Radio Free Asia
Runoff From Railway Project Pollutes River in Lao Tourist Destination
The Lao-Chinese railway project has released polluted water from construction work into the Xong River in Vientiane province’s Vang Vieng district, one of the most popular destinations in the country for tourists, an local resident and an environmental official told RFA’s Lao Service.More ...
RFA’s Lao Service
53 Lao Women and Girls Rounded Up in Karaoke Bar Raid in Southern Thailand
Police and military personnel rounded up and detained 53 Laotians–50 women and three girls who were allegedly employed as sex workers–during raids on karaoke bars in southern Thailand’s Narathiwat province, authorities said Friday.More ...
BenarNews
Rights Group Demands Transparency in Case Against 10 Lao Villagers Jailed Over Land Dispute
A civil society organization (CSO) in Laos has called on the government to proceed with its case against ten villagers jailed for more than a year over a land dispute in a transparent manner and demanded an update on their health conditions in prison.In July ...
Ounkeo Souksavanh
Investigator: Dam Project Killing Dolphins, Hurting Fishing and Tourism Industries
A member of Cambodia’s Supreme Council for Recommendations on Wednesday told RFA’s Khmer Service that local authorities are utilizing legal loopholes to avoid adhering to regulations that would protect the biodiversity of the Mekong River.Kong Monika led the Council’s team in investigating the impact of ...
Eugene Whong
Lao Governor Walks Back Projected Costs For Housing in Flood-Hit Attapeu
The governor of a province in Laos hit by flooding from a dam breach earlier this year has issued conflicting estimates of the projected cost to house displaced persons, giving figures deemed unnecessarily high by another official source and contradicting statements he himself had made ...
Richard Finney
Lao Villagers Denied Payment for Land by Vietnamese Firm
Lao villagers formerly leasing land to a Vietnamese rubber company under a profit-sharing arrangement are now being refused compensation by the foreign-owned firm, which says the land belongs not to the villagers but to the state, Lao sources say.More ...
Richard Finney
Cambodian NGOs Reject Invitation to Regional Forum on Proposed Lao Dams
A Cambodian coalition of NGOs dedicated to raising public awareness about the risks associated with dams on the Mekong River said Thursday that it will boycott a regional stakeholder forum for two proposed hydropower projects in Laos because its concerns were ignored by the organizing ...
Joshua Lipes
Lao Families Fear Getting Cheated by Developers of New SEZ in Champasak Province
Nearly 150 families in six villages in Khong district of southwestern Laos’ Champasak Province say they do not want to give up their homes and land to a special economic zone planned for their area and that they fear that project developers will not compensate ...
Roseanne Gerin
Factory Run-Off Suspected in Laos Cow Deaths
Waste run-off from upstream factories may be responsible for the recent deaths of over 40 cows in a village in Laos, local villagers and a government official say.More ...
Radio Free Asia