were suppose to resume to normal after equipment testing ended ...