Radio Free Asia

South Korea has been criticized for failing to protect children’s rights after a dam collapse in Laos caused dozens of deaths last year. The United Nations has advised the country to “closely look into” its overseas projects for possible violations of such rights.The United Nations ...

A coalition of NGOs called for the cancellation of a project to build what would be Laos’ fifth large Mekong river dam Tuesday, citing the disastrous effects that existing dams have had on the region’s ability to cope with environmental crises.The planned Luang Prabang Dam ...

An explosion Saturday caused by rock blasting for a Chinese cement plant in northern Laos tore through a village, killing at least one person and injuring more than 20 others, residents said.Houses and vehicles were also wrecked by the blast in Phonemany village, Nam Bak district, ...

Officials for the local government in Laos’ Houaphanh province say they want to cancel the survey contract of a Chinese coal company after learning that its operations in the province have caused hardship for villagers who have yet to see any compensation.The company reportedly damaged ...

Residents of seven villages in Laos’ Luang Namtha province are resisting a 7,000-hectare land concession granted to a Thai company that would force them to relocate.The villagers are also concerned that the proposed industrial zones that would be developed on the site by Thailand’s Amata ...

A Lao woman arrested on Sept. 12 on charges of defaming the country is still being kept from seeing family members until completion of a police investigation into her activities, sources told RFA’s Lao Service on Thursday.Houayheuang Xayabouly, 30, was arrested on Sept. 12 after ...

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) Wednesday defended its decision to wait nearly seven weeks before officially notifying the public that Laos began a preliminary procedure for the construction of a large dam that would be its fifth on the Mekong river.The Lao government informed the ...

A new dam planned for construction on the Mekong River in Laos is causing great concern for environmental NGOs from Thailand, who say Laos’ fifth big dam on the river will have adverse effects on fish and people in the region.The Luangprabang hydropower project would ...

The price of sticky rice is skyrocketing in Laos, in the wake of massive floods in one of the country’s most fertile regions and various other causes, amid rising prices of food in general due to the African swine flu epidemic that has ravaged China ...

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 ...