Economy and industry

Pegasus spyware is being abused to target people in Thailand. The instigators? All indications point to the Thai authorities. But people in Thailand are not the only ones likely being spied on by those in power. Across the globe, revelations are emerging of governments using ...

Deforestation of mangroves has increased in Arakan State as a result of power cuts, according to local mangrove conservationists. Since late last year, Myanmar has experienced frequent blackouts, which worsened in February and continued into the monsoon season despite the fact that hydropower is the country’s ...

Garment workers at Thailand’s Brilliant Alliance factory were granted leave, only to learn their employer had shut down when they returned to their worksite in early March 2021.  “Everyone was abandoned and never went back to work, there was nothing from the company about compensation,” said ...

The stiff, rusted grate forming a metal ramp scraped its stone anchor and bent under Lounh Samnang’s weight as he clambered onto the small-scale dam he operates and maintains. Water rushed from the reservoir and gurgled through the dam’s turbine before flowing down O’Porng Morn Kraom, a ...

According to experts, the Mekong Delta has a dense network of rivers, creeks, and canals, with a length of about 26,550 km of natural rivers; thereby, it is convenient for the development of waterway traffic and river economy. On August 1, the Academy of Politics Region IV in ...

Upstream dams and sand mining have caused significant erosion along the Mekong River in western Laos, according to experts, devastating riparian communities in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation with high waters and powerful currents. But residents of those communities say they believe that other issues are to ...

A nation disadvantaged by geography, Laos has turned to intense infrastructural development and foreign direct investments to accelerate economic growth. As the landlocked nation opens its doors to foreign money, who is it inviting, and what troubles lay ahead? Once an ancient kingdom and a hub ...

Four years after a dam collapse that caused Laos’ worst flooding in decades, survivors who lost everything say they are tired of waiting for the government to provide them with new homes and arable land. On the night of July 23, 2018, billions of cubic feet ...

Laos is facing one of its worst economic crises in many years. Last month, inflation hit a 22-year high of 23.6 percent, according to official reports. Consequently, the price of fuel, gas, and gold has increased by 107.1 percent, 69.4 percent, and 68.7 percent, respectively, compared to June 2021’s price. Long ...

Human trafficking worsened considerably in Southeast Asia in 2021, with the United States government adding Vietnam, Cambodia, and Brunei to its trafficking in persons blacklist and downgrading Indonesia. In this year’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP)  report, released on Tuesday, the U.S. State Department scrutinized 188 nations’ efforts ...