National Assembly members have called for media outlets, individuals and entities that operate within the industry to be more clearly defined by law to ensure the media contributes positively to national protection and development. Members highlighted these points when debating a draft amendment to the ...

Navy officers in the Laos-bordering province of Nakhon Phanom seized a compressed marijuana shipment of about 350 kilogrammes as it was being offloaded from the Mekong River. 2 men were arrested while 3 more fled and have not been apprehended yet in the bust that ...

A century ago tigers were kings of the jungle across much of Southeast Asia. Literally so. The striped predators ruled supreme at the top of food chains in thick forests from Laos to Malaysia and from Burma to Vietnam. No longer. Most of those forests have ...

Many centuries ago, the great Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu observed: “The nature of water is such that it avoids heights and hastens to the lowlands. When a dam is broken, the water cascades with irresistible force. Now the shape of an army resembles water. Take ...

The prior consultation process of the 1460MW Luang Prabang hydropower on the Mekong mainstream will now be concluded on 30 June 2020, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) has announced, with prior consultation to start on the 684MW Sanakham project once this is complete. During the Special ...

Laos has a concentrated HIV epidemic compared to other countries, with the prevalence of HIV still at a low level in key groups. But risk behaviours threaten to increase the prevalence of HIV transmission amongst the population so the National Centre for HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted ...

The much anticipated annual flooding season in the Mekong Delta is set to arrive in the next few days, much later than usual. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) reports that the floods have reached Thailand and Laos now, and should reach Cambodia in the next few ...

The strategically vital Mekong subregion has been gaining salience in Beijing’s strategic calculations as China faces growing pushback from the US and other countries. The global pandemic appears to be consolidating a few trends in China’s ties with the Mekong nations. In this emerging scenario, it is likely ...

High-ranking diplomats from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and China will convene on Friday at the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC), a relatively new mechanism to enhance regional cooperation. The latest edition of the LMC will take place this week in Yunnan, in southern China, bringing together ...

For the Mekong countries, including Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, 2018 was a big year both domestically and regionally. Key developments from last year will inevitably continue to shape the politics of the region in 2019. In terms of domestic affairs, the most worrying ...

A new round of joint patrols on the Mekong River with law enforcement personnel from China, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand started Tuesday, the 71st mission since 2011, to make the border river safer. Ships set sail from Guanlei Port in Xishuangbanna, southwest China’s Yunnan Province, ...

Mekong Institute (MI) will be organizing a series of safe food courses this year as part of the New Zealand Aid Programme-funded Food Safety Project. These regional training programs comprise a major component of the five-year food safety project to be implemented in Cambodia, Lao PDR, ...

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not attend this weekend’s Asean Summit in Singapore, a government spokesman said on Monday, which would make it the first time for her to skip one since coming to power in 2016. []The 10-member Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, ...

THAILAND is home to more than 55 per cent of the region’s migrant workers but if the country could back it up with proper policies, it could contribute to economic growth under the much-talked-about Thailand 4.0 strategy, according to a World Bank report. []Migrant workers in ...

Leaders of Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand agreed on a common vision to push for the region’s true potential while at the Asean World Economic Forum in Vietnam this week. Prime Minister Hun Sen said during his closing remarks that each country in the ...

Today, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Council comprising water and environment ministers of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam gathered for its Twenty-Fourth Meeting in Pattaya, Thailand. The meeting was to review the MRC work in 2017 and make a decision on future direction ...

Cambodia on Thursday presented the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) to hundreds of university teachers and students here to celebrate the LMC Week 2019. Before the presentation, a short video, featuring lifestyles and traditions of residents along the Lancang-Mekong river as well as LMC activities, was screened. ...

Environmental officials and experts from China and five other countries discussed strategic goals to promote regional environmental cooperation along the Lancang-Mekong River in a meeting on Wednesday in Beijing. The river, an international body of water, crosses all six countries－China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and ...

Strong rises in exports and foreign investment in the manufacturing sector will continue to accelerate Vietnam’s GDP growth, the IMF said in its April update on Asia-Pacific economic outlook. In the region, only several frontier economies will see higher rates, including Myanmar’s 8.6 percent, Laos’ 7.4 ...

Stretching from its headwaters in the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau to its endpoint in the delta marshes of Vietnam, the mighty Mekong River is one of the world’s great ecosystems. For Laos, it represents so much more: the energy source behind an ambitious hydro-power buildout and ...