Laos

Myanmar has essentially been shut out from ASEAN summits since the country's military took control in February 2021. (Pool photo via Reuters)
Myanmar Crisis

Laos sends special envoy to Myanmar in new role as ASEAN chair

Veteran diplomat Alounkeo to meet with top general Min Aung Hlaing

10 January 2024
Chinese online scam suspects are escorted by Chinese police officers before being deported from Cambodia in 2017.
Crime

Global law enforcement targets Southeast Asian cyberscam gangs

U.K. launches first sanctions against suspects involved in online fraud schemes

13 December 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping and foreign leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, pose for a group photo at the Third Belt and Road Forum on October 18, 2023 in Beijing, China.
Belt and Road

On topic: A decade of China's Belt and Road

A collection of stories to catch up on a recent hot topic

21 October 2023
Bets are placed at a small gambling hall in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. (Photo by Alastair McCready)
Asia Insight

Will Laos' economic zones boost growth or bring in criminals?

Amid bold plans, experts say border hubs like Boten face uncertain prospects

10 October 2023
A recently erected ChinaAid sign stands in front of Laos' national monument in Vientiane. (Photo by Alastair McCready)
Economy

Laos debt at 'critical level' with China payments still opaque

Economists say ASEAN nation obscuring true scale of crisis

22 September 2023
Wind farms in southern Vietnam have the potential to generate 600 gigawatts of power, according to one estimate. (Photo obtained by Nikkei)
Energy

Singapore energy appetite fuels ASEAN's renewable power grid

Network taps Laos hydropower, solar and wind energy from Indonesia and Vietnam

20 September 2023
Sandbanks in the Mekong River in Nakon Phanom province, Thailand surface due to unusually low water levels in 2019.
Opinion

New Thai government must show more responsibility with the Mekong

Power production has been prioritized without consideration of area residents

29 August 2023
An excerpt from a video shows one of two activists, left, traveling with Chinese rights lawyer Lu Siwei, right, arguing with police near Thanaleng dry port in Laos on July 28.
Politics

China critics chased in Mekong as Beijing's security clout grows

Laos, others in region cooperating with neighbor to stifle Chinese dissidents

24 August 2023
Then-U.S. President Barack Obama, center, visited Laos for the 2016 ASEAN leaders' summit: Vientiane's upcoming chairmanship is likely to bring more international attention.
Opinion

Laos should be held accountable for shootings of dissidents

West cannot be silent as it seeks Vientiane's favor as incoming ASEAN chair

26 July 2023
Tourists use kayaks on the river in Vang Vieng, Laos, in July 2022.
Economy

Laos' tourism-driven economic recovery hinges on China

New cross-border railway brings in Chinese money, and concerns about influence

7 June 2023
Kenichiro Sasae, center, president of the Japan Institute of International Affairs, and Park Joon-woo, South Korea's former senior secretary to the president for political affairs, discuss regional issues at Nikkei's Future of Asia forum. (Photo by Yuki Nakao) 
The Future of Asia 2023

Japan, South Korea should pursue new joint declaration: panelists

At Nikkei forum, Malaysia's Mahathir and Laos' Thongloun warn of world war risk

26 May 2023
Laos President Thongloun Sisoulith speaks at Nikkei's Future of Asia conference in Tokyo on May 26. (Photo by Mayumi Tsumita) 
26 May 2023
Laos President Thongloun Sisoulith speaks during an interview in Tokyo on May 26. (Photo by Shinya Sawai) 
The Future of Asia 2023

High-speed rail to China a 'source of pride': Laos president

Southeast Asian nation's foreign debt is 'manageable,' Thongloun says

26 May 2023
A former member of the Myanmar parliament trains in an area controlled by ethnic Karen rebels.
Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar clashes stall completion of Southeast Asia economic corridor

Fighting along border with Thailand drives shipping costs to soar 50%

18 May 2023
In "The Long Reckoning: A Story of War, Peace, and Redemption in Vietnam," author George Black has produced a groundbreaking work with a message of hope and reconciliation. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by George Black, Getty Images)
Books

Books: War and redemption in Vietnam, 60 years after Agent Orange

George Black's 'The Long Reckoning' charts the lasting impact of chemical use

18 May 2023
Stream article image
The Big Story

Thailand's air pollution crisis deepens amid seasonal crop burning

Smoke from agricultural field and forest blazes chokes Southeast Asia

19 April 2023
A wind farm in the Netherlands. Mitsubishi Corp. is participating in a large new wind farm in Laos. (Photo courtesy of Mitsubishi subsidiary Eneco)
Energy

Southeast Asia's 'battery' Laos embraces wind power to sustain energy exports

Reliance on hydroelectricity becomes risk as demand grows in Thailand, Vietnam

15 April 2023
A high-speed train on the China-Laos railway, which began cross-border passenger service on April 13. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Transportation

China-Laos railway begins cross-border passenger service

Countries see potential economic boost from Belt and Road project

13 April 2023
The city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand under a haze of air pollution on April 9. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Environment

Dirty air in Laos, Thailand casts pall over health, tourism

Southeast Asian nations now have world's worst particulate concentrations

12 April 2023
Tourists enjoy the views of Luang Prabang from a bamboo bridge, constructed every year during the dry season over the Nam Khan River in the charming UNESCO heritage town. (All photos by Ron Gluckman)
Life

Luang Prabang ready for return to halcyon days

Laotian town was a top destination before COVID, but recovery is slow

24 February 2023
The Laotian central bank's test of its digital currency will involve consumers using the currency to pay for purchases at stores. (Photo obtained by Nikkei)
Currencies

Laos begins digital currency trial with Japan blockchain company

Southeast Asian country explores cross-border payments to get ahead of the curve

7 February 2023
An unexploded cluster bomb dropped by the U.S. military half a century ago is unearthed in Kasi, northern Laos.
Economy

Laos struggles with unexploded bombs 50 years after Paris Accords

Hidden dangers from another era hinder economic development

28 January 2023
A high-speed train pulls into Boten Station in Laos. The Laos–China High-Speed Railway marked the first anniversary of its opening on Dec. 3, 2022. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) 
Belt and Road

Ambition, concern drive Lao-China high-speed rail project

December marks one year since Vientiane's bet on China's Belt and Road

14 January 2023
Viboon Kromadit, Amata's chief marketing officer: "When planning expansion, we focus on the Mekong [River] region as a whole." (Source photos by Amata)
Construction

Thai industrial developer Amata to focus on Vietnam, Laos

Project in Myanmar halted as coup dampens investment mood

5 January 2023
Food stalls are seen behind a hotel in a special economic zone in the northern Laotian town of Boten, on the border with China. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Belt and Road

Thriving on China's Belt and Road, Laos border town ditches kip for yuan

But rail cargo still weak due to zero-COVID while debt to Beijing looms large

27 November 2022