Disasters and emergency response
Govt officials urged to expedite aid to the unemployed
Local labour authorities around the country need to quickly implement government measures to assist the unemployed and help cushion inevitable job losses in the months to come, according to a leading official. Director-General of the Department of Labour Skill Development at the Ministry of Labour and ...
Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth
Laos to Resume Domestic Flights, Schools, Other Restrictions Eased
Laos has announced it will resume domestic flights, begin to reopen schools, and ease other lockdown restrictions starting 18 May. The National Taskforce for Covid-19 Prevention and Control announced at a press conference held today nine measures that will be eased, and four restrictions that will ...
Francis Savankham
Rebutting US Claims, China Says Dams Unrelated to Thai Drought
The Chinese Embassy in Bangkok on Monday dismissed a US-funded study accusing China’s dams of hoarding water in the vital Mekong River. In a statement released to Khaosod English, the embassy said the extreme drought felt by Mekong’s downstream countries in 2019 were caused by exceptionally ...
Khaosod English
Chifeng Jilong to Restart Gold Production at Sepon Mine in Laos
China’s Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining Co has said it will begin processing gold ore from its mine in Sepon, Laos, after a six-year hiatus. According to a report by Reuters, the restart of gold production at the mine is due to gold prices hitting a seven-year ...
Latsamy Phonevilay
UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund Supports Laos
The United Nations will support the Lao Government’s preparedness and response to Covid-19 under the United Nations COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund with two UN projects approved under the Fund last week. The Fund was launched by the UN Secretary-General to support low- and middle-income countries overcome the ...
Laotian Times
US Study Insists China's Dams to Blame for Mekong Drought
China’s massive dams on the Mekong River exacerbated last year’s extreme drought in downstream countries including Thailand, researchers from a US government-funded study said on Wednesday. The researchers discuss the findings – originally published by American research company Eyes on Earth Inc. – in a video conference organized ...
Khaosod English
Covid-19 Impacts in the Mekong Region | Crisis to Opportunities Series
The global Covid-19 crisis has shed a light on the deep-seated inequities in the way our rivers and the people who depend on them are treated. With the exposure created by this crisis comes an opportunity. As International Rivers adapts to current circumstances, we are ...
Pianporn Deetes
‘Cambodia’s agricultural sector is in dire need of revitalisation’
n this time of uncertainty, one thing about Covid-19 is clear. This pandemic will lead to a sharp and unprecedented decline in Cambodian economic productivity. And the industrial and service sectors will be the hardest hit. In response to the pandemic and to the economic crisis ...
NITH KOSAL/Future Forum Asia
Mekong Delta province faces severe water shortage
The Mekong Delta province of Long An, which has been hit by severe drought this year, needs more fresh water, but can only supply about 50 percent of demand from its 35 fresh water treatment plants and stations. Nearly 736,000cu.m of water will be needed by ...
Vietnam, Laos Arrest Facebookers on COVID-19-Related Charges
Authorities in Vietnam and Laos have arrested several Facebook users on charges related to the coronavirus, with Hanoi punishing posts that challenge official reporting on the pandemic and Vientiane acting against a lockdown violation streamed live. The two arrests in Vietnam come as the Communist Party ...
RFA’s Vietnamese and Lao Services. Translated by Huy Le and Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.