The Lao government has lost U.S. $767 million to corruption since 2016, with government development and investment projects such as road and bridge construction the leading source of the widespread graft, according to the country’s State Inspection Authority. The SIA reported on April 11 that nearly 3,700 members of the communist Lao People’s Revolutionary Party
Chinese developers are preparing to begin work on two major hydropower dams to be built on the Mekong River in Laos, projects government officials hope will bring the impoverished country closer to its goal of become the battery of Southeast Asia. But compensation and relocation packages for villagers affected by the massive infrastructure projects are
Five Lao villagers were beaten and detained Sunday in a village north of Vientiane by soldiers who said the group and their families were living on land owned by the country’s military, according to Lao sources. Around 40 families had lived in Sisawat and Houay Nam Yen villages in Naxaithong district since 1989, when they
The owner of a now-shuttered filling station in Luang Namtha town stated his own pumps have actually now run out of gas, with the business that supplies him stating they have none left to sell. “Were not hoarding gas.” The exchange rate in between the Lao kip and the Thai baht is much too high,”
A file picture taken Aug. 19, 2018, showing damage in Sanamxay district of Attapeu province in southern Laos, about a month after the breach of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy dam that left 71 dead and thousands displaced. Credit: RFA. An Attapeu province authorities confirmed that the PNPC launched water Friday. ” They, the business, are
A Lao human rights activist living in Thailand as a UN-recognized refugee is being held for deportation back to Laos, where he deals with arrest for his advocacy work, Lao sources say. Khoukham Keomanivong was jailed Saturday on a charge of overstaying his permission to be in the country and was attempted Monday afternoon at
Lao workers can now formally go back to Thailand after a time out due to COVID-19, but high costs and pre-employment approvals may require many laborers to continue to try to go into the country illegally, according to sources in both nations. Although the border has actually been closed, numerous employees still cross it in
