Economy and industry

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 ...

The government of Laos has officially informed the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission (MRC) of its plan to build a new dam in Luang Prabang, despite warnings about the project’s environmental effects. “We confirm that the MRC Secretariat has received the notification from the Lao government on the Luang ...

An elderly fisherman anchored his small boat to the bank of the Mekong in north-eastern Thailand. Inside lay his morning catch of three fat barbs. “We can catch plenty of fish,” said Thong-in Wenkham with a thin smile, “It’s easy for us when the water level is low like this. “I ...

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 ...

 Laos will continue to cooperate with regional and development partners to protect migrant workers’ rights, a conference in Siem Reap, Cambodia was told last week. Conducted under the theme ‘Toward the Protection of Migrant Workers in CLMTV Countries: Cooperation in Social Security’, the opening of the ...

The rise of fake news is an existential moment for journalism, and there needs to be a combined global effort to combat it. Such a move is crucial, especially with the rise of tech platforms which have accelerated the spread of falsehoods online, media leaders said ...

The rising demand for electricity is often touted as a reason for building dams. But the proponents of dams conveniently overlook the impact on those living on the river banks and the destruction of ecosystems. Ever since the Pak Mun dam was built in Ubon ...

As multilateral trade negotiations have become unworkable, regional and bilateral alternatives are on the rise. In Thailand’s neighbourhood, the most consequential of these trade vehicles is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). As it missed the boat on the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), ...

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has launched its fifth annual Global Media Competition, themed “fair recruitment and the future of labour migration”, aiming to recognise exemplary media coverage of the issue. For the first time, the competition has a student prize category with a fellowship, according to the ILO ...

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 ...