Politics

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
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
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
Laos owes more than half its foreign debt to China, including "hidden obligations," and experts say the Southeast Asian country could end up bartering away land and resources for relief.
Asia Insight

Laos' debt pressure raises specter of a China vassal state

Echoes of Sri Lanka on the Mekong as muzzled public seethes over economic woes

6 September 2022
Drivers line up for fuel at a gas station in Vientiane during mid-June. (Photo by Kosuke Inoue)
Supply Chain

Laos grabs for Russian lifeline as it fights fuel shortage

But cheap fuel risks steep foreign policy price for neutral Vientiane

7 July 2022
A containership off Singapore: Europe accounts for 9% of ASEAN exports, according to Maybank.
Ukraine war

ASEAN faces 'collateral damage' from Ukraine war's Europe impact

From Singapore to Thailand, spillover threatens COVID-hit economies anew

27 March 2022
Suriyan Vitchtlekarn, executive director of the Mekong Institute, spoke to Nikkei Asia.
Interview

U.S. needs careful Mekong strategy to counter China: expert

Mekong Institute executive director says region is key focus for superpowers

6 February 2022
The railway was built by a Chinese state-owned company at a cost of around $6 billion, 70% of which was borne by China.
International relations

China-Laos railway begins with limited service

Southeast Asia's first high-speed link to stop at Chinese border for now

3 December 2021
The China-Laos bullet train will compress what is normally a two-day road trek through rugged mountain terrain into a brisk three hours or so.
Belt and Road

China-Laos high-speed railway set to roll through COVID cloud

Southeast Asian country's rising infections reduce pomp of Friday's launch

30 November 2021
Left: A model of the statue that a Chinese company plans to build in Vientiane. Right: The Pha That Luang stupa in Laos. (Source photo by Reuters and Vientiane's Special Economic Zone Promotion and Management Office)
International relations

Chinese developer provokes ire in Laos with 100-meter Buddha statue

Locals who follow another sect protest structure set to become capital's tallest

28 October 2021
The ambassador of the permanent representative mission of Afghanistan to Geneva listens to a statement during the Human Rights Council special session at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva on Aug. 24.
Opinion

States can no longer turn a blind eye to jailed human rights defenders

Urgent issue concerns every United Nations-member state

14 October 2021
Gold medalist Sunisa Lee of the U.S. celebrates her victory in the women's gymnastics all-around event.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Sunisa Lee's gold medal stirs hopes for Hmong in US

Gymnast's grit in face of hardship resonates with Laotian group's past

3 August 2021
This Chinese-financed expressway connecting Vientiane with Vang Vieng in Laos opened at the end of 2020.
Belt and Road

Laos deepens reliance on China for key transport projects

Construction cost could amount to around $18bn amid 'debt trap' concerns

12 July 2021
Khemmani Pholsena, left, reportedly attended the same elementary school as Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Politics

Laos taps Xi classmate as presidential aide, deepening China tilt

Ex-commerce chief Khemmani offers personal link to Vientiane's top creditor

26 March 2021
Thongloun Sisoulith will oversee an economy reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. 
Politics

New Laos president faces rising China debt and battered economy

Party General Secretary Thongloun enjoys high support as 'clean' leader

23 March 2021
Jinghong Dam and hydropower station, seen here in 2013: China slashed the Mekong River's flow from this dam in January, leaving Southeast Asian communities downstream to cope with falling water levels during the dry season.
International relations

Mekong's falling water level riles China's downstream neighbors

Jinghong Dam cuts flow bound for Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

23 February 2021
The Mekong river bordering Thailand and Laos is seen from the Thai side in Nong Khai. Thailand is objecting to a Chinese-developed dam planned for the waterway in Laos.
International relations

Thailand challenges Laos dam building spree on Mekong River

Move threatens to pull plug on Vientiane's 'battery of Southeast Asia' vision

30 January 2021
Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, in Jan. 2020.
Politics

Laos' new leader to play balancing act between China and Vietnam

New secretary-general looks to largest lender Beijing despite strong ties with Hanoi

20 January 2021
Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has been elected as the country's secretary-general. (Photo by Manami Yamada)
Politics

Laos promotes PM Thongloun as leader of communist party

Under new secretary-general, impoverished nation expected to pivot futher to China

15 January 2021
Cambodia soldiers participate in the country's 67th Independence Day celebration in Phnom Penh on Monday.
International relations

Beijing-friendly Cambodia and Laos pushed out to ASEAN's fringe

China's rise exacerbates Southeast Asian bloc's inherent tensions, experts say

13 November 2020
Workers toil on the Kunming-Vientiane Railway in Yuxi, southwest China's Yunnan Province, as Laos prepares to sell a U.S. dollar bond amid a looming repayment crisis.
Coronavirus

Laos' debt woes worsen as bills for China-funded dams loom

Coronavirus rattles first US dollar bond, adding pressure to weakened economy

1 June 2020
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, center, and Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, right, pose at the East Asia Summit in Thailand in 2019. 
International relations

Japan's judicial diplomacy at crossroads as Laos enacts civil code

Legal assistance to Southeast Asia brings result, but budget constraints loom

31 May 2020
A banner of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Xi Jinping in Belgrade, Serbia, pictured on May 11: more than 100 countries have received China's anti-virus overtures with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
Opinion

China wants to know if you are with it or against it

Beijing has divided world with coronavirus policies, making countries take sides

16 May 2020
A medical staff takes samples at a drive-thru testing center in Daegu, South Korea, on Mar. 3; the U.S. can learn from its partners.
Opinion

US can outshine China at coronavirus medical diplomacy

Washington needs to boost existing anti-pandemic research networks in Asia

21 April 2020
A girl from the Khmu tribe in northern Laos works burned land cleared for crops. (Photo by Robert Bociaga)
Belt and Road

Chinese investment upheavals anger Laos' indigenous tribes

Rural communities face lifestyle changes as authoritarian state develops

5 March 2020