Laos

Lao women held by Chinese-run casino plead for help

Lao women held by Chinese-run casino plead for help

The trio signed on to be saleswomen but after weeks of not working, their debts are piling up.

Laos criticizes 45 soccer players banned for match fixing in recent years

Laos criticizes 45 soccer players banned for match fixing in recent years

Players make very little money and are easily bribed, sports officials say.

Lao villagers refuse to cede land for Chinese-owned banana farm

Lao villagers refuse to cede land for Chinese-owned banana farm

Villagers say if they lose their land they will have no way to feed their families.

Cash-strapped Laos keen to reopen borders despite surging COVID numbers

Cash-strapped Laos keen to reopen borders despite surging COVID numbers

Officials hope to revive country’s economy with tourism and trade, but some provinces face health staff shortages.

Worries in Laos and Thailand as upstream dams drain Mekong River

Low water levels and a lack of sediment have affected the ecosystem and people’s livelihoods.

Laos adopts new measure to combat corruption: party expulsion

Laos adopts new measure to combat corruption: party expulsion

Officials dismiss nine government employees who embezzled funds in Bokeo province.

The Lao-China high-speed railway passes through a village outside the capital Vientiane, Dec. 3, 2021.

Five Lao men arrested for stealing cable from Lao-China railway

2022-01-21

Police attribute string of thefts to former rail workers who have become addicted to drugs.

This file photo taken in December 2021 shows the progress of the construction of a bridge over Mekong River in Chomphet District, Luang Prabang Province on the future site of the Luang Prabang Dam.

Lao local government clears land for families displaced by dam

2022-01-20

The Luang Prabang project is pushing more than 500 families from their homes.

Special report

Debt-trapped Lao ‘chat girls’ forced to sell sex in China-run economic zone

Debt-trapped Lao ‘chat girls’ forced to sell sex in China-run economic zone

Cartoon

Lao officials take their cut

Lao officials take their cut

Special report

Giant China, tiny Laos link up with launch of high-speed train

Giant China, tiny Laos link up with launch of high-speed train
Lao dam collapse survivors still wait for new homes amid construction delays

Lao dam collapse survivors still wait for new homes amid construction delays

Too few carpenters and masons are employed on the project, and many are not being paid.

The location of the Sanakham dam on the Mekong River is shown in a photo taken in 2020.

Planned Lao dam raises concerns in Thailand over impacts on shared border

Concerns focus on depleted fish stocks, illegal cross-border trade.

Debt-trapped Lao ‘chat girls’ forced to sell sex in China-run economic zone

The interior of a second-class car on the Laos-China Railway during a trip Dec. 4, 2021.

Lao-China Railway feels ‘similar to when I rode the Shinkansen in Japan’

Giant China, tiny Laos link up with launch of high-speed train

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Special report

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Laos and its dams: Southeast Asia’s battery, built by China

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Thai police seize marijuana smuggled from Laos

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