Radio Free Asia
Mekong River Commission Says Dams Are Causing of Sharp Shifts in Water Levels
The Mekong River Commission Tuesday acknowledged that climate change played a role in this year’s widely varying water levels on the Mekong, but said that dam construction was the main culprit in sharp water level increases and decreases, emphasizing a need for data-sharing between countries. The ...
Eugene Whong
Two Large Mekong River Dams in Laos to Start Operations by End of Year
The first two of five planned large-scale Lao dams on the Mekong river are set to go online before the end of this year, amid controversy over their impact on the environment and people’s livelihoods. The Xayaburi dam in northern Laos will start operations on October ...
Lao Man, 69, Arrested for Refusing to Give Up Land His Family Has Held Since 1965
An elderly man in Laos was detained last month for refusing to give up land that had been in his family since 1965, family members said. Thitphay Thammavong, 69, was arrested on September 16 after declining to sign papers that would cede control of his 1.5 ...
Provincial Official in Laos Wants to Cancel Concession for Chinese Coal Company
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 ...
Regional Government in Myanmar’s Sagaing Rethinks Support For Chinese Copper Mine
The Sagaing regional government in northwestern Myanmar on Monday cancelled permission for a Chinese company to conduct inspections for a new copper mine project following a protest by local residents in the capital Monywa. Hundreds of local residents staged a morning protest opposing the granting of ...
Mekong River Commission Defends Seven-Week Silence on Lao Dam Project Submission
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 ...
Thai NGOs Speak Out Against Proposed Dam in Laos
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 ...
Flooding in Laos’ Southern Provinces Displaces 100,000, Kills at Least 28
More than 580,000 people have been impacted and at least 28 have died in floods caused by heavy rains over the past two weeks in Laos’ southern provinces, according to estimates revised during a cabinet meeting this week. The death toll figure was reported by ...
The Mekong Part II: How Dams May Damage Children’s Health
Ian G. Baird, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert on dams in Southeast Asia, tells of meeting a farmer and his five-year-old son from a village in rural Laos in 2009. The two were sitting in a canoe as the sun rose ...
Dan Southerland
Laos State Media: Woman Arrested for Criticizing Government on Facebook Confesses
Lao state media reported Tuesday that a woman who was arrested in Laos last week for criticizing the government on Facebook has confessed to her crime. In a Facebook Live video last week, Houayheuang Xayabouly, known by her nickname Mouay, had slammed the Lao government’s slow ...
